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stunted the day I landed here, and hasn’t really advanced since. . . . Helping lead a revolution is hard on the body AND soul, and last I checked, the revolution leaders were always killed and beheaded, so who the fuck knows what’s going to happen to us. . . . Did I mention how fucked up everyone’s values are here? It’s a requirement, I think, on CA rental agreements or mortgage apps—Check if you are: [ ] a heartless fuck [ ] a money-grubbing sadistic fuck [ ] a techno-geek loser fuck with no life [ ] a wannabe of any discipline listed above. If you didn’t check one of the above, please go the fuck away because you will be miserable here. Somehow I missed it, but I know it had to have been there. . . . Life goes on, and we all go on with it. Problem is, I have no idea where I’m going. I just look for peace of mind—constantly.”

Soon after, Ritter met with the head of a private-financing start-up in San Francisco who offered to double his salary. His resistance to leaving was gone. On October 31, 2000, Ritter wrote another letter, resigning from the company he had helped build. He sent it to all the staff.

“To those most important to me, and to the company: It has been a long road for all of us, even for the few that have only been with Napster for a short time. Revolutions take energy, commitment, and sacrifice, and are, almost always, won at great cost and expenditure of effort. Napster has never been an exception to this rule; against forces of all odds—duplicitous and self-serving uncles, angry rock bands, an entire industry up in arms—we’ve really struggled, together, for what we believe in, for an enlightened future, for everyone. I can’t express my gratitude enough for everyone’s hard work—you must never forget that the sum of the parts can’t amount to much without the parts themselves. Please, don’t underestimate your impact on the company and the world; Napster needs you to be whole, the Revolution needs you to carry on the torch. And so it is with a very sad and weary heart that I inform you all I will be leaving Napster. . . . my departure is not a reaction to this company or events within, but a proactive change in my career and life. I must stress this again: I am leaving only to continue my personal growth and development of my professional career. For those of you who might be interested, I will be joining Round1 Inc. as Vice President of Technology, and am extremely happy to report that Round1’s primary charter is to soften and streamline the process of funding companies, to make future investment

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