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Dmitri Alperovitch is the Co-Founder and former CTO of Crowdstrike, one of the most valuable cybersecurity companies founded in the modern era that defined the Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) category. On today’s episode, Jon Sakoda speaks with Dmitri on why email security was one of the best places to learn cybersecurity, the hardest parts of finding product-market fit in a new category, and how all of his learnings inside of larger companies ultimately inspired him to start Crowdstrike:
Why E-Mail Security Was the Best Place to Learn About Adversaries [7:15 - 14:32] - Dmitri’s early career at CipherTrust put him on the front lines of stopping email spam. This was a rapidly changing field that taught him that adversaries could make changes in hours, not days or weeks. This mindset taught him that there are no silver bullets and that our defenses must always adapt quickly to ever changing threats.Building a Services and Software Company Together to Own the Category [33:53 - 39:34] - In the early days of Crowdstrike, the team built an elite services team that gave them insight into how nation state adversaries were breaching customers. This gave them unique lead generation and IP that helped them build their endpoint security solution which ultimately became the category leader in EDR.How Targeting Existing Budgets Unlocked Revenue Growth [39:35 - 45:15] - Crowdstrike early on complemented existing AV solutions with an advanced EDR and IR offering, primarily targeting companies who understood nation state attacks. Their revenue growth accelerated when they offered to replace traditional anti-virus and could access existing budgets for endpoint security. This move ultimately gave them a much larger TAM leading up to their IPO. -
Chris Wysopal is the Founder and CTO of Veracode, a $2.5 billion software supply chain security company that pioneered the field of application security and was one of the first companies to embrace software as a service. On today’s episode, Jon Sakoda speaks with Chris on his early fame as a cybersecurity researcher and the highs and lows of building Veracode across three decades:
How a Hacking Group Became Celebrities [11:50 - 15:35] - Chris was a member of the famous “L0pht” hacker group who became famous for discovering vulnerabilities in Lotus and Microsoft software. Shining a light on the issue ultimately gave the group widespread media attention and internet fame, drawing much needed attention to security issues in commercial software.Launching a Cloud Product in the Desktop Era [27:55 - 32:50] - In 2006, Veracode was one of the first companies in the security industry to pioneer “software as a service” which is widely used today. Chris relives the journey of convincing customers of the benefit of leveraging the cloud during the era of client / server code repositories.Surviving and Thriving Through Cycles [38:51 - 40:10] - Veracode has been a wildly successful company, but has had to survive many moments of crisis that might have killed weaker startups. The company had a broken financing in the first financial crisis and has been through numerous cycles through the years. -
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Kevin Mandia is the Founder and CEO of Mandiant, the widely recognized leader in cybersecurity incident response which was recently acquired by Google for $5.4 Billion. On today’s episode, Jon Sakoda speaks with Kevin on why he founded Mandiant, and his personal journey to create a company to defend companies against cyber surveillance advanced persistent threats from Russia, China, and North Korea:
Seeing the Future of Inevitable Breaches [15:32- 16:05] - Kevin started Mandiant after seeing the most advanced cyber surveillance attacks against this country. His big bet was that even the very best companies would struggle to protect themselves against nation states and that the uneven playing field would create opportunities for a firm that specialized in responding to breaches. Why Mandiant Went Public to Expose Chinese Military Attacks [26:52- 30:44] - In 2013, Mandiant was the first company to go public with an advanced persistent attack (APT-1) that was traced to a Chinese military facility, PLA Unit 61398. Kevin retells the story about how nobody believed him until the New York Times broke the news after 9 years of recorded attacks.How Services Companies Can Become Software Companies [36:24-37:58] - Kevin created his products as a software company by automating the most advanced and sophisticated workflows of his security researchers. Mandiant was built on the premise that great services are the foundation to great software. -
