Speaking of fun sounding, hyphenated psychological concepts, this entire thread is Dunning-Kruger personified.
We apparently have experts in labor law, corporate communications, business strategy, m&a, corporate structure, macroeconomics and globalization (for some reason here). And yet somehow they all disagree on every single topic.
Regardless of whether he was technically or legally “just an employee”, he was one of the faces of the company and integral to the brand message. So, his technical employment status somewhat misses the point, the messaging to the customer base was terrible.
I guess riding a bicycle gives a person plenty of time to think and become an expert in many fields 
look we’re an eclectic bunch ok
My guess is that they had directional differences which resulted in Chad essentially filing or threatening to file some kind of intellectual property law suit which would essentially give him ownership of the majority of trainer roads assets and they are scrubbing him from the website to avoid some type of additional libel lawsuit.
Hey guys,
There’s a lot of speculation here.
For a number of personal reasons, mistakes included, it’s the right time for me to move on from TR.
Over the last 12 years TrainerRoad has evolved from human based training (via me) to a team that uses data + AI to constantly improve the product.
In fact, I haven’t needed to be in the internal data to day at TrainerRoad for a while now and I have full confidence it will continue to evolve and get better in my absence.
I know it’s confusing right now but I’d personally appreciate the speculation to end.
Oh totally agree…we know virtually nothing, and certainly not enough to put blame on any party. Also, i think it’s a perfect analogy…
If the barista was constantly sexually harassing people and was let go because of it…yea I have zero issue with ownership canning the barista.
Flip side - barista was let go for union organizing? I’d never give the coffee shop another cent.
@chad do I hop into your threads and ruin their entertainment value?
Then why you do dat to me?
Pretty sure this post is just going to lead to more speculation and more unanswered questions brother.
Good luck in your future career and life! Whatever it may bring!
#end
Idk. I think with @chad comment this should be the end of thread. Please close this. No reason to beat a dead horse
Thank you for your message Chad. Its great to hear from you. I hope you see from this that you will be missed very much!!!
I wish you all the best and I hope to see your next adventure and maybe even participate if you put on that gravel race or something.
Maybe even launch a podcast??? 
All the best to you!!!
PS… I actually miss the days where you sat in the closet passing out our next workouts under the Red Door.
How not to Manage an Employee Exit 101
pg 1 - Case 1
This…
I agree. While the speculation is entirely predictable due to how this was presented on the podcast, that doesn’t make the endless gossip/speculation any less ugly.
But on which subject?
kk. Wishing you the best on your next endeavors.
I’m glad to read these words. Thanks for helping bring TR where it is. I wish you the best in whatever comes next for you and yours.
Now if someone had just said that up front . . .
Good luck to you and thank you for all you’ve done.
Cheers Chad. It’s good to hear from you. I think a lot of us think of you as a friend even though we’ve never met you.
Take care and I hope you enjoy life now it may be a little simpler.
I wish you all the best.