News, info, and opinion by Mac users, for Mac users.

August 27, 2008

software

Developer and iPhone software firm part company

Posted Aug. 27, ’08, 7:12 AM PT by Dan Moren
Category | Software

mikelee.jpgThe world of technology, she brings people together…and she tears them apart. In a post on his blog, developer Mike Lee (aka The World’s Toughest Programmer and friend to lemurs everywhere) has announced that he will be departing Tapulous, the iPhone software firm that he co-founded, as a result of “irreconcilable differences” over the future of the company.

You probably best know Tapulous as the company behind a pair of iPhone/iPod touch apps: Twitter client Twinkle and rhythm game Tap Tap Revenge. Lee served as Chief Architect of Tapulous, and was responsible for recruiting much of the company’s programming talent. The statement that Lee penned is addressed to his team, many of whom found out about his leaving from that post.

An engineer is nothing without a good reputation. Your reputation determines who you get to talk to, which projects you get to work on, and how much you get paid. In short, your reputation is everything. I have always relied on the simple idea that if I conducted myself with honor, things would work out in the end.

So it came to pass that when my Engineering and Design team had irreconcilable differences with where the company seemed to be headed, I was asked to make good on those promises. Serving as the team’s reluctant spokesman was not in my best interests, but honor dictated my actions. I delivered the team’s message, and was invited to resign.

Lee formerly worked for Delicious Monster, where he was instrumental in developing Delicious Library 2, and left to found Tapulous. Now that he’s on his own, he says he plans to spend time with his wife and “continue to fret over Madagascar.” But if I know one thing about Mac programmers, it’s this: you can’t keep a good developer down. I expect to see the World’s Toughest Programmer back in the game forthwith.

Update: I don’t know what the political views of Mike or the rest of Tapulous are, but I’m pretty sure that I meant to type “the future of the company” and not “the future of the country.” Oopsie.

[Image via Paul Kafasis]


2 Comments

Anonymous said:

Uhhh... the future of the country? I appreciate your writing, Dan, but you need to stop sensationalizing stories! :)

August 27, 2008 8:02 AM
closethipster Author Profile Page said:

Not bad... but still not as good as Stewart Butterfield's resignation letter to Yahoo!: http://valleywag.com/5017424/stewart-butterfields-bizarre-resignation-letter-to-yahoo

August 27, 2008 8:53 AM

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