The departures at OpenAI last week were cryptic.

This is what the opposite looks like.

But there’s not a lot of clarity around these departures and why they keep happening. Ahead of the IPO.

Last week it was the CRO and the former COO. Earlier this year the head of ethics and two senior safety officers left too.

The reasons we keep or leave our jobs are personal. I’m not going to speculate now.

But every time an explanation for an executive departure is too vague or too polished to mean anything, I think about this letter.

It’s the departure letter of Groupon CEO Andrew Mason. He sent it in 2013 and it’s been living rent free in my head since then.

His goodbye opened, “I’ve decided I’d like to spend more time with my family. Just kidding. I was fired today.” He named his failures, took accountability, and ended with this: “have the courage to start with the customer.”

It was an unusually refreshing take.

And the clarity is rare.

But what he said about the customers should matter most at the companies with the most at stake.

I’m building Purpose because I know AI can genuinely help people flourish. That will only work if the people building at the frontier never lose sight of the humans at the other end of their products.

Whatever is happening at OpenAI, I hope that question is still being asked. Loudly.