---
title: "Skyliner's Marc Hedlund On Engineering Management"
description: "Marc Hedlund, a veteran engineering leader and former VP at Stripe and Etsy, discusses his experience shutting down his startup Skyliner and the lessons learned. He explains that Skyliner failed because its value proposition was not compelling to a wide enough market, and because Amazon released a competing product, Code Star, which he advises entrepreneurs not to build solely on AWS. Hedlund contrasts the rational decision to close Skyliner with the emotional difficulty of shutting down his earlier startup Wesabe, where customer impact was deeply felt. He emphasizes that startups should focus on making users happy quickly rather than pursuing long-term hoped-for outcomes, and that founders must be honest about market signals. Hedlund addresses tech diversity through his board work with Code2040, sharing that simple actions like smiling and saying hello to Black and Latinx visitors can significantly impact recruitment."
---

# Skyliner's Marc Hedlund On Engineering Management

[Intercom](https://yomu.fyi/company/intercom) · Oct 12, 2026

**Type:** Explainer

## Summary

Marc Hedlund, a veteran engineering leader and former VP at Stripe and Etsy, discusses his experience shutting down his startup Skyliner and the lessons learned. He explains that Skyliner failed because its value proposition was not compelling to a wide enough market, and because Amazon released a competing product, Code Star, which he advises entrepreneurs not to build solely on AWS. Hedlund contrasts the rational decision to close Skyliner with the emotional difficulty of shutting down his earlier startup Wesabe, where customer impact was deeply felt. He emphasizes that startups should focus on making users happy quickly rather than pursuing long-term hoped-for outcomes, and that founders must be honest about market signals. Hedlund addresses tech diversity through his board work with Code2040, sharing that simple actions like smiling and saying hello to Black and Latinx visitors can significantly impact recruitment.

## Context

Interview with Marc Hedlund, veteran engineering leader and former VP at Stripe and Etsy, discussing his startup Skyliner’s shutdown, management lessons, and diversity efforts through Code2040.

## Takeaways

- Skyliner failed because its value proposition was not compelling to a wide enough market, and Amazon’s release of Code Star further hurt its prospects.
- Hedlund advises entrepreneurs not to build solely on AWS as a business decision, despite it being a good technical decision.
- Simple actions like smiling and saying hello to Black and Latinx visitors can significantly impact recruitment, as shown by Box’s success with Code2040 Tech Trek.

## FAQ

### Why did Skyliner shut down?

Skyliner shut down because its value proposition was not compelling to a wide enough market, and Amazon released a competing product, Code Star. Hedlund also notes that building solely on AWS was a business mistake.

### What is the most important lesson for startups?

Focus on making users happy quickly rather than pursuing long-term hoped-for outcomes. Hedlund emphasizes that if you do that better than anyone else, you'll win.

### How can companies improve diversity in tech?

Simple actions like smiling and saying hello to Black and Latinx visitors can significantly impact recruitment. Hedlund shares that Box's employees were instructed to do this during Code2040 visits, leading to many students wanting to apply.

**Tags:** [Diversity](https://yomu.fyi/topic/diversity), [Engineering Management](https://yomu.fyi/topic/engineering-management), [Leadership](https://yomu.fyi/topic/leadership), [Startups](https://yomu.fyi/topic/startups)

- Source: [Intercom](https://www.intercom.com/blog/podcasts/skyliner-marc-hedlund-engineering-management)
- Source URL: https://www.intercom.com/blog/podcasts/skyliner-marc-hedlund-engineering-management
- Ingested by Yomu: 2026-10-12T18:00:21.606Z

[Read original post](https://www.intercom.com/blog/podcasts/skyliner-marc-hedlund-engineering-management)