A new chapter for me, and a new General Manager for Meteor Software

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Hey everyone,

After more than 4 years leading Meteor Software, my time here is coming to an end. So, thank you!

Thank you for the trust, the honest feedback, the bug reports, the pull requests, the forum threads, and the kind words over the years. This community is the reason Meteor is still here and still evolving.

My story with Meteor started back in 2016, when I was a developer finding a framework that let me ship full-stack apps faster than anything else I’d used. I built products with it, taught it, created a course about it. So when I joined Meteor Software in January 2022, it felt like taking care of something I was already part of.

We faced big challenges, and some of them were hard.

Meteor 3 is the best example. Without modern async and a current Node.js foundation, I don’t think the framework would have a future. I pushed hard for Tiny to invest in that, and I’d do it again.
I know it took longer than anyone expected, including me. We only got through it because the core team, partners, and this community pushed together.

And once we shipped it, we kept shipping. SWC in 3.3, RSpack in 3.4, Change Streams in 3.5, and there’s more coming: Rspack 2.0 and Capacitor are already in the works.

Galaxy changed a lot too. It grew from a Meteor-only host into a real cloud platform: managed MongoDB, Postgres and Redis, support for Node.js, Python, and AdonisJS apps, and our own bare metal infrastructure with Galaxy Metal. Metal makes hosting faster and cheaper to run, and I’m really proud of it.
We also had our share of issues along the way, and some of you felt them directly. To everyone who stayed with us through those moments and helped us get better: thank you. We always gave it our best.

All of this was teamwork. The core team, the Galaxy team and everyone who contributed to the framework. And you, using it all in production and telling us what to fix.

About what comes next for the company: Gavin Vickery (@geekforbrains) will be the new General Manager of Meteor Software. Please give him a warm welcome. I’m sure he’ll introduce himself to the community soon.

As for me, I’m taking some time to figure out what’s next.

Wishing Meteor, Galaxy, and all of you a lot of success.

See you around.

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Fred, thank you. Meteor 3 alone would be enough of a legacy, but you also leave behind a stronger community, a faster shipping cadence, and a Galaxy that grew into a real cloud platform. It’s been a privilege to work alongside you. Wishing you all the best in this new chapter.

To the community: we know a leadership change can raise questions, but the team stays, the plan stays, and the work continues. The same core team that shipped SWC, Rspack, and Change Streams is still here, and Rspack 2.0 and Capacitor support are actively in progress, as Fred mentioned. On the Galaxy side, nothing changes either: we keep investing in the platform, from managed databases to Galaxy Metal.

Transitions are part of every long journey, and Meteor’s journey is far from over. Thanks for being part of it :slight_smile:

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Thank you, Fred. It has been a privilege working alongside you over the past few years. We went through a lot together: Meteor 3, the growth of Galaxy, and plenty of hard moments along the way.
You have always cared deeply about Meteor and its community, and that has made a real difference. Thank you for the trust and for everything you put into this chapter.
Wishing you and your family all the best for what comes next. We’ll keep building from here.

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Hey Fred,

I was a little taken aback by the news, and I wanted to say how much I enjoyed the time we worked together, both at Pathable and Meteor.

I have a great deal of admiration for the work you’ve done—the direction you helped steer the framework in alongside the community, as well as the remarkable progress you led at Galaxy.

I wish you and your family all the very best, and I hope whatever comes next is every bit as exciting and rewarding as your time at Meteor.

All the best,
Leo

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Thank you, Fred!

Meteor has had a long history of ups and downs, with transition periods full of uncertainties. Your leadership helped remove many of those uncertainties around both the Meteor framework and the Galaxy hosting platform that has supported so many products and ideas since the early days of the framework we all love.

I feel really grateful to have worked with you because I saw how much you cared about the Meteor community, the core and Galaxy teams behind it. You always encouraged genuine collaboration, supported people through important decisions, respected different perspectives, and brought everyone together for open discussions that led to stronger decisions for the benefit of both the team and the community.

I also feel grateful to have experienced a leadership style built on mutual respect, trust, and looking beyond the short term. That allowed us to build a small but focused and protected team that has delivered many great improvements over the past few years across both Meteor and Galaxy.

You may have left Meteor, but you have left your mark on its history. I feel confident about how the path you helped shape can continue into the future.

Wishing you and your family all the best, and the very best in your next professional endeavors.

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Welp, can’t believe I’d ever say this but I’m going to miss you lol life has its ways after all :smile:

Damn, when things started getting good for Meteor, you leave?!! I ain’t blaming just sad and a bit frustrated. This should be the time for you to sit back and enjoy your creations.

On a side note, I knew we had little bumps so sorry if I was rude sometimes.

I can only say thank you for the time and work you had put, you were honest and authentic and it shows.

Take the time off you need around your loved ones and be sure this community will always be there for you.

Thank you, Fred :saluting_face:

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Hey everyone :wave:t2:

Fred, thank you. Following someone who’s been steering this for four years, and part of the community for a decade before that, is a humbling way to start. Meteor 3 was a significant effort of work, and the framework has a future because you pushed for it and kept pushing. That’s a real legacy.

I’d also like to address the elephant in the room. Leadership changes bring uncertainty. A new person, with no track record with this community, probably has you wondering, “What’s going to change?” That’s a fair question.

I’d love to pretend I already have all the answers, but I don’t. I’m not here to reinvent the roadmap or launch some wild new initiative. I’m here to listen, learn, and support a team that has already blown the doors off a framework that badly needed some love. And boy, did they deliver.

I want to see that momentum continue. I also want to explore how Galaxy can better support this community and help ensure Meteor’s growth and longevity.

I’m joining from Input Logic, a digital product studio I co-founded more than 15 years ago. Over that time, I built a team of around 30 people focused on creating web and mobile products for bold-thinking brands and startups. While I’ll remain a founder and advisor at Input, Meteor and Galaxy will be my sole professional focus moving forward.

The first few weeks will come with a learning curve. They usually do, and I’m here for it. I’m looking forward to getting to know the team, the community, and what matters most to all of you.

Let’s do this :handshake:t2:

Gavin

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Welcome @geekforbrains , we will be watching you :eyes: haha

Best of luck Gavin!

Leo

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Good luck going forward, Fred.

It was great working with you in those early days after Filipe moved on. Your leadership has given MeteorJS a real chance to play on a level field with other app platforms.

You have my info; it’s been a while - let’s catch up before the summer’s over.

Regards,

Alim