Slide contents

1. 1. The Last 90 Days at a Company

   Stay, move internally, or leave — three valid outcomes of one managed transition

2. 2. They start before you give notice

   Evidence, options, and conversations come before the irreversible move

3. 3. And they may not be your last

   Stay, move internally, or leave — while testing the market in parallel

4. 4. First understand what is actually wrong

   Work, environment, impact, growth, terms, and meaning are different diagnoses

5. 5. Don’t decide after one bad week

   Look for a recurring pattern, not the loudest episode

6. 6. −90. Days −90…−61

   Understand what is actually wrong and describe the work you want

7. 7. Keep an energy log, not complaints

   Activity · context · engagement · energy afterward

8. 8. Separate the problem from an immovable constraint

   Run experiments on solvable problems; accept or route around fixed constraints

9. 9. Break work into tasks, relationships, and meaning

   You can reshape work boundaries, relationships, and interpretation

10. 10. Check autonomy, competence, and relatedness

    Three needs diagnose more precisely than “I lack motivation”

11. 11. Reflect on your path, not your titles

    Decisions · turning points · mastered scale · recurring themes

12. 12. Gather evidence of contribution and growth

    Outcome · your role · feedback · what you learned

13. 13. Describe the next role through responsibility

    What to own, which decisions to make, and what outcomes to create

14. 14. Align the role with your development plan

    Next year · next scale · long professional arc

15. 15. −60. Days −60…−31

    Test the options, choose an outcome, and start mapping responsibility

16. 16. Quitting is not the first move

    Test whether the work can change faster and at lower cost

17. 17. Four moves before you resign

    Move from the most reversible option to the least reversible

18. 18. Look for a problem, not a vacancy

    Strategic tensions appear before a formal opening

19. 19. Run informational interviews, not job requests

    Context · tension · cost of inaction · needed responsibility

20. 20. Prototype the role before transferring

    Project, review, working group, acting assignment, or shadow role

21. 21. An internal move often benefits both sides

    The company retains context; the person takes on a new scale

22. 22. Establish a new mutual contract

    Outcomes · authority · resources · constraints · evidence

23. 23. The company is interviewing too

    Willingness to grant a mandate matters more than an attractive opportunity

24. 24. An external search can run in parallel

    The market calibrates the role without undermining current work

25. 25. Search by responsibility, not by title

    Filter by the next scale of work, not a familiar label

26. 26. The interview still runs both ways

    You show how you work; the company reveals the real system

27. 27. Decision point: stay, move internally, or leave

    Common criteria, explicit evidence, and a preselected date

28. 28. Begin the next 90 days early

    Research and the next role’s contract begin in advance

29. 29. Every outcome needs a transition

    Even if you stay, the old contract must close

30. 30. Map everything you actually own

    Decisions · commitments · people · cadences · risks · access

31. 31. −30. Days −30…0

    Communicate, transfer control, and maintain boundaries

32. 32. Communicate in the right sequence

    Manager → key people → team → broader audience

33. 33. After notice, you advise — you don’t own

    The new owner decides; you contribute context

34. 34. Every area: an owner and next step

    Transfer · finish · stop · hold temporarily

35. 35. Transfer decision rights first

    The new owner must decide before you disappear

36. 36. Then transfer context, cadences, relationships, and access

    Decisions work only inside a living operating system

37. 37. A document is not transferred knowledge

    Explain · demonstrate · let them act · verify understanding

38. 38. Finish, hand over, or stop

    Do not leave your successor a museum of unfinished work

39. 39. Leaving well doesn’t mean managing from outside

    Agree on the channel, timebox, and question types after exit

40. 40. The last 90 days are the first 90 of your next role

    Longread: https://polomodov.tech/en/2026-08-03-last-90-days-in-company/

    The CTO’s First 90 Days — article: https://polomodov.tech/en/2026-07-31-first-90-days-cto/

    The CTO’s First 90 Days — deck: https://polomodov.tech/en/2026-09-03-first-90-days-cto/