In a rather surprising move, Solomon Hykes, who as Docker Founder and Chief Technical Officer laid the groundwork for one of the most quickly adopted enterprise computing technologies ever developed, is leaving the company.
“To take advantage of this opportunity, we need a CTO by Steve’s side with decades of experience shipping and supporting software for the largest corporations in the world. So I now have a new role: to help find that ideal CTO, provide the occasional bit of advice, and get out of the team’s way as they continue to build a juggernaut of a business,” Hykes wrote in a post on Docker’s blog.
Hykes, who spent 10 years at Docker, originally known as dotCloud, is a major shareholder of the company, which should give him a substantial amount of capital to invest in his next entrepreneurial adventure.
“After 10 years building Docker, now feels like the natural moment to move on,” Hykes wrote in an email to eWEEK. “That’s obviously not an easy decision, but I’m certain that it is the right one for everyone.”
In his blog post titled ‘Au Revoir,’ he wrote:
“It’s never easy for a founder to part ways with their life’s work. But I realize how incredibly lucky I am to have this problem. Most ideas never materialize. Most software goes unused. Most businesses fail in their first year. Yet here we are, one of the largest open-source communities ever assembled, collectively building software that will run on millions of computers around the world. To know that your work was meaningful, and that a vibrant community of people will continue building upon it…. can any founder ask for anything more?
I want to thank from the bottom of my heart every member of the Docker team and community, past and present, for making Docker what it is today. Thanks to you, this founder’s bittersweet moment is mostly sweet. We have built something great together. I look forward to seeing where you will take it next.”
Hykes will remain with Docker for an unspecified period of time as the company looks for a new CTO.
Several prominent members of the cloud-native world saluted Hykes for his accomplishments.
