Dear Tokbox Fans,

I am sad to inform everyone that this will be my last day at Tokbox. Despite Yang’s relentless attempts at getting me to drop out of school, which have resulted in a serious loss of sleep the past few weeks (both for me as well as my mom), I have decided to head back to Philly and finish up my last few semesters at Penn. I’m not sure I can put into words the amount of appreciation and respect that I have for Tokbox as a company, and for the many individuals that give their very best every single day to see a product they believe in succeed. I will truly miss every person in this company and the unique blend of personalities that hold everyone together.

In the past 6 weeks, I have learned an unfathomable amount. From brainstorming product strategy and negotiating business partnerships to 10k runs on the pier followed by cases of beer, this experience has truly been ultimate on all levels. I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to work at Tokbox, and even more appreciative to have been able to do so much whilst I was here. In my opinion, Tokbox is the seed that has survived the winter. A company branded for success.  One that has been tried, tested, and has built up its guard in preparation for growth. Tokbox remains focused on its core strategy, but not blinded like so many companies before. And ultimately Tokbox has survived, which more often than we’d all like to think, can be a start-up’s greatest strategy. While I am sad to leave this company at such a pivotal moment in their history and even more torn leaving a team that has welcomed me with such enthusiasm, I am equally as excited to watch the leaps and bounds that I am so confident will be made in the coming months. I look forward to this coming May, when I will rejoin a stronger Tokbox and once again experience what has easily become the greatest summer of my life.

Everyone have an excellent last few weeks of summer!

The Ultimate Intern,

Andrew Dudum

http://www.tokbox.com/dudum

http://www.twitter.com/andrewdudum

Hey all,

When it comes to work place dynamics, specifically the dynamics between your investors, top management and employees, I will admit forthright that I’ve had little experience.  For this reason, I have done my best to keep my mouth shut and keep my eyes and ears open. After working at Tokbox almost a month now, I thought I’d share with you all one of most important things I’ve learned thus far.

In essence, I now believe one of the most meaningful tasks of any top executive or “leader” is to show proactive appreciation for the work of their fellow employees. While this seems intuitive and down-right kindergarten common sense, I’ve learned that it is not. Let me try to explain.

Instinctively, all people will show basic appreciation when someone completes a task on their behalf or helps them out in someway. This is a reactionary response that everyone has come to expect. A coworker helps me out and so I say thank you. If I hadn’t said thank you, he probably would have felt somewhat crossed. However, it is now my opinion that a reactive response may no longer be good enough to show your appreciation, and I have only come to believe this after witnessing the gratefulness and comfort produced by a proactive response.

A proactive response is more thoughtful, spur of the moment, and somewhat less mechanical. For example, on Thursday morning our CEO Ian brought in doughnuts. Or last Friday, Sequoia’s Roelof Botha took an hour and had pizza and played ice-breakers after our investor’s meeting. While these gestures seem on the surface simply kind and thoughtful, I’ve found that they mean a tremendous amount more in the mix of the average work day.

Proactive appreciation is the glue that keeps a talented office a happy office, and in the start-up environment where human capital and the right blend of talented individuals breeds collective intelligence, a happy office often becomes a successful office. Here at Tokbox, I have seen a tremendous amount of proactive appreciation. From our VP of Engineering’s clock-work thank you emails to our CEO’s continued stocking of the company fridge, proactive appreciation has become the norm. And everyone can agree, that when you truly feel appreciated for your work, your work takes on a whole new level of importance.

As my friend* Joe Kraus says, “Nothing burns people like the equal treatment of unequals. Treat your best people differently. Do amazing things for them. They make your company.”

Have a fun and safe week!

Andrew

* I just follow him on Twitter

Dear Tokbox Fans!

Today marks the half way point for the Ultimate Internship. That’s right, I’m only allowed to call myself ultimate for three more weeks. The six week journey is now half way done and sadly it has gone by far too quickly. I thought for today’s blog post I would try and recap a few of the memorable moments from the past three weeks. I’ll try and get more pics for the second half of this list to come.

Day 3: Completely embarrassed by Yang as he swiftly passed me like a gazelle on our run to Pier 39. Note: Yang is easily 10 years older than me…cool.

Day 6: Ian notices my delicate handwriting, coining the Ultimate Intern a “15 year old girl”

Day 6: Tokbox Lauren officially becomes jealous of my delicate handwriting. http://yfrog.com/0krj4j

Day 7: Took down the cubical walls and introduced the new open office. http://yfrog.com/7h9ohj

Day 7: A delicate sneeze reinvigorates Ian’s joke from Day 6.

Day 7: Tokbox hits record minutes both on-site and off-site

Day 11: Ian announces to the entire company that I am officially a 15 year old girl

Day 13: Skeletons fall out of the closet as mullets from the past are uncovered. — CC: Chris Fox — http://img357.imageshack.us/gal.php?g=6iv.jpg&via=yfrog

Day 13: Debut performance as the guest host on the 2C. http://www.tokbox.com/post/ihqmieg5m5pp

Day 13: Partially fired by Tim during live recording of the 2C…can he do that?

Day 15: Introduced to Sequoia’s Roelof Botha as “the Ultimate Intern”

Day 15: Officially embarrassed as King of VC laughs at my brightly colored shoes and sweater. http://yfrog.com/aliqdj

Everyone have a safe and healthy weekend! Go Giants!

The Ultimate Intern,

Andrew