Shay Banon is the Founder and CTO of Elastic (NYSE: ESTC) the open source leader platform that enables enterprise search, observability, and cybersecurity. On today’s episode, Jon Sakoda speaks with Shay on his path to starting Elastic, and his success building a commercial open source company in the era of cloud providers:
Learn To Overcome Fear and Embrace the Future [6:10- 8:43] - Shay was diagnosed with a rare and incurable kidney disease at a very young age. He was told he might not live a normal life and his condition could change at any moment. He has learned to overcome day to day fear and to embrace the future. Why Google Didn’t Win in Enterprise Search [17:24- 19:50] - In 2010, Google was a public company and everyone assumed they would win the war for search. But the enterprise market was different, and Elastic ended up being successful due to their focus on unlocking knowledge from diverse data stores. Google eventually exited the market and transitioned customers to products built on Elastic. How to Compete with Cloud Providers [27:50-33:16] - Amazon famously copied Elastic’s search service and launched a competing cloud offering called Amazon ElasticSearch. Elastic fought back by changing its open source licensing to defend its IP, and is now a partner to Amazon. This form of licensing is now commonly used by open source companies. -
HD Moore is the founder and CEO of Metasploit and runZero, two cybersecurity companies that are widely used to identify assets and vulnerabilities in corporate environments. On today’s episode, Jon Sakoda speaks with HD on growing up as one of the most famous cybersecurity hackers who had the courage to publish software vulnerabilities on the internet:
Need to Necessity - Diving in Dumpsters for Computer Parts [1:20-2:24] - HD Moore grew up poor and had to scrounge for computer parts in dumpsters. This motivated him to build his own computers and teach himself to code. Listen to how HD found his way into his first job as a DOD researcher as a teenager.Open Source Keeps Me Out of Jail [09:12-12:54] - Metasploit was the first tool to publish exploits and vulnerabilities in public as an open source tool. This was very unpopular and controversial and HD’s wife maintained a “Get HD out of Jail” fund in case he was arrested or prosecuted. Listen to how HD’s resiliency and belief that sunlight is the best disinfectant ultimately led to a safer internet.Creating Balance and Intensity as a Founder [23:16-26:58] - HD reflects on moments of health and personal challenges throughout his career as a founder. He now is very intentional about taking the needed time for himself. Listen to his words of wisdom and specific ways to carve out time for health and wellness.Follow Jon Sakoda https://twitter.com/jonsakoda
Follow HD Moore https://infosec.exchange/@hdm
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Bipul Sinha is the founder and CEO of Rubrik, a leader in zero-trust data security used by enterprises to defend against ransomware and to create global cyber resiliency. On today’s episode, Jon Sakoda speaks with Bipul Sinha on his unusual path from India to Silicon Valley and his unique mindset as a startup founder:
Don’t Be Afraid to Drop Everything [4:30-6:50] - Bipul dropped out of school in order to study for his college entrance exams in India. Growing up in a lower middle class household, Bipul needed to excel on the exams to escape poverty. Listen to the advice Bipul received from his father on the value of learning from failure and never constraining your self belief in what you can achieve.How to Engineer Hypergrowth from Day One [20:46-24:19] - Rubrik’s success in its early days was incredible, achieving $50 M in sales in its first year. Many founders approach product-market fit through serial steps, while Rubrik was engineered for faster growth from the very beginning. Listen to how Bipul approaches product-market fit through a parallel process in order to create more explosive growth.Avoiding Psychological Safety and Accepting Conflict [33:55-39:00] - Bipul believes that conflict is a part of every great startup, but it is human nature to try to create psychological safety. He strongly believes that every founder needs to embrace, and find joy, in pushing a company to its limits which is often in conflict with being satisfied. Listen to how he instills this culture in his company.Follow Jon Sakoda https://twitter.com/jonsakoda
Follow Bipul Sinha https://twitter.com/bipulsinha
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Guy Podjarney is the founder of Snyk, a leading security company building developer first security tools to help organizations develop fast & stay secure. On today’s episode, Jon Sakoda speaks with Guy about the problem-solving approach he still carries with him from his time in the IDF and the threat of playing it too safe for first-time founders.
