John's stint as reluctant temporary CEO of DFTBA.com during Hank's cancer (2023)
story · status: told 3×, stopped by 2023 (as told) · last event: retold (2023-10-06)
In May 2023, while Hank was in cancer treatment, John became the reluctant temporary CEO of DFTBA.com and Complexly, two companies with 115 employees, a job he said in June he loved. At the end of August he announced that a week later he would no longer be DFTBA.com's CEO, with Laura Joukovski coming in.
Told alongside: Hank's Hodgkin lymphoma diagnosis and chemotherapy (2023) · Complexly: the brothers' production company, renamed from EcoGeek (2016) · Nathan Zed's merch on DFTBA.com, partly based on his Vlogbrothers video (2017) · Hank steps back from running DFTBA and Complexly after cancer treatment; new CEO LJ Joukovski, Julie acting CEO (2023)
About: DFTBA Records, Complexly, Laura Joukovski
| date | event | what | video |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023-05-23 | told | John asks people to spare a thought for the employees of DFTBA and Complexly, who now have him, a store-brand Hank Green, as temporary CEO. (playful) | Rough Week 00:02:55 |
| 2023-06-20 | update | John says he loves being the part-time, temporary, reluctant, marginally competent CEO of the two companies and genuinely doesn't resent the brief promotion. | Reflections from a Terrible CEO 00:02:00 |
| 2023-08-01 | update | The description names Laura Joukovski as DFTBA's incoming CEO. | Three Mornings video description |
| 2023-08-08 | retold | John says he was unexpectedly promoted to reluctant and temporary CEO of two companies with 115 employees in total. (playful) | TAKE IT UP A NOTCH 00:00:29 |
| 2023-08-29 (happened 2023-09-05) | stopped | John announces that in one week he will no longer be the CEO of DFTBA.com. | Breaking News: CEO Demoted 00:01:57 |
| 2023-10-06 | retold | Hank recalls that during his cancer treatment John took over as CEO of DFTBA and Complexly before LJ started. | I Quit 00:04:54 |
What is said about it
12 statements, by date (the events above are the turns of the thread; these are the details).
- 2023-05-23 · Rough Week — John now understands concretely that Hank does a lot of things very well, and says he will do some of them less well. (playful) — 00:03:07
- 2023-06-20 · Reflections from a Terrible CEO — announcement: John says he will be very happy to hand the reins back to Hank. — 00:02:20
- 2023-06-20 · Reflections from a Terrible CEO — John says other CEOs could eventually lead the companies better than he ever could, but he loves the job. — 00:02:29
- 2023-08-29 · Breaking News: CEO Demoted — John recalls that when Hank got cancer, he became the reluctant and temporary CEO of DFTBA.com. — 00:00:00
- 2023-08-29 · Breaking News: CEO Demoted — The description says John is proud that DFTBA not only stayed afloat during his tenure but even grew its donations a little. — video description
- 2023-08-29 · Breaking News: CEO Demoted — John says he did not necessarily want to be CEO and attend a lot of meetings, but is aware he was not the protagonist of the story. (playful) — 00:00:45
- 2023-08-29 · Breaking News: CEO Demoted — announcement: John tells Hank he is not going to be the CEO of DFTBA.com, though both brothers will remain deeply involved at DFTBA. — 00:02:55
- 2023-08-29 · Breaking News: CEO Demoted — John declares he speed-ran being CEO and thanks Hank for trusting him with it. (playful) — 00:03:24
- 2023-10-06 · I Quit — announcement: Hank says the person they hired, LJ Joukovski, is amazing; she has had a crash course in Pizza John and has embraced the weird. — 00:02:29
- 2023-10-06 · I Quit — Hank says LJ could make much more money elsewhere: DFTBA is not built to grow fast, maximize profit and sell, so they needed someone more interested in the interesting and weird. — 00:02:58
- 2023-10-06 · I Quit — Hank says his fear at root was that the new leader would decide differently than he would, but that is how it will work, and good, since LJ knows much more than he does. — 00:04:24
- 2023-10-06 · I Quit — Hank says LJ comforted him early on by saying she didn't want the job if he would check out, since part of the appeal was working with him. — 00:04:24