The synthetic-fuels Texan whose COO stint lasted from a Bix punchline to an Il Fornaio ultimatum
This is Jonathan Hare's account, with its provenance shown. The person or organization named has not yet claimed or corrected it.
Louis Woodhill — suggested by his brother Jim, synthetic fuels background in Texas, no software — flew out, stayed at Steiner Street, declared the new Star Trek unrealistic for its female captain, told the Bix joke that nearly killed the financing, accepted the COO role and 5% Jonathan Hare offered while quietly hoping he'd decline — and then began the takeover: rename to ‘Mission Critical Software,’ move to Houston, and, overheard through the bedroom closet, 10% and operational control on the grounds the founder wasn't ready. The intervention arrived at Il Fornaio as an ultimatum and left as a walkout. His side is invited, per convention; the episode is the record's.
The record's most remarkable recurrence (S-101): fifteen years after the Evolve coup failed at Il Fornaio, Louis Woodhill reappears — as the investor who, with Alsop Louie Partners, took control of Resilient Network Systems' board in late 2013, installed Bill Coleman as CEO, and marginalized Hare into a figurehead role; in 2014 the Spires alliance completed what the walk-in closet had begun a company earlier. Two companies, two decades, the same struggle over the same question: who controls the founder's architecture. The record files the pattern under governance-and-capture and lets the episodes speak.
Per S-113: a major investor in Resilient Network Systems — and, in Hare's account, a key part of the coup that forced him out of the company, which is why he was not asked to invest in WebShield. The boardroom itself is an episode.
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One of Hare's oldest friends and the second patron in this record — whose Capitol Hill house held a future Senator and a future Speaker
Open →the ultimatum on behalf ofThe record holds one fact and says so
Open →overheard atThe unpaid eight-person team, the overheard coup, and the room where 'cowboys again' was announced
Open →the joke atThe Jackson Square legend — lower-level table near the bathroom — where Louis Woodhill tested San Francisco's limits
Open →Everything above is a distillation. The primary source is published in full, so that any claim on this page can be walked back to what was actually said — and where the two differ, the source governs.
The account this page was distilled from, preserved as dictated.
Read the source →Primary source · S-125The account this page was distilled from, preserved as dictated.
Read the source →Primary source · S-127The account this page was distilled from, preserved as dictated.
Read the source →Primary source · S-151The account this page was distilled from, preserved as dictated.
Read the source →This entry is deliberately incomplete. The gaps below are the things only certain people can settle — and settling one is a contribution like any other: recorded, timestamped and attributed to whoever made it.
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