Around that time, a big change was being prepared inside Scaleway. What we named later, the pivot. It was decided that the company would pivot to only cloud offerings. Up to that point there had been two distinct offerings. Cloud offerings, billed by the hour, and dedicated offerings billed by the month. The biggest business was the second but the one with the most potential growth was the first.

Everything was to be folded into the cloud offering. To make that work, teams were being reorganized and it was planned to do a big recruitment drive. I initially declined to change teams but between my dwindling self confidence, the longing to work in the space industry with no clear opportunities, doubting about continuing a career in hardware because of the limited opportunities, and starting to really dislike Paris, I decided I needed to change.

The change would have to use something I could use as a lever to be able to gain a position of seniority. The change had to permit me to leave Paris and go work remotely in Angers where I would move closer to a childhood friend. That was the overall plan.

I used my experience of building Carbon14 to request a role in the storage team. A few days before the all-hands announced the changes, I went to talk to Arnaud, the CEO, to request the change which he enthusiastically approved. Now I needed to speak to Gregoire and I had to do it quickly. I asked for a meeting but it kept being pushed back in time.

Then, the all-hands arrived. We were all sitting in the press conference room of Iliad. Arnaud and Xavier Niel, founder of Free and Iliad, did the presentation, unveiling slide after slide.

They presented the goals, the office relocation, the budget… and the teams… I was sitting next to Greg when the slide of the new storage team was unveiled. The one where Gregoire learned from someone else that I was leaving his team. I felt horrible.

It was bad for multiple reasons. But most importantly because it surprised him completely. When he had asked me weeks earlier, I had not wished to change teams. We talked about it after the all-hands. I explained that the main raison, the one I understood at the time, was to be able to work remotely. That, I thought, was not compatible with the lab. I had never voiced that concern before but still, he told me it could be arranged and I could have equipment at home. He told me this because he was more confident in my abilities than myself. I couldn’t clearly explain my reasons at the time because I didn’t understand them myself. Seven years after 2017, after graciously reading the first draft, Greg told me that he finally understood why I had left the lab.

These four years had imprinted on me so much. I would carry on that legacy in the storage team, my next place at Scaleway. Looking back it was an awesome time. I can never thank Jerome, Pierro, Julien, Antoine and Gregoire enough. Among other co-workers, Eve, Marion, Fouhad, Florian, Solvik, Stephanie and many more.

Before pivoting to storage, I had one last thing to do. Celebrate my 30th birthday.

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(1) https://x.com/Scaleway_fr/status/933275785812639744/photo/2

(2) https://x.com/Scaleway_fr/status/930096123456491522/photo/1

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If you have missed it, you can read the previous episode here​

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To pair with :

• This place was a shelter - Ólafur Arnalds
• Neptune's brood by Charles Stross