Alex - the White Knight
We have been expanding aggressively, new hires, offices, equipments. Alex is also building out the second data center. I speak to Alex on the phone:”Hey, how is the second data center coming up?” “Everything on schedule, you will get it when you need it.” Hearing his cheering and confident tune, I know I am in good hands. Just like how the first data center was built, all I did was to let him know when I wanted it…
Oh, the first data center, it was yet another impossible…For this, I attribute to Alex, without him, there was no way we could launch on time in production.
It was September last year, we were putting together a roadmap before Jon, Mike and Steve flew back to US. Just like how every roadmap was built, we were working backwards: Well, in order to launch by Dec, we would need to have a production data center fully built and start testing on Dec 1st…We don’t really know how long it takes to get a datacenter, let’s say two months..So, we would need to start working on a datacenter on Oct 1st, ordering machines at the same time…Which means, we need someone who knows and done it to work on it literarily NOW…And, there is a “small” problem: we don’t have anybody…
Steve looked at the schedule on the whiteboard, commented: “This is impossible.” Wasn’t that on everybody’s mind…The room went very quiet, even the “always-full-of-ideas” Jon was not saying anything. In the spirit of being optimistic, I tried to close the meeting with a high-tone: this is very aggressive, however, we have accomplished a lot of impossible so far, let’s give it the best try, see what we can come up with this time.
Alex is the only person who can accomplish this, he not only knows how to build a data center, he has also done it millions times over around the globe for DoubleClick. He is also one of the best OPS guys that I have ever worked with. It was that simple, with Alex, we would have the launch, without him, we would have to redo the schedule…Mike flew back with his No.1 mission: hiring Alex…Aren’t we lucky! When Alex said “Yes” on the phone, I knew at the moment that he would get me the data center I wanted…
Indeed, the production env was fully built on Dec 1st, just like magic. Alex, the white knight flew in at the last minute, saved us.
- this entry was written on the airplane back to China. In honoring Alex and I 10-years-working-together and many more to come!
Oh, the first data center, it was yet another impossible…For this, I attribute to Alex, without him, there was no way we could launch on time in production.
It was September last year, we were putting together a roadmap before Jon, Mike and Steve flew back to US. Just like how every roadmap was built, we were working backwards: Well, in order to launch by Dec, we would need to have a production data center fully built and start testing on Dec 1st…We don’t really know how long it takes to get a datacenter, let’s say two months..So, we would need to start working on a datacenter on Oct 1st, ordering machines at the same time…Which means, we need someone who knows and done it to work on it literarily NOW…And, there is a “small” problem: we don’t have anybody…
Steve looked at the schedule on the whiteboard, commented: “This is impossible.” Wasn’t that on everybody’s mind…The room went very quiet, even the “always-full-of-ideas” Jon was not saying anything. In the spirit of being optimistic, I tried to close the meeting with a high-tone: this is very aggressive, however, we have accomplished a lot of impossible so far, let’s give it the best try, see what we can come up with this time.
Alex is the only person who can accomplish this, he not only knows how to build a data center, he has also done it millions times over around the globe for DoubleClick. He is also one of the best OPS guys that I have ever worked with. It was that simple, with Alex, we would have the launch, without him, we would have to redo the schedule…Mike flew back with his No.1 mission: hiring Alex…Aren’t we lucky! When Alex said “Yes” on the phone, I knew at the moment that he would get me the data center I wanted…
Indeed, the production env was fully built on Dec 1st, just like magic. Alex, the white knight flew in at the last minute, saved us.
- this entry was written on the airplane back to China. In honoring Alex and I 10-years-working-together and many more to come!
Your charisma can attract more talent like Alex to work for you.
So I believed fervently that you will success！Wish you gook luck
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