One of the more philosophical conversations to be had about Kiss Cam Gate™ is how one viral moment befell a confluence of players who very much did not want the attention. The couple caught in the act of cheating didn’t want the world seeing them, for obvious reasons (puts a real damper on date night); the tech company the couple work(ed) at certainly didn’t want the public embarrassment from two of their C-Suite employees; and Coldplay, well, I guess as performers they’re used to attention, it’s just the rest of the world that’s been like, “Really? At a Coldplay concert?” In an age where so many people want their 15 minutes (and sponcon deals), I find it funny, in a Greek myth sort of way, that the fickle mistress of fame chose to single out those who weren’t seeking her favor. But like it or not, tech company Astronomer is having to come to grips with their new status. Co-founder, newly-appointed interim CEO, and alleged adult Pete DeJoy (seriously, he still looks like a kid to me!) waxed poetic on this “surreal” moment in a LinkedIn post on Monday:
Astronomer’s interim CEO addressed the public for the first time since taking over for his scandal-laden predecessor Andy Byron. Pete DeJoy, who co-founded the tech unicorn, was named interim head of the company over the weekend after Byron resigned his post.
Byron’s resignation came on the heels of a kiss cam video at a Coldplay concert that showed him embracing the firm’s HR head, Kristin Cabot. Byron, who is married, and Cabot attempted to hide from the cameras, creating a viral internet moment.
After the clip spread, Bryon was placed on leave while the board launched a formal investigation into his conduct. DeJoy, Astronomer’s then chief product officer, was tapped for the corner office in his absence. Byron resigned his post on Saturday.
“The events of the past few days have received a level of media attention that few companies—let alone startups in our small corner of the data and AI world—ever encounter,” DeJoy wrote on LinkedIn Monday. “The spotlight has been unusual and surreal for our team and, while I would never have wished for it to happen like this, Astronomer is now a household name.”
DeJoy, a graduate of Bowdoin College, co-founded Astronomer in 2017. The company has since grown into a successful private data infrastructure and operations company that achieved unicorn status in 2022 with a $1 billion or more valuation. He underscored his commitment to the company’s customers and employees in his Monday message, thanking those working at the company for their resilience and Astronomer’s clients for their trust.
“Our story is very much still being written,” he wrote.
OK, if you’re a DataOps luddite like me, then you too were immediately and almost completely distracted by the presence of unicorns in this article. Not once, but twice! Did I miss Lisa Frank taking her cheerful school organizational products and translating them into the digital world? But no, “unicorn” is an actual term in the tech business world that applies to privately held startups that have valuations exceeding $1 billion. (So, pretty much exactly like the article said yet somehow flew over my head… I really am smart you guys, I swear!)
Moving past the unicorns, there’s a lot more to DeJoy’s statement than what Fortune excerpted. For instance: “We’re here because Astronomer is built by people who live to solve hard problems, stay late to fix what’s broken, and care deeply about doing things the right way.” Oh dear, Petey, I’m not sure now’s the time to be boasting about your people doing things the right way! And then it gets even better with the closer, addressed to their customers: “thank you for your trust. We won’t let you down.” Um, is there an “again” missing from the end of that sentence? I realize two individuals — one of whom is already confirmed to be booted — do not alone define a company. But the very recently departed CEO did let down their customers by leading the company into infamy this way. Let alone the fact that he literally dove down in the viral clip that started it all!
Last comment: is anyone else getting Natasha Bedingfield vibes from DeJoy’s “Our story is very much still being written,” line?
Photos are screenshots from YouTube/SiliconANGLE theCUBE and credit: Best Image/Backgrid
