Jay Graber Steps Down as Bluesky CEO
She'll still be at Bluesky, just focused more on engineering.
Over the past few years, Bluesky has seen a meteoric rise, shifting from a theoretical whitepaper for technical inquiries to a fully-realized decentralized social network with millions of users. As the AT Protocol continues to pick up steam, open questions have bubbled up regarding the prioritize of Bluesky PBC, the company behind Bluesky.
Recently, Bluesky CEO Jay Graber has announced that she is stepping down from the role to pivot to a Chief Innovation Officer position within the company.
As Bluesky matures, the company needs a seasoned operator focused on scaling and execution, while I return to what I do best: building new things. As part of this transition, Toni Schneider, former CEO of Automattic and partner at True Ventures, will join our team as interim CEO, while our board runs a search for a permanent chief executive.
This isn’t the end for Bluesky
When I first heard the news, I noticed that some people were asking whether or not this was a fail indicator for the company and its project, and whether Jay was being “pushed out” in favor of VC-focused leadership. I don’t think this is the case.
Jay Graber is, first and foremost, an engineer. Shifting from a development background to one of management, public relations, and growth can be exceptionally stressful. Despite the bravado a title like CEO seems to entail, it’s often deeply unfun work for a builder. In all likelihood, her new role might move her closer to working on the AT Protocol, which the community could only benefit from.
For now, Bluesky’s biggest obstacle is growth. As of this month, Bluesky has over an estimated 40 million user accounts, but that’s still a drop in the bucket compared to big social networks such as X (roughly 550 million amounts) and Facebook (3.07 billion users). Add in Bluesky’s aspirations to provide a network that goes far beyond microblogging, and the picture of what Bluesky needs is much clearer.
Who is Toni Schneider?
Toni Schneider will be stepping in as Bluesky’s interim CEO while the company searches for a suitable replacement. Currently, he is a partner at VC firm True Ventures, and previously served as a CEO at Automattic. Over the past few years, he has helped the Bluesky team as an advisor.
Toni shares his perspective of the situation on his own blog:
I’ve spent most of my career working on open platforms, from WordPress and Automattic to the Yahoo Developer Network and to open marketplace businesses like Bandcamp that we backed at True.
What I’ve learned is that openness is not just a technical choice, it’s a philosophical one. Decisions about who controls the network, who owns the data, and who captures the value shape what the internet becomes.
Evan Prodromou from the Social Web Foundation also had a few nice words to say about the transition:
Overall, Toni seems like a good fit for the role. Time will tell what a change in leadership will do for Bluesky PBC, but so far, it seems like a positive change.
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