Q&A: Ex-Amazon 'Master of Disaster' Jesse Robbins on the Power of 'Relentless Optimism' in Startups
GeekWire by Jeff Dickey · · Article
"When you're trying to change the way big organizations work, a lot of people say no a lot. Rather than try to fight them, you've got to find a way to make them say yes. Being a force for awesome in the world is finding ways to say yes."
GeekWire profiles Jesse Robbins as CEO of Opscode, where his motto 'don't fight stupid, make more awesome' drives a company culture founded on relentless positivity, from firefighting to Amazon to building enterprise software.
GeekWire profiles Jesse Robbins as CEO of Opscode, the Seattle cloud computing startup changing the game in enterprise software. The interview draws out the thread connecting Jesse’s background as a firefighter to his role as Amazon’s Master of Disaster to building Opscode’s culture of relentless optimism.
On 9/11, Jesse realized his emergency management training could have a profound impact on technology organizations: “I decided I’m going to figure out a way to mix these two worlds together.” That insight led to GameDay at Amazon and eventually to co-founding Chef.
On driving change in large organizations: “When you’re trying to change the way big organizations work, a lot of people say no a lot. Rather than try to fight them, you’ve got to find a way to make them say yes. Being a force for awesome in the world is finding ways to say yes.”
On startup life: “If you’re struggling, recognize it’s going to be this way forever.” And that might be a good thing.
