Andy Byron, the startup govt on the middle of a unprecedented social media furor, has resigned as CEO of knowledge operations startup Astronomer.
Byron, who’s married, was captured on a Coldplay live performance “kiss cam” along with his arms across the firm’s chief folks officer Kristin Cabot. After Byron and Cabot shortly tried to cover from the digicam, Coldplay singer Chris Martin joked, “Both they’re having an affair or they’re simply very shy.”
Video of the awkward incident quickly went spectacularly viral — Axios, citing Muck Rack data, reported on Friday that over the previous 24 hours, 22,000 information articles had been printed in regards to the startup, together with 9,000 about Byron himself. (Amidst the numerous jokes and memes, 404 Media argued that the incident is “emblematic of our social media surveillance dystopia.”)
Astronomer, which introduced in Might that it had raised a $93 million Series D, mentioned Friday that Byron had been placed on leave, with cofounder and Chief Product Officer Pete DeJoy turning into interim CEO. Cabot has reportedly been placed on leave as nicely.
Now, the corporate has launched a longer statement saying that Byron has resigned.
“Our leaders are anticipated to set the usual in each conduct and accountability, and just lately, that normal was not met,” Astronomer mentioned.
“Earlier than this week, we have been generally known as a pioneer within the DataOps area, serving to knowledge groups energy every thing from trendy analytics to manufacturing AI,” the corporate added. “Whereas consciousness of our firm could have modified in a single day, our product and our work for our prospects haven’t.”
Techcrunch occasion
San Francisco
|
October 27-29, 2025
DeJoy will proceed to function interim CEO because the board searches for a everlasting alternative.