[nighthunter]

Simon Stevens, chief engineer for KEE is leaving the company in pursuit of his own goals.
Posted on facebook:

Quote

To all my friends in Paintball, it is true that I have left KEE. I really appreciate all of the support and people reaching out to see how I am doing. This was my decision, and although it makes me sad after having been with KEE/NPS for nearly 10 years, I am also very excited about the future. I am going to take a break (from the internet too) for to go snow boarding and clear my head, and then I will be back with my nose to the grind stone and doing my best to innovate and keep moving the sport of paintball forwards.

Facebook link here


It's on ProPB as well: Linklinklink

This post has been edited by nighthunter: 19 February 2013 - 11:14 AM

[pumpbusters]

First..... And damn that's unfortunate, best of luck to him going forwards.

[Cookybiscuit]

Too bad, he actually made quite an effort in Empire products, with all those videos on things. Still he never posted here for the Contour contest.

[Myrkul]

Simon was the best damn thing to happen to paintball for years, It's a shame that he is leaving, but he said he'd be back, so I shall eagerly anticipate his return!

[TechPB-Mike]

the first thing that pops in my head is "non compete"

He's one of the most well known engineers in paintball, who worked at the biggest company in paintball....

I can't imagine him being able to just.. go work for someone else next week inside the paintball industry, competing with KEE/Empire

I've been wrong before, but we'll just have to see. I've known of Simon pre-TechPB, pre-PBN, back when he worked at AGD Europe


Yea, although he has a screen name here at TechPB, he'll NEVER post here under any circumstances. If I can't get Terry Fong of Bob Long to post over here, definitely no way in hell I'll ever get Simon to post over here.


But no worries, we've gotten along just fine without them :-)

[seriouslysilly]

wow

[junits15]

I wonder what this means for kee, losing your chief engineer isn't usually a good thing. Kee has big shoes to fill, it needs to be someone who is very vested in the sport and also has the skill set required. Any mechanical engineer can design these things, they just need to have the mindset to know what paintball needs to move forward and what paintballers want in their products.
I'm really interested to see what happens because of this, might get some new ideas with new blood in Simon's old chair

[III Kezia III]

TechPB-Mike, on 19 February 2013 - 03:14 PM, said:

the first thing that pops in my head is "non compete"

He's one of the most well known engineers in paintball, who worked at the biggest company in paintball....

I can't imagine him being able to just.. go work for someone else next week inside the paintball industry, competing with KEE/Empire

I've been wrong before, but we'll just have to see. I've known of Simon pre-TechPB, pre-PBN, back when he worked at AGD Europe


Yea, although he has a screen name here at TechPB, he'll NEVER post here under any circumstances. If I can't get Terry Fong of Bob Long to post over here, definitely no way in hell I'll ever get Simon to post over here.


But no worries, we've gotten along just fine without them :-)

maybe he'll come out with something else under his own banner, considering he wants to "innovate and keep moving the sport of paintball forwards". what better way than doing something on your own not having to worry about what everyone else thinks about your idea. while there is a probability of a non-compete clause we just don't know for sure, that even if there is, we don't know the parameters of the CNC I'm sure florida?(i think thats where KEE is), has some type of restrictions as to what the employer can put in the CNC.

This post has been edited by III Kezia III: 20 February 2013 - 01:02 AM

[Richter]

All he needs to do is setup in a right to work state and his non compete is void: can't stop a person from making a living......

[PREDATOR 47]

Maybe a non compete has to do with him leaving. Either way I will await his return and only time will tell as to how KEE handles the situation.

[Orange Chicken]

Man that sucks that he's leaving. Kee losing their top engineer isnt exactly the best thing for them. They have some pretty big shoes to fill. One day man, when im a mechanical engineer...

[incrdbleherk]

Wow, I used to watch his videos all the time. I never would have got my Prophecy back together if it weren't for them. I really hope he stays with paintball, whether with Kee or someone else.

Edit: I just read on the other forum that his Linked In has him working at Simonized on Feb 2013... hopefully his own line perhaps?

This post has been edited by incrdbleherk: 24 February 2013 - 08:50 PM

[dannyboy768]

So Mike, what's gonna happen in regards to the contest..now that Simon is gone..


First after Simon?

This post has been edited by dannyboy768: 24 February 2013 - 07:23 PM

[woodsballer414]

Machine Vapor 2.0?

As in he'll design his own "perfect" peice of gear. At least this happened after empires latest releases. If he had left halfway through their first high end marker would've been shit.

[HeroForADay]

I still don't understand why you would leave a cushy position at empire to "clear your head". There's all sorts of leave you can put in for, and especially so for a person of his position. Plus, Mike is correct. Obviously none of us know what his seperation clauses were, but I would wager that there is a non-compete in there, and it's not like he can just go anywhere any start working on his designs with a new company.

It just seems real fishy to me... you don't just up and leave your primary source of income to take some personal time off for no real reason.

[XGC_Cheevo]

So much for the larger Prophecy shells which many players have been expecting for months

[andrewthewookie]

XGC_Cheevo, on 08 March 2013 - 12:06 AM, said:

So much for the larger Prophecy shells which many players have been expecting for months

You mean these shells?

[bronc]

He does NOT have a non-compete. He worked it out as part of his leaving.

And he's actually starting work on his first new project now under a new company name. I guess when the times right he'll announce all that stuff.

[XGC_Cheevo]

andrewthewookie, on 08 March 2013 - 12:08 AM, said:

XGC_Cheevo, on 08 March 2013 - 12:06 AM, said:

So much for the larger Prophecy shells which many players have been expecting for months

You mean these shells?

As a matter of fact, yes. Apparently I'm behind on the times.

[DcSalem]

wonder who's going to have fill in his shoes