How to Approach an “Impossible Problem” [4:59 - 8:24] - When Guy joined Unit 8200 of the Israeli Defense Forces, he was embedded in a group of high caliber peers who were trained to believe that no problem was too difficult to solve. Guy carried this sentiment over to his entrepreneurial journey when he was faced with hurdles that seemed impossible to cross, including getting developers to use a product to write safer software. Listen to learn why every problem has a solution, you just haven’t found it yet.Beware Of Playing It Safe [24:45 - 28:02] - For many founders, the idea of crashing and burning can seem more daunting than being stuck in one place. Guy believes that the lessons learned from failing are more valuable than staying stagnant. By prioritizing a growth mindset, Guy avoids getting too comfortable in one spot for too long. If you’re a first-time founder, listen to hear why you may be playing it too safe.Product Adoption Comes First, Revenue Comes Second [35:44 - 41:58] - Snyk was gaining traction as a valuable tool for developers but didn’t have enough initial revenue to attract VCs. Stuck at an impasse, Guy and his co-founders doubted if they would be able to fulfill their vision of getting developers to pay for a security tool. With the help of an early investor, they eventually found product-market fit for their paid product in just a few years. Listen to learn why you should stay true to your purpose even when the going gets tough.What is the Ideal Role for a Founder? [41:58 - 46:28] - As Snyk grew rapidly, Guy realized that he needed to wear multiple hats as a CEO and CTO, and the company was limited by his own bandwidth. In order to maintain Snyk’s upward trajectory, Guy recruited a CEO that could complement his own strengths to help the company continue to scale. Listen to hear why all founders should ask what their company needs when deciding whether to bring in a professional CEO.Follow Jon Sakoda https://twitter.com/jonsakoda
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Nir Polak is the co-founder of Exabeam, one of the most successful and valuable private cybersecurity firms currently valued at $2.4 billion. On today’s episode, Jon Sakoda speaks with Nir about how his time in the Israeli Defense Forces prepared him for the constant battles in the early days of a startup and the importance of taking care of your mental health as a founder.
From The Front Lines Of Combat To CEO [5:57 - 8:02] - After high school, Nir spent three years in combat with the Israeli Defense Forces where he was forced to keep his cool in the most chaotic of situations. The leadership lessons he learned on the front lines carried over to Exabeam where he was tasked with leading his team in a constant high pressure environment. Listen to hear more about how Nir’s time in the IDF prepared him to become a founder and CEO.Take Care Of Your Mental Health [8:02 - 11:26] - The journey of building a startup can come with constant chaos. As a founder, you need the stamina to lead your team through all of the ups and downs. Nir knows firsthand the toll this amount of pressure can take on founders and encourages all founders to seek guidance on taking care of themselves throughout their career. Listen to hear why more founders need to prioritize their mental health in order to successfully lead a company.Tapping Into Conversations With Your Customers [15:55 - 18:37] - In early customer discovery conversations, there are often mixed signals on the journey to finding product market fit. Nir found it necessary to dig deeper into the details around why the early adopters were sharing and what was behind their pain points in order to better relate to them. Listen to learn how this detailed customer feedback can enable product market fit pre-launch.Don’t Let Tech Debt Creep Up On You [21:16 - 24:40] - All founders hope to exceed their sales goals when they go to market, but the idea of tech debt can creep up on you just as quickly. Rapid success often leads to a greater number of requests from customers with high expectations which can really stress the company. Listen to hear how Nir suggests slowing down sales investments, temporarily, can prevent a lot of pain.Weighing Your Risk And Reward [24:40 - 26:35] - Despite several acquisition offers, Exabeam has remained a highly successful private company. When reviewing each offer, Nir weighs qualitative elements just as equally as the quantitative. Listen to learn how to analyze risk vs. reward, and consider team stamina, when thinking about exit opportunities.Follow Jon Sakoda https://twitter.com/jonsakoda
Follow Nir Polak https://twitter.com/nirpolak
Follow Decibel https://twitter.com/DecibelVC
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Jesse Rothstein is the co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of ExtraHop Networks, a cyber defense platform that uses cloud-scale AI to help enterprises respond to advanced threats. ExtraHop was acquired by Bain Capital and Crosspoint Capital Partners for $900 million in 2021. On today’s episode, Jon Sakoda speaks with Jesse about selection bias for entrepreneurs and how some of his lowest moments as a founder were actually blessings in disguise.
