Isaac Kunen

Professionally, I’ve built Snowflake’s Snowpark, Tableau Prep, SQL Server’s geospatial support, and more. Recently, I’ve been learning physics at the UW and teaching at North Seattle College.

Personally, I’m a father, a husband, a cellist, a photographer, and a tinkerer.

All opinions expressed here are mine alone: you can’t have them.

2 minute read

Just reading this blog, you might guess that all I do is leave jobs. First leaving Tableau, and now, four years later, departing Snowflake.

goodbye

I’m incredibly proud of what we accomplished at Snowflake, particularly with Snowpark. Snowpark not only expands what customers and partners can do with the platform, but also provides a lot of flexibility for Snowflake itself. I expect this to pay dividends for a long time.

Moreover, the Snowpark team – and Snowflake engineering in gereral – was absolutely top notch and a joy to work with.

So why leave?

Certainly not because of the people or for lack of interesting work. Nor for doubts in the company: Snowflake is absolutley crushing it. (And as a stockholder, I look forward to them continuing to crush it.)

This was a much more personal decison. I’ve had a longstanding ambivalence towards the software industry. Software has provided me with a lot of interesting, worthwhile problems to solve, and smart, engaging people to solve them with. And it has paid the bills quite handsomly.

On the other hand, I’ve always found myself drawn to the less practical side of computing, mathematics, and the sciences – maybe it runs in the family. I was in academia once: a graduate student for all the wrong reasons, and a poor one as a result. Now I’m in a position to explore again, this time with a bit more perspective.

Exactly how will this exploration play out? I have some ideas, but the truth is that I’m not yet entirely sure.

In the short term, my plans are to take a little time off, get a little more involved in my kids’ schools, and start thinking about the future. I’ll also try to write a bit more about non-employment topics here, as well as get some pictures posted on our new family blog.

Stay tuned!

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