Goodbye to Chaser

Friday was my last day at Chaser. Discussions had been ongoing for the last couple of months with the company's board. It has been agreed that I am not the right person to lead the company forward to the next stage of growth; a stage the company is extremely well placed financially and strategically to embark upon. I will remain a shareholder in the company. But will no longer have any involvement in the day to day running of the business.

I have absolutely loved the 7 years I've spent building and leading Chaser. I wouldn't have believed how fulfilling entrepreneurship and leadership could be. In departing Chaser, I have a number of thank yous to make to those who have helped make the last 7 years so special.

Thank you

Firstly to all of our investors who backed us across three rounds of investment. Special thanks to John Brimacombe and Sussex Place Ventures who led our very first round of investment in 2015, as well as to Maria Dramalioti-Taylor & Beacon Capital, Mark Poole, Craig Winkler & David Allen, John Dwight & Edwin Chia, and Colin Davison. Your support has meant a huge amount to me.

Secondly to everyone in the accounting software industry itself. I was a complete newbie 7 years ago when I attended Xerocon September 2013 on a reconnaissance mission. There I met Jon & Emma Fox, Penny Rowden and Gail Bainbridge & Carol Lewis, who would go on to become the first ever users of Chaser. This industry is characterised by the wonderful people that inhabit it. I've been really fortunate to build so many genuine friendships over the course of those 7 years. There are a huge number of people who have helped me and Chaser and been incredibly generous with their advice. Far too many to name here and I would inevitably miss someone and then feel guilty! But hopefully you know who you are. I'm hugely grateful.

Thirdly to our customers and partners. Your trust and support for us has meant a huge amount to me. I'm immensely grateful for the way you believed in me and Chaser. You have always been so generous with your advice and feedback, as well as being patient when we inevitably got things wrong from time to time. I'm also hugely grateful for how generous you have been in helping us secure the app marketplace reviews and industry awards we won thanks to your votes.

Fourthly to my Co-Founder Mark Woodbridge, who wrote the first lines of code on the product and was our CTO until he left the business in October 2016. Your belief in me and Chaser, coupled with your tireless and incredible work, was ultimately what brought Chaser to life. Chaser as a product has and continues to come on leaps and bounds since you left, but all of that stands on the shoulders of the giant that is Mark Woodbridge and the foundation you laid.

And finally, the biggest thank you of all

Goes to the Chaser team, with special thanks to Ben King, Pedro Sampaio and Beth Oddy who became de facto Co-Founders to me and the company. I'd worked in a number of businesses prior to Chaser. I couldn't have dreamt of being part of a team as great as this; of great people striving to get better who so considerably exceeded the sum of their individual parts. 

Tom Landry, the legendary American football coach said: "A coach is someone who tells you what you don't want to hear, who has you see what you don't want to see, so you can be who you have always known you could be". Now there were likely things that didn't need to be told or seen. And there were definitely many many things that could have been told and seen in, dare I say, more constructive ways! But I can't tell you what an honour it's been to see and be part of watching you make the strides you have on the never-ending journey we're all on to be the people we've always known we could be. I'm hugely excited to see what you go on to achieve next. 

Max De Pree, the Founder of the Herman Miller chair company said "The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant". I like to think I always did a pretty reasonable job of defining reality. And it has been the most incredible privilege to serve as CEO of Chaser. To cook with such great food. It really has meant so much to me. Which brings me to my last responsibility. And that is to say a huge and sincere thank you.

What's next?

I will be taking a bit of time to work out what's next. I will be doing some consulting work in the short term, so please do get in contact with me via LinkedIn or on davidtuck1983@gmail.com if there are any projects you think I might be able to help you with. Or equally, if it would be useful to just informally chat. I'm always very happy to share any advice I might be able to usefully provide.