Jayway – it lasted more than a decade. All the colleagues, all the fun, all the experiences. It just had to end.
We started in 2k and we just didn’t get it. The world of IT was about to change. All pretty much went downhill after the glorious, but delirious, nineties. It was four of us trapped in an attic with only a sliver of the sky to see – if we jumped really high.
I had signed on with a clause in my contract – I couldn’t be a manager. This suited me fine. I was a coder acutely aware of my flaws as a person. And I knew I tended to forget them (and still do). I knew one other thing. The choice for me was to go at it alone or to team up. The latter seemed so much more promising. Having colleagues seemed better. The sheer speed of a group on the go was way better if I wanted to learn faster.
It was to be – despite the first interviews, which were unbelievable bad. In this process my nephew (here’s looking at you Niklas) did two things right. One; He pointed me to a sentence in the national rag Computer Sweden talking about a company focused solely on Java programming. Two; He argued if they’re that immature, imagine how much you can affect! I hope I did.
Coffee
To this day I can’t pass the café without thinking about two of the founding members of Jayway I met there. High on caffeine I talked a couple of holes in their brains. The third founder was still on vacation when I signed the agreement which was high risk. But then again I never was the one for safety. Never has been.
That first year was one big struggle to make ends meet. It was a close call, but somehow we managed to survive. To this day I don’t truly know how. What we did get right though, was the team thing and two words – fun and competence. In the first year we got those right and kept on going.
Fast forward
11 years later, some 1300 hours of internal exchange of knowledge – above beyond the call of duty – we were touching 150 colleagues. Sure there were days where it rained and the smiles hardened by work. Who hasn’t been there? But there were so many hours and days of sheer joy. In short, it was great.
But, despite of all of those moments, all of those faces, I realized I needed to take the next step. For me it was to work with a team towards a common goal. Maybe dispersed geographically, but still hooked up mentally trying to live a common dream – a team. So there had to be an end. I resigned.
The people
It felt truly odd. I was going to be ex Jayway.
The next step was a total surprise to me – loads of heart and best wishes. I guess I just hadn’t given it much thought, but it hit my heart deep. A week later I still struggle to get my head around it.
Jaywayers! Thank you for all the years of fun and great work!
/Björn
Tumblelight 