I’ve been thinking about what to write here, and anything that came to my mind was boring – how cool those 5 years were for me, what projects I have accomplished, how many lines of code I wrote, what I have in mind for the future… Me, myself, I and politically correct corporate yadda yadda anniversary yadda yadda.

Who cares about this stuff?

Ultimately I decided to abandon the anniversary theme completely, instead taking the chance to send messages out to a few of you, my dear colleagues and friends.

First of all thank you Michael for being an exceptional guide. Genius-level technical knowledge and intelligence would still not be much were you not such an open person, always available when there’s a hand to be given. You are an unreplaceable!

Thank you Duncan. You are still my boss and probably always will – thanks for teaching me so much about being a role model and an to be an inspiration to others.

Thank you Johannes, especially for the intense mentoring you began with me five years ago and still do today. The deep attention to quality and details (which I hope I learnt somehow) really made me a better professional.

Thank you Hubert, I really admire your perseverance and the depth of your historical knowledge. Your so-called “shot-in-the-dark” diagnoses really leave me amazed! Not to mention the hardest laughs I had while in the company due to your humor. We should really put up a “Hubert’s Reactions” website at some point!

Thank you João, your exceptional care of each person in the team made me re-think the definition of leader I had in my mind. I hope to continue copying from you going forward.

Thank you Pablo for all the attention you put in your work and all of the Python lessons. You really demonstrated me how one can be a tech person with exceptionally fast delivery times as well as an extremely easy-to-approach, honest, tranquil, reasonable and friendly colleague at the same time. I wish I was more like you sometimes.

Thank you Michele, especially for bearing with me being a mediocre mentor sometimes. I still have to learn a thing or two about sales from you!

Thank you Dario M, your energy level is something I get inspiration from. And we really need some Darth Vader jokes here an there!

Thank you Éric for teaching me how to see software from the POV of quality assurance. I kinda knew already in theory, but getting a practical viewpoint through an open, honest colleague helps me is getting a much clearer picture, I appreciate that.

Thank you Ornela for the endless, always very tidy and meticulously aligned, collection of bugs! I guess we could fill a book already, next step is of course a nature museum. By the way working with a nice person like you is always a pleasure!

Thank you Abid for getting me started with Pakistani culture. I still look forward to the next chapter (cuisine), as soon as we finally meet in person!

Thank you Bo for your example about jumping on the right boats at the right time. The tech world is full of these opportunities and you are more long-sighted than me on these, I hope to get better by observing you.

Thank you Joseph for the passion and support, our product really got a lot better thanks to your work and experimentation around tools. Hope to see “even better” stuff from you in the future!

Thanks Kevin for constantly reminding me of theory and principles I should know well, but tend to forget all to often. We really need you as the coherent light source at the end of the tunnel.

Thank you Klaus for teaching me, with examples, those important things a Project Manager should focus on: relentlessly sticking to priorities, asking “When?” and saying “No”. My new house would not have been restructured in 3 months by 30 people hadn’t I used these essential abilities. And I feel I still have to learn something around timeliness from you… 🙂

Thanks Joe for exposing me to a wide range of ideas and ways of reasoning from the PM world that I am still trying to understand better. Hope to work more with you in future.

Thanks Matei for showing me how an unstoppable builder looks like – I admire the speed at which you are able to construct new things.

Franky, just how boring work life would be without you around? And in addition to being a nice, funny person, you have an exceptionally sharp mind that can dig into very very complicated problems – that’s something rare that I hope to see you shining more and more going forward.

Thank you Don for showing us all the way to enlightenment. I had never met someone that could sell free software for millions for real – let alone by telling customers because we love you! Every time I see you on stage or talk with you I sense I have an enormous amount of things I would like to copy from you – as a sales person, as a techie and most importantly as a man. I think your grandchildren are lucky to have you as a granddad. Wooow… Aaah…!

An enormous thank you also goes out to Flavio for being a role model over so many things – being a good Geeko, a good remote worker (even in times when this sounded like science fiction!), an influencing leader, a caring parent, a dear friend that always gives without ever asking anything back. I owe so much to you.

Thank you Dario L for so many reasons I can’t list here — from software, to design, to guitars and to wardrobes. And many, many life lessons. I am lucky having you as a friend.

Thank you Martin for being an extremely generous and and incredibly strong person. Thanks for demonstrating with your life one of my favourite musician quotes ever:

Success is falling nine times and getting up ten.

– Jon Bon Jovi

Keep on rocking, Phoenix!