The longtime CTO is leaving. Who remembers 2 in a box?
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Was this the guy who told us to pat our back and choke our throats? Anytime someone asked a question in a town hall, he would berate them and turn the script on them. You had no recourse. The day he was out was a happy day for all.
For those of you still at Cengage... just know that you are hirable elsewhere. Other companies treat you well, understand work life balance, pay fairly, and look for ways to retain their talent. Good luck!
@7szj+1dwSmwAr Not only that, he says he's working with OER non-profits - the same ones who destroyed much of Cengage's business. Pretty funny stuff considering he willfully ignored OER until it was too late. Cengage executives are late to the party on trends even after leaving. Pathetic.
Wow. Just read the former CPO’s bio on LinkedIn. A real, live sociopath. To ruin that many people and then brag about traveling the world and sitting on non profit boards. Wow. Just wow.
This didn't age well and proves how easily the mouth-breathing news media is manipulated.
https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/blog/2014/05/ed-tech-cengage-gensler-offices-500-terry-francois.html
The SF office was a massive debacle. They displaced a lot of longtime employees because the CPO desperately wanted the company to be hip. Shortly after opening that office they flew the entire marketing division out to SF for an expensive retreat. We spent one evening at the SF office so they could show it off to us. It was a glittering Potemkin village with all the modern accoutrements and architecture but half the people working in it couldn't afford to live anywhere near the city. Yet they were telling us all about how they were going to lure away the Facebook and Google employees because...student, education, disruption blah blah blah. Sure thing. It turned out that Google employees weren't willing to live in poverty so they could save money for the student. It was a massively expensive failure that exposed what a wannabe company Cengage is.
If they had just stayed in the original office in the peninsula they would still be there.
Silicon Valley workers coming to Cengage. BAWAHAHAWAH.
Remember the CPO wanting to move from the Peninsula to SF. He wanted to live in the City and have a fancy, modern office space. Must have cost a hellava lot more than the former office space and created a longer commute for most of the staff.
Upper management also tried to pitch the move as a way to attract more Silicon Valley tech workers to Cengage. But the salaries are so low that they mainly hired Russian subcontractors.
The CPO was a complete train wreck. I didn’t work for him but had friends who did. He literally ruined them.
It was so enlightening when the CPO and CTO parachuted into town to spread the wisdom of 2 in a box to us rubes in the midwest. Also enjoyed the CPO dropping the nice guy act in the office and berating his product people in front of large crowds.
The longer you are around the easier it is to see that the game is truly rigged. I was unlucky enough to work with a CTO who came to our company after being fired. He then cashed out to the tune of a few million dollars after we were sold when rank and file employees got nothing. He then went to work at another shop and his compensation is $500k a year. And he’s done nothing but sc--w things up anywhere he’s been
The CTO and Chief Product Officer came to Cengage together from Elsevier. They were both Hansen’s pals from Elsevier.
The CPO retired in 2017 and spent a year traveling the world. Sounds nice doesn’t it? Think the Chief Nomad got raises that were more than 1 percent.
But remember, they are always thinking of the students.
2 in a box = pairing a business person with a technical person to bridge the gap between business knowledge and technical expertise needed.
Can someone explain "2 in a box?"
Don't worry. Elites like him always land on their feet. Guarantee you if he was fired, he got at least a year in severance, and if he left on his own accord, some other company will be duped, will pay him a ton and probably give him options. All you need to do is look at the linkedin profiles of all the ex Cenage and APAX execs. They took the APAX money and are now laughing at all of you.
That title with this guy is nothing but ironic.
I remember. That son of a bi--h. He caused all such anguish. Leave and don't come back.