It’s January 2016, and I’ve just left my job at VMware. This post is NOT about VMware, or specific employees, teams or products. It could be my last day at any #big #tech #corporation and the post would essentially be the same.

It’s your last day.

It’s a strange feeling, for sure. You go to your office, pack your things, say goodbye to the folks around you, and start dealing with the paperwork. It actually takes a few hours to properly leave a company, and it’s a blessing in disguise: it keeps you busy and you don’t think too much.

The moment in which you really start feeling that you are actually leaving is when you have to return your assets (e.g. your laptops, and a few other small things). You give back the Macbook that you’ve worked on for two years, and that’s when it hits you. “Yes, I am leaving. It is real”.

Then you are in the car, driving back home, and the weird stuff emerges from your inner soul.

What’s the weird stuff?

It’s uncommon feelings. It’s that mix of sensations that you feel when you leave a known environment, and you are about to enter a new, unknown one. You think a lot about the past, and a lot about the future.

In that moment, driving back home, is when you can see the things that really matter FOR YOU, with superhuman clarity. For weeks, I’ve been thinking about my salary, my economic situation, my title, and a bunch of other things.

But now, what really counts is in front of me.

And it’s not the money. Nor the title. Nor the prestige. Nor whatever else. The myriad things I have pondered for weeks lost most of their weight.

What really counts is something else.

It’s the purpose.

A few days after writing the above (and leaving it in draft mode), I started a new job, and — besides the usual “honeymoon phase” that you have at a new job — I feel excited again.

THAT is what I was missing. And this is not VMware’s fault, by any mean. I just found something to work on that keeps me excited at night, and in the morning when I go to work.

That’s all I needed for now.

It’s strange to go from 8 years at big corporations (First Amazon Web Services for ~ 6 years, then VMware for ~ 2 years) to a small startup.

For some people I know, this shift has been almost fatal in their career.

First, it’s a big change in the lifestyle you have.

Second, you delegate much less, and roll up your sleeves much more.

Third, there is a lot more uncertainty about the company, its future, and the value of the stocks options that will eventually vest.

But, all in all, I think that I’ll do ok.

Every experience has goods and bads, ups and downs, but in most cases, if you lived that experience in the right way, you should feel a sense of gratefulness for what you’ve learned, how you grew through that experience, and the connections you made (heck, I just had coffee with one of the people that I’ve worked with over there).

In fact, I want to say THANK YOU to VMware for those two years.

I can’t wait to tell you more about my new gig. Stay tuned!