Ellen Fishbein

Did NOT expect this… 1.1 million impressions from my posts about leaving Acquisition I’ll admit it’s been an bit uncomfortable as someone whose been behind the scenes for so long to have my work, face, and professional history snowball across the internet + to have cold pitches and scambots destroy MY DMs for once + to feel like there are suddenly expectations to continue to do “impressive things”. Some reflections: 👉 1) We don’t talk enough about how to leave a job well. There’s a lot of guidance on how to GET or START jobs but not as much on how to exit gracefully & set everyone up for success. Looking back I am increasingly realizing what an enormous privilege it is to work with world-class people (Alex and Leila, Mrbeast, etc) When founders hire you to lead important functions at their companies, that is a BIG decision. They’re often staking their reputation and life’s work on a stranger they’ve gotten to know through just a few interviews, with the HOPES you have aligned incentives and values. I felt like in my departure, I owed Alex and Leila the same care they gave when they bet on and invested in me, so I: -Gave 6 weeks notice. -Reviewed every outdated SOP and made sure that all the “tribal knowledge’ in my head was written down -Spent an absurd amount of time training one of my backfills -Wrote a 49-page Google Doc; a complete guide on How to Succeed at Mozi Media for whoever came next. This isn’t prescriptive by any means. Intentional offboarding is different for every person, but regardless of the specifics, it’s a gift to everybody involved when you can do it. 👉 2) I’ll never feel bad about not staying in touch with professional acquaintances again. Over the last few weeks, people I haven’t spoken to in half of decade have reached out. They have all been amazing reconnecting conversations. We exchanged laughs, guidance, mutual intros. With no hard feelings about the time in between; everyone who’s busy respects the game. & I know “networking philosophies” vary a lot: I at least, do not care for random phone calls just to “stay top of mind” with someone. No guilt needed. 👉 3) Building in public makes the game more fun. It’s been shockingly gratifying to process my career out loud. & for the first time, I accepted an invitation to speak on a podcast (which y’all will see sometime in 2026) I’ve always journaled , but it sometimes feels empty. Like shouting into a dark room with no feedback to sense check my assumptions or help others with my insights. Externalizing my years of notes has been some of the most enjoyable work I’ve done in years. and i appreciate everyone who has followed along and shared kind words. SO… in summary 1) I had my “viral moment”. 2) Time to suffer from algorithmic irrelevance as I keep posting but with much less visibility as I painstakingly build an audience of my own. 3) See you on your news feed probably six months from now ;)