Perhaps Madhu Yarlagadda would call this a "course correction"?
He wrote on the subject of course correction on his blog in a July 4th posting. His writing may give deeper insight into him than a list of accomplishments or complaints would.
I don't really get how this became a big deal at any point in the process. Yarlagadda should know to ignore random anonymous negative comments on something completely unrelated. And the Skype executives should know to ignore that too, and also ignore Yarlagadda's plea for positive testimonials. While Yarlagadda obviously got too involved over the comments, I don't see how it could or should lead to leaving Skype; it's understandable that someone would want friends to counteract a lot of negative press. Seems Yarlagadda's mistake was bringing too many soft acquaintances into the loop.
But I still don't get what any of it has to do with anything. If he spent all day at Skype browsing that thread trying to counteract or report or drown out that thread instead of doing any work, then I can see it, but so what if he took a comment thread on the internet a little personally? It happens to the best of us every now and again.
I think Skype made the right decision. As someone who lived through one I can tell you first hand that a company facing an IPO has to become all about image for that brief period between announcement and offering. The game is all about stability, professionalism and competence.
So the arguments you lay out are exactly why he needed to go. Because it WASN'T a big deal and he made it in to one. He(and his wife) did the exact opposite of what you should do and they did it publicly. The last thing a company facing an IPO needs is a loose canon who melts down in public.
You hit it. His only mistake was in getting involved in that non-issue. The only reason that the thread got into news was because he personally got involved in it.
When you are a public figure, you should at least know to avoid anonymous criticism.
