What struck me was “it’s either keep growing and become a manager or stop and do smaller projects”
As someone who many years back looked at a team of 40 developers I was leading and went “nah, I want to be an IC again” that resonates
As someone who many years back looked at a team of 40 developers I was leading and went “nah, I want to be an IC again” that resonates
Perhaps he really just wants a break and this explanation sounded the most reasonable. But I hope he didn't get burned out because he was afraid of switching things up.
Not everything is more than it seems. Its ten long years of uploading weekly. Thats hard graft.
Yeah, this immediately came to mind for me as well. There's nothing set in stone that his production has to be weekly. He could move to monthly, or whatever. It doesn't even have to be a schedule, just whenever the next thing is ready push it. Which, he did leave the door open to but he also definitely seemed to couch this whole thing in "I'm completely done". It is a little weird, but of course he's free to do it how he wants
Although, he's not quitting completely and retiring, as he is still going to do all the other stuff (podcasts, other channels, etc) so maybe he's just shifting into different types of content, which is fine
>There's nothing set in stone
>he's just shifting into different types of content, which is fine
I do think it's weird how much of a "I'm never coming back" vibe it had, though, given that he's still going to be doing podcasts and left the door open to more YouTube videos. I think it would've served him well to just say "hey, I'm cutting back but I'm not gone, just moving to a more healthy balance of how often I do these incredibly complicated videos"
but to your point, he should do him and how he wants to handle it
Leaving it as he did, he's open to do anything he wants: upload monthly, upload in indeterminate times, never uploading again, etc. And no one will feel let down or deceived.
If he said he'll start doing monthly, but then finds that he much prefers not doing the primary Tom Scott stuff at all, many people looking forward to those monthly videos will be let down.
If there's one thing that I feel comfortable saying about Tom Scott (as a casual viewer, at least), is that he likes doing right by people. I doubt anyone, including he, knows what to expect will be next, and the best thing he can do for his audience is to set an expectation that there ought to be no expectations. Let any surprises be surprises for the better, and let him have the peace of mind that he can do what he wants without feeling external pressure to deliver.
Interestingly, back in YouTube land, Matt D'Avella also just announced he got rid of his team and is back to doing things himself. He fell into that trap of thinking he needed to hire a team and scale a few years back, then found himself as a manager and wasn’t happy. It’s good Tom was able to see the paths ahead to avoid the headaches and layoffs when he ultimately decided he didn’t like it.