Jean-Michel Lemieux missed building things with people.
The former chief technology officer at Shopify served on boards and dabbled in VC work, yet said that leadership alone left him too far removed from the work.
“I’m in these board meetings, and it feels like I’m a coach of a pro team, but I can’t see them play the game,” Lemieux, 54, said.
He said he loves the energy of “hands on keyboard.” So, these days, he’s working at Spellbook, which makes an AI copilot for lawyers. With the title “executive individual contributor,” he’s able to both lead and build.
“I love that adrenaline,” he said.
For Lemieux and executives like him, going back to…
