To the Astronomer crew -- past and present ...: Astronomer's ex-employees writes a long LinkedIn post on Andy Byron's 'Kiss-Cam' scandal; interim CEO Pete DeJoy reacts
Astronomer, the software company at the centre of the 'kiss cam' scandal, announced that Cofounder and Chief Product Officer Pete DeJoy will be serving as interim CEO, as it sent Andy Byron on leave. And yes, in a new update a few hours later, the company said that Andy Byron has resigned, and the Board of Directors has accepted his resignation. As the video of Astronomer CEO Andy Byron and HR head Kristin Cabot caught together at a Cold Play concert went viral, memes too started flooding the internet.
Commenting on the same, a former Astronomer employee Zachary Hensley wrote a long LinkedIn post on the 'Kiss-Cam' scandal. Hensley was the vice president of technology and operations at Astronomer from 2019 to 2024. He is currently President of Livegistics.
In the post, he admitted that he's laughed at Byron's expense following his scandal. 'Yes, I've laughed at the memes.' At the same time, he went on to add that Astronomer as a company are much more that this: 'But I also know Astronomer is more than one moment or one person. It's a team of smart, kind, driven people doing incredible work. And I'll always be rooting for them.'
He concluded his lengthy post by writing, 'To the Astronomer crew—past and present—I love y'all. Keep going. Keep building. You've got this.' Among others, the post got a response from Astronomer's interim CEO Pete DeJoy. He has 'Liked' Hensley's LinkedIn post.
Zachary Hensley's full LinkedIn post on Astronomer CEO's Kiss Cam scandal
The last couple days have been . . . weird, as a former Astronomer employee. I've seen the memes (and shared more than a few), reconnected with
folks I haven't talked to in a couple of years, and felt a strange mix of pride, nostalgia, and whiplash. I won't weigh in on the recent incident or the individuals involved, but I do want to say something about the company and the people.
I joined Astronomer in late 2019 as employee 19 and left in early 2024. In those 4+ years, I wore nearly every hat, leading: sales ops, customer success, support, IT, HR ops, FP&A, security, compliance, platform engineering and operations, and more. I was also undefeated in Slack GIFs. (Ask anyone). It was one of the hardest things I've ever done; but it was also the most rewarding stretch of my life.
We built something pretty rad during those years. Yes, we built a product (or, products, I suppose. I lost count at which version of cloud we were on when I left), but we also built a team that cared deeply for one another. We raised our Series A on Zoom in the first days of COVID, when no one knew if that was even possible. We raised our B. Then our C. We navigated the SVB collapse and multiple RIFs. And through all of that, the people held strong and genuinely loved and gave a shit about each other.
Startups are weird. They're intense. And if you weren't in one during the pandemic, it's hard to describe just how intense. But I will always remember how many of us leaned in to support each other, even when it had nothing to do with work.
That spirit didn't disappear when I left. I still know many of the folks there, and I know they care. They care about the product. About the customers. But, most importantly, they care about each other.
So, yes, I've laughed at the memes. But I also know Astronomer is more than one moment or one person. It's a team of smart, kind, driven people doing incredible work. And I'll always be rooting for them.
To the Astronomer crew—past and present—I love y'all. Keep going. Keep building. You've got this.
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