‘I disdain corporate speak’: Tech founder disregards comms and legal in tell-all sign-off post about the heavy weight of being CEO
Key Takeaways
“I’ve never overhyped or played into the Silicon Valley kool-aid drinking tech bro stereotypes,” said Life360 co-founder Chris Hulls in a farewell blog post.
Article Overview
Quick insights and key information
6 min read
Estimated completion
investment
Article classification
August 12, 2025
09:25 PM
Fortune
Original publisher
C-Suite·CEO salaries and executive compensation‘I disdain corporate speak’: founder disregards comms and legal in tell-all sign-off post the heavy weight of being CEOBy Amanda GerutBy Amanda GerutNews Editor, West CoastAmanda GerutNews Editor, West CoastAmanda Gerut is the west coast editor at Fortune, overseeing publicly traded es, executive compensation, Securities and Exchange Commission regulations, and investigations.SEE FULL BIO Life 360 co-founder Chris Hulls has resigned the CEO role and will serve as executive chairman
He offered a tell-all sign-off post to announce the CEO succession
Courtesy of Life360Life360 co-founder Chris Hulls ignored legal advice and the boilerplate, “I want to spend more time with my family” in an announcement why he’s leaving the CEO role
Hulls said there were aspects to being the CEO that he loved, but there are parts that drain him. “The honest truth is that my brute-force style got results and still can, but being the backstop of last re, 24/7, year after year, comes with a constant weight.” He is now the executive chairman and ex-COO Lauren Antonoff is the new CEO
Life360 cofounder Chris Hulls is resigning in his own uned way after 20 years—and he isn’t sanitizing the reason the $9 billion location-tracking company has appointed chief operating officer Lauren Antonoff as his replacement. “I disdain corporate speak and owe more than the standard ‘I want to spend more time with my family and Lauren is a great visionary duct-centric strategic operator,’” wrote Hulls in a sign-off blog post. “Comms wrote me a draft
Legal wanted to chime in too
A lot of people had advice on what to say
But I ignored it and decided to my own thoughts without talking points or s, in this single message to anyone who wants to read it.” According to Hulls, he’s burned out. “After nearly two decades of being the last line of defense, I feel it more than I used to,” wrote Hulls. “There are parts of the CEO role I love that fuel me, and parts that drain me
When I’m running on empty, everything suffers.” Hulls wrote that he told the board two years ago when he turned 40 he wanted to transition out of the CEO position before he turned 45, and when the company and the senior leadership team were ready for it
Hulls is stepping aside now to serve as executive chairman because the CEO role should be held by someone who is “all in on every aspect of it, every single day, and that’s Lauren,” he wrote
Hulls said his brain isn’t wired for cleaned-up messages and superlatives common in CEO communications. “I’ve never overhyped or played into the Silicon Valley kool-aid drinking bro stereotypes,” wrote Hulls
Antonoff’s appointment took effect this week
Record-High Turnover in the Corner Office The CEO transition triggered at Life360 comes as corner-office turnover is smashing new records for frequency
Data from executive recruitment firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas found CEO exits at U.S. companies rose 12% during the first half the year with 1,234 CEOs leaving their jobs behind
The latter is a 12% increase over last year and the highest year-to-date number since Challenger began tracking CEO departures at public, private and non-fit companies in 2002
Among firms, 138 CEOs left their roles through June 2025, a 16% increase over 2024
Challenger attributed the rise in CEOs heading for the hills to uncertainty, seismic shifts in , and mounting pressure on traditional leadership structures
The firm found one-third of new CEOs were interim appointments rather than full-fledged, succession-vetted replacements
Overall, some 47% of CEO replacements came from outside the company while internal appointments, Antonoff’s at Life360, occurred 53% of the time
Only 25% of new CEO appointments in 2025 so far are women
Future Plans Antonoff has served as chief operating officer at Life360 since May 2023 and previously held senior positions at GoDaddy and Microsoft
As CEO, Antonoff will collect a $515,000 salary and a target bonus of the same amount
Life360 also granted her one-time motion equity grants valued at a total of $8.4 million and split among restricted-stock units and performance-based stock units
She also got another performance- grant valued at $3.6 million
Life360 CEO Lauren Antonoff and executive chairman Chris Hulls with their dogs
Courtesy of Life360 Hulls said he and Antonoff are completely aligned when it comes to Life360 users and long-term vision, but in other ways the two are “polar opposites.” “The challenges that wear me down at this scale are exactly the ones that fire her up,” Hulls wrote. “She’s fresh, relentless, and loves the work
I can call her at midnight to talk Life360, and she’s not just available, she’s energized.” Over the past year, Hulls and Antonoff have been testing out a setup in which Hulls served as exec chair with Antonoff steadily taking on more and more responsibility for the day-to-day operations of the company, he wrote
Hulls and Antonoff found the two “click in a way that makes duct work a joy.” “We spar, challenge each other, and sharpen ideas, and we have a lot of fun doing it,” Hulls wrote. “I hope one day we can be Jeff Weiner and Reid Hoffman at LinkedIn, one of those leadership duos people point to as a model for how to scale and evolve a company
Much of what’s launched this year, and what’s still to come, has her fingers all over it.” The Life360 board will also undergo a small shakeup with the Antonoff appointment
John Philip Coghlan, who served as chairman of the board for 16 years, will continue on as a director while Hulls serves as executive chair
The board appointed Mark Goines as lead independent director to counterbalance the new structure
Goines has served as a board member since 2019
In a statement, Antonoff thanked Hulls. “Chris has been an amazing partner, and I’m thankful to him and the Board for the trust and confidence they have placed in me
I’m energized and honored to lead the company forward, staying grounded in our mission and focused on delighting our members with ducts that der real peace of mind.” Hulls said he’ll be there if Antonoff needs her. “If she ever needs a pit-fighter, I’ll be here to tussle—whether that’s taking on patent trolls, bottom-ing class action lawyers, causing trouble on TikTok, or injecting a little crazy in a way only a founder can,” wrote Hulls
Introducing the 2025 Fortune Global 500, the definitive ranking of the biggest companies in the world
Explore this year's list.
Related Articles
More insights from FinancialBooklet