A new chapter for SharpestMinds

Reflections on taking the role of CEO

Hello! Big news from the SharpestMinds team this week.

The founders, Edouard and Jeremie Harris, are moving on. They are handing the reigns over to myself and Alejandro Ruperti. As of this week, we are officially CEO and President of SharpestMinds.

Edouard and Jeremie are not jumping ship completely. Ed will remain on the board, and both founders will continue to be active in the SM community and help the company as advisors.

I won’t get deep into their decision in this post. The short story is that they are worried about the existential risks of AI and feel they can have an outsized impact on addressing it. You can read Ed’s blog post about it for more context.

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As I write this, I’m sitting at my family cottage near my hometown of Thunder Bay, enjoying my favourite view of Lake Superior. It’s a fitting place to reflect on the transition. I was sitting in this exact spot last summer when Ed and Jer first told us about their decision.

My view, then and now.

It was quite a shock. I knew they were concerned about the so-called alignment problem. It was a concern I shared. Though not with the same urgency, it turned out. And things with SharpestMinds were going so well at the time.

I remember being quite rattled. It was hard to enjoy the rest of my visit. It seemed very likely that it was the end for SharpestMinds—this amazing company with so much potential that I had attached my professional identity to.

It seems absurd now, but the next few months involved serious discussions about shutting SM down—about trying to sell the company. At one point, I was looking for jobs to apply for and I thought seriously about starting my own company.

I went through a wide range of emotions. From anger to acceptance to depression. But I couldn’t get rid of the feeling that it would be a huge mistake to let the SharpestMinds experiment go unfinished.

Alejandro, the only other employee at the time, was going through a similar experience. We both came to the same conclusion—let’s keep SharpestMinds alive. It meant we would both have to go way beyond our comfort zones and take on much more responsibility. But it would be better than the regret we would have to live with if we didn’t try.

Ed and Jer were pleased. They too did not want to see the SharpestMinds experiment go unfinished. And they had faith in us to grow into leadership roles. We were lucky to be able to make the transition slowly with Ed and Jer gradually ceding responsibilities to Ale and over the better part of a year.

Now, a year from that initial shock, we can finally tell the world. The response has been heartwarming. The mentors and mentees in the SM community have been incredibly supportive, both of Ed and Jer’s decision and of mine and Ale’s new leadership roles.

The SM community is the best community.

I feel extraordinary lucky to be in this position—imposter syndrome not withstanding. It’s still early days for SharpestMinds, and there is a lot of room to grow.

To quote a SM mentee-turned-mentor I talked to recently: “Mentoring changes futures.” The right mentor at the right time can have an enormous positive impact. Thanks to a growing pool of amazing mentors, we get to see the positive impact of mentorship on a daily basis. And I’m eager to extend that to as many people as we can.

Now, back to building.

- Russell

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