Searching For Satisfaction [5:19 - 7:17] - Jesse didn’t always know he wanted to be an entrepreneur but he started to feel the itch to prove himself and his ideas. A conversation with his wife about happiness, or lack thereof, helped him to begin the journey to becoming a founder. If you are constantly thinking about how to solve the problems around you, listen to learn more about what pushed Jesse to found ExtraHop.Pulling Off The Pivot [12:56 - 20:40] - Jesse believes product market fit to be transitory as dynamic markets enable you to find product market fit and then, sometimes, lose it. As the market started pulling ExtraHop towards cybersecurity after years of success in network performance management, the possibility of a pivot seemed risky. Listen to hear how Jesse navigated this choice and invested to get the flywheel going for this new market opportunity.Navigating The Paradox Of Loyalty [20:57 - 25:08] - According to Jesse, there is nothing harder for a founder than watching a loyal employee, who has been with you since the beginning, lose stage fit as the company scales and outgrows them. Stage fit applies to every position in the company and finding the balance of developing existing employees and hiring for this new scale is critical. Listen to learn what questions you should be asking yourself as your company shifts into a higher gear.Recruiting a Professional CEO [25:31 - 29:57] - While Jesse believes no one is more committed and knowledgeable about the company than the founder, he discusses reasons a board may be ready to make a leadership change. When it came time to recruit a professional CEO for ExtraHop, Jesse focused on establishing a good working relationship, facilitating a productive transition and respecting boundaries. For founders looking to bring on a professional CEO, listen to hear how to minimize friction during a leadership change.The [Exit] Road Less Traveled [30:08 - 34:00] - While looking for additional capital to invest for growth, Jesse and ExtraHop identified an opportunity with Bain Capital. The private equity investment, while not as common, can prove beneficial for founders looking to increase capital, enable liquidity for early investors and employees and maintain control. Listen to hear Jesse’s thoughts on how this transaction has performed vs goals, so far.Follow Jon Sakoda https://twitter.com/jonsakoda
Follow Jesse Rothstein https://twitter.com/jesse_rothstein
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Ed Bellis is the co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Kenna Security, a cybersecurity company that pioneered the risk-based vulnerability management space, and was acquired by Cisco last year. On today’s episode, Jon Sakoda speaks with Ed about his journey from skateboarder to cybersecurity expert, including his advice for first-time founders anxious about always getting it right the first time.
Turning Pain Points Into Passion Projects [09:38 - 11:00] - When Ed made the switch from Chief Security Officer to Founder, he was determined to fix the issues he ran into as a practitioner. Without this passion, Ed doesn’t think he would have been successful as a first-time founder. If you're looking to make the jump to founder, listen to hear why you have to be all in.Get Comfortable With Being Uncomfortable [11:32 - 12:30] - As a first-time founder, the journey will be full of hurdles and questions so Ed advises all founders to come to terms with the fact that you won’t have the answers to everything. Listen to learn how to take advantage of your relationships and not be afraid to ask for help.Partnerships Can Solve Big Pain Points [15:32 - 20:35] - Kenna had two incredible partnerships that changed the trajectory of the company. The first solved their product-market fit challenges, and the second unlocked their go to market. Listen to how quickly a startup's fortune can change through key partnerships.Why Founder Doesn’t Always Equal CEO [26:07 - 28:48] - Ed always knew that he wouldn’t be the CEO of Kenna Security forever as he believed being a founder didn’t mean always being the boss. Prioritize bringing in a professional CEO that understands the needs of the company and fills the holes that the founders and organization may have. Listen to hear how giving up some control could be the best decision for your startup.Follow Jon Sakoda https://twitter.com/jonsakoda
Follow Ed Bellis https://twitter.com/ebellis
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Slavik Markovich is the Founder and CEO of Demisto, a security orchestration, automation, and response (SOAR) platform that was acquired by Palo Alto Networks in 2019 for $560 million. On today’s episode, Jon Sakoda speaks with Slavik about how his time in the Israeli army kickstarted his entrepreneurial journey and what mistakes he made as a first-time founder.
