Stepping aside as CEO
Top VC firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers brought in Hugh C. Martin as EIR. He'd held positions such as head of desktop engineering at Apple Computer and president of 3DO, a video game start-up.
Kevin Compton, a partner at Kleiner, then offered him the top job at ONI. "He told me, `You will work harder than you ever have before in your life, but I have the feeling you will make more money than you can ever imagine,' " recalled Mr. Martin, now 49.
...He soon learned firsthand a business principle akin to the law of physics that says no two bodies can exist at the same time in the same place: When two companies wed, there can be only one surviving boss.
Those who are asked to step aside rarely like to talk publicly about the experience. But now, taking the summer off to sail around Martha's Vineyard with his family and to ponder what to do next, he has agreed to tell about his.