"You two go home and talk about me!"

This, of course we firmly denied.

Who us? No, never. That is absolutely not what we do. Why would we do that? For shame on you for even suggesting.

When, well, actually, it's exactly the very thing we did.

Let's catch you up some.

If you recall, Sarah Hodges joined Smarterer. The first thing to know - and most importantly (if I know what's good for me) - is that Sarah produced excellent work.

The second is, yeah, we started dating.

Now, today one might offer the obvious platitude: It's never a good idea to fish off the company pier. Yes, they might. But way way way back in 2011, things were different. Or, no, not really. But, well...I wasn't actually full-time at Smarterer, so whose say, really?

Regardless, I'm a seagull, and seagulls are allowed to date, aren't they?

Since we're being honest here, let's talk company water-coolers. You know, he-said-this or she-said-that; there's the bitch session, the tear down, the finger point, the rumor mill - and the gripe about the guy with halitosis.

And Mike PK - no slouch when it comes to intuition - realized that Sarah and I dating meant we were probably forming our very own water cooler; one where we conspired about JFS and him.

And so,"You two go home and talk about me!" Mike PK shouted at us, red in the face.

And after vehemently denying that we went home and talked about the other co-founders, cross-our-hearts, hope-to-die, Sarah and I made a new rule: no more going home and talking about the other co-founders.

Good idea. Thank you very much, Mike PK.

A few months later, a strategy session in which we sniffed whiteboard markers and ate soggy sandwiches, all while tussling with one simple question: where exactly was Smarterer going?

Chase two rabbits and you get none, or so goes the old adage.

Smarterer chased recruiters, where we helped validate people's skills as they were seeking work. But it also chased an education solution, where learning and development (L&D) professionals used us to identify employee skill gaps.

Each market came with a different tuning of our tests, with different requirements for question bias and psychometric rigor. Each required different ways of working with customers, of pricing strategy, of business development, of team design - and just about everything else.

With customers like GE and Accenture piloting, we firmly committed to L&D.

Feeling congratulatory, at day's end, we went around the room to gain everyone's commitment to the decision.

I'm In. I'm in. I'm in.

Huzzahs and high fives all around. That is until JFS's turn.

"I don't think I agree," she admitted, two plus years and then some into the business.

"I am not just not that excited about the strategy." Looking back, it was as obvious as your ear is to your elbow: JFS wanted more room to operate independently of the Seagull; and now the Seagull's girlfriend was operating as one of her own direct reports.

I think one might call that something of an insufferable sandwich.

For months I networked unsuccessfully to find a new CEO. It started to feel desperate. "C'mon man, it's your vision, you're a CEO, and you're hanging around - no one is going to want to step back into JFS's shoes," admitted Bullhorn CEO, Art Papas, before adding,

"And you want to do it. Just take the job."

So one afternoon, my rope fully frayed, I called Simon Hay, CEO of dunnhumby, with the intent to resign as head of M&A. I need to leave to run this tiny little startup, I said, "you remember, the one with the horrific name."

Simon, ever thoughtful and creative, offered a terrifying solution, "well, why don't you just do both jobs at once?"

On JFS's last day, she arrived at 500 Harrison with a tray of desk plants - one for each co-worker at Smarterer. This an appreciation gift for the team, as thanks for time well-spent.

She handed me a tiny, beautiful money tree, with its trunk pre-twisted in a 3-way braid - as if an olive branch that had become infected on its way to resolution.

And so here we were. Smarterer had defined its direction, but it was short on cash and runway. And with another full time job running, I'm back as CEO, sitting in the proverbial bird's nest, alongside my co-founder Mike PK.

Oh. I also had five new direct reports. Including one who was exceptional at her job and who took absolutely zero guff from anyone.

One of my very first tasks was to evaluate every employee's skills; to provide them clear direction and to manage them.

I called Sarah Hodges into a room for our 1:1.

Allow me to say this: I wouldn't recommend this particular challenge to anyone...

^{[stay tuned for part IV]}