Basic (Entrepreneurial) Training in the Israeli Army [02:54 - 06:24] - During his time in the Israeli army (IDF), Slavik was introduced into a system with real needs, real customers and a real need for things to go operationally right or bad things could happen. Listen to how this experience prepared Slavik to successfully lead startups by teaching him the importance of listening to customers, making quick decisions, and managing with scarce resources.What to Do, and Not to Do, When Finding Product Market Fit [11:12 - 12:32] - When Slavik co-founded Sentrigo, he thought finding an innovative technical solution to a challenging problem would lead to company success. Looking back, he realized how the lack of customer discovery hurt the company’s go-to market strategy development and created greater challenges. Listen to learn why listening to potential customers from the start can help decode the puzzle early on.Don’t Forget To Train Your Salesforce For Success [24:25 - 28:25] - After Slavik raised his second round of funding, he scaled Demisto’s salesforce and waited for the deals to come in. When those sales did not materialize, Slavik learned tough lessons including why salespeople need training, what ramp time to expect and why not to hire a sales team. Listen to learn why a founder selling versus a salesperson selling leads to different outcomes.Sometimes Money Isn’t Everything [35:03 - 36:49] - When Slavik was approached by Palo Alto Networks about a possible acquisition, he and his founding team had to consider more than just the numbers. Instead of zeroing in on the money, think about what the best decision is for your employees, customers and product. Listen to hear why Slavik thinks a founder’s personal situation can, and should, influence some of their most important decisions.Follow Jon Sakoda https://twitter.com/jonsakoda
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Oliver Friedrichs is the Founder and CEO of Phantom Cyber, a four-time successful entrepreneur who has exited companies to McAfee, Symantec, Sourcefire, and Splunk. On today’s episode, Jon Sakoda speaks with Oliver about the lessons he has learned along the way, including how to cultivate partnerships that lead to successful exits and avoiding valuation traps as a first-time founder.
Your Advantage Is Your Speed [17:47 - 18:39] - Many startups think they are smarter than big companies. Oftentimes their greatest advantage is their ability to execute and focus when a large company might be distracted by other priorities. Listen to hear why startups should not act like they are smarter than everyone else, but should act with speed and certainty when building their product.Don’t Overshoot Your Valuation [22:41 - 24:24] - If you have a high valuation, it may take years for your company to grow before your investors believe they can exit a company. Having the flexibility to exit is important and a high valuation can limit and restrict the M&A possibilities for your company. Listen to hear why Oliver believes optionality to exit at the right inflection point is a founder’s best friend.Build The Right Partnerships For A Successful Exit [24:47 - 26:19] - Oliver subscribes to the idea that companies are bought not sold, and has cultivated valuable relationships throughout all of his startup journeys. To create an exit strategy that makes sense, work with companies to integrate your products and increase customer engagement. Listen to learn how to leverage your existing partnerships into successful exits.Follow Jon Sakoda https://twitter.com/jonsakoda
Follow Oliver Friedrichs https://twitter.com/autom8security
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Haroon Meer is the Founder of Thinkst Canary, a fast growing cybersecurity company that enables companies to put “honeypots” on their network to catch attackers in minutes. On today’s episode, Jon Sakoda speaks with Haroon Meer about how growing up during the tail end of Apartheid influenced his leadership style and how he bootstrapped Thinkst Canary to success.
You Need to Build a Better Mousetrap [9:09 - 12:27] - After spending 10 years in consulting, Haroon was itching to start a product company. Many cybersecurity consultants need to learn how to incorporate highly opinionated customer feedback into their product design. Listen to his philosophy of shifting away from being the “expert” in the room and his humble approach when listening to customers.Find Ideas In Unexpected Places [13:05 - 16:29] - Haroon decided he wanted to build a product and told his colleagues he was shifting away from consulting. When one colleague kept asking for his services, Haroon realized he found a huge problem to solve and founded Thinkst Canary. Listen to learn how tapping into the need of friendly customers can be the inspiration for your next startup idea.Don’t Forget Who Pays the Bills [26:26 - 31:59] - When founders start raising VC funding, Haroon thinks it is easy to lose sight of the most important priorities. Some founders lose focus on making customers successful when trying to appease future investors. Listen to learn why bootstrapping your startup might be the best route in the beginning of a company’s journey.Follow Jon Sakoda https://twitter.com/jonsakoda
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Amy Chang is the Founder of Accompany, a relationship intelligence platform that uses machine learning and AI to help business professionals enhance and grow their most important relationships. On today’s episode, Jon Sakoda speaks with Amy Chang about her journey to Founder, including the unconventional way she chose between job offers at Google and Yahoo and how her husband finally got her to stop waking him up at 3 AM with new ideas.
