From CEO to Barista: Sonos’ Patrick Spence Makes an Espresso Exit

source: https://www.theverge.com/2025/1/13/24342179/sonos-ceo-patrick-spence-resignation-reason-app

In what is possibly the most shocking reveal of 2025 (if you exclude the next iPhone's groundbreaking "new color"), Patrick Spence has called it quits as Sonos CEO. Yes, the man who once managed to make speakers as ubiquitous as Starbucks locations has ironically returned to his roots—rumored to be brushing off his old green apron from his days as a part-time barista.

Sources close to the situation say Spence’s departure wasn’t entirely voluntary, citing mounting pressure after the Great Appocalypse™. You remember that, right? The software launch that promised to "streamline" the Sonos experience but instead turned every customer into an unpaid QA tester. Features disappeared faster than a free donut in an office break room, leaving users screaming into the void—or their malfunctioning speakers.

And who could forget the app's pièce de résistance: the introduction of a sleek interface that made playing music so counterintuitive, it should have come with a treasure map and a decoder ring.

Now, taking Spence's place at the helm is none other than Tom Conrad, a man whose resume includes steering Quibi straight into the digital graveyard. Sonos shareholders, let’s hope this isn’t one of those “out of the frying pan, into the fire” situations. Though, given his pedigree, maybe we should all just prepare for Sonos: The Musical—a limited 10-minute episode format available only in spatial audio, of course.

In his debut letter to employees, Conrad waxed poetic about "refocusing on our shared ideals," which presumably means bringing back features they never should’ve taken away and groveling before the masses. He also announced his plans to relocate to Santa Barbara—a place so stunning that even an app disaster seems like small potatoes when viewed from a beachfront patio. Truly a bold sacrifice for the cause.

So, what's next for Sonos? Well, if Conrad manages to pull the company out of its app-induced nosedive, he'll officially achieve the kind of redemption arc typically reserved for Hollywood blockbusters. If not, we might just see Spence's triumphant return—handing you a latte at your local Starbucks, while whispering, “Would you like room for failure with that?”