Why You Should Normalize Imposter Syndrome [8:05-10:05] - Amy knows imposter syndrome can follow you throughout your career and affects more founders than many believe. By vocalizing her doubts and concerns with other coworkers, she felt like she wasn’t alone and gained more confidence in herself. Listen to learn why talking about imposter syndrome can help you channel it into constructive emotion.How To Be In Tune With Your Team [10:46-17:24] - Being a great leader means pushing your team to their full potential. To do so effectively, Amy tailors each message to the culture of the team and its leader. Listen to learn why having an intimate knowledge of your team members allows you to set goals appropriately.Lean Into The Fear Of The Unknown [22:17-23:49] - As a first-time founder, the unknowns of the journey ahead can be intimidating but Amy believes in utilizing that fear to motivate yourself. Get ahead of the fear by working even harder and always be thinking three steps ahead. Listen to hear how to harness the power of fear.Don’t Dwell On Your Guilt [29:23-33:17] - Founding a startup comes with sacrifices and guilt, especially if you are a parent. As a mom, Amy tries not to tear herself down if she can’t be the perfect founder, spouse, and mom in one week. Listen to learn why you should be more forgiving of yourself and approach every week with a refreshed outlook.Follow Jon Sakoda https://twitter.com/jonsakoda
Follow Amy Chang https://twitter.com/_amychang
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Andrew Peterson is the Co-Founder and CEO of Signal Sciences, the fastest growing web application security company in the world. On today’s episode, Jon Sakoda speaks with Andrew Peterson about why he calls Anthony Bourdain his career role model and how he ended up in Tanzania working without running water or power near the beginning of his career.
Hire People Smarter Than You [5:38-6:06] - Andrew was always surrounded by incredibly talented people at every company he worked at. As a founder, Andrew believes you should focus on hiring people better and smarter than you. Listen to learn why the mark of a good leader is being able to keep up with your employees.Don’t Be Afraid To Challenge Yourself [6:06-11:12] - Before founding Signal Sciences, Andrew took a leap and moved to Tanzania for over a year. During his years at Google, he turned down promotions because he didn’t feel challenged anymore before leaving at the height of its success. Listen to learn why constantly challenging yourself makes you a better founder.Build Your Network Early [27:59-29:23] - As Andrew moved from company to company, he built meaningful relationships with his team members and managers. These relationships eventually led him to founding Signal Sciences with his former coworkers at Etsy. As a founder, he prioritizes building relationships with potential buyers instead of letting them come to him. Listen to learn why the relationships you make now could help you in the future.Instill Confidence In Your Company [36:08-38:04] - As a founder, it can be easy to get caught up in raising as much money as you can but Andrew does the opposite. He often leaves money on the table to protect the ownership of the company and focus on sustainable growth. Listen to learn why having confidence in your company could actually mean raising less money.Follow Jon Sakoda https://twitter.com/jonsakoda
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Ricardo Oliveira is the Co-founder and CTO of ThousandEyes, a Cisco company providing some of the largest brands more visibility into how customers and employees use their networks. On today’s episode, Jon Sakoda speaks with Ricardo Oliveira about meeting his future co-founder in a research group at UCLA and developing a constructive mindset as a first-time founder.
How To Turn Rejection Into Motivation [13:40-14:32] - When Ricardo and his co-founder approached a potential advisor, they were told that their idea would never get off the ground. Fast forward a few years and that same person became one of ThousandEyes’ biggest advocates. Listen to hear why Ricardo believes every rejection can be reimagined as an opportunity for improvement.Measure Your Startup In Milestones [15:02-16:38] - As capital becomes more available and growth turns incessant, Ricardo advises today’s founders to focus on sustainable growth. Listen to learn why defining your startup’s milestones by number of customers or amount of revenue could save you from overblown valuations.Exercise Patience For The Best Results [17:27-18:20] - Ricardo and his co-founders spent ten years growing ThousandEyes before being acquired by Cisco for nearly $1 billion. Over the years, they had to exercise extreme patience and persistence to get through all the ups and downs. Listen to learn why playing the long game is the key to success.Follow Jon Sakoda https://twitter.com/jonsakoda
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Matthew Prince is the Co-founder and CEO of Cloudflare, an internet infrastructure company that is making the internet a faster and safer place. On today’s episode, Jon Sakoda speaks with Matthew Prince on how he went from bartender to founder of one of the most successful startups built in the last decade.
Pick Your Co-Founders Wisely [13:10-15:16]- Choosing who to build your startup with is just as important as choosing the problem you want to solve, says Matthew, who’s worked in teams that quickly became counter-productive. If you’re thinking about working with friends, listen to learn why Matthew believes choosing co-founders you can split the work with might be your best bet.Pick The Big, Thorny, Hairy Problem [16:19-18:23] - If you’re going to pitch an idea for a startup, Matthew believes in choosing a problem so ambitious you may not even understand the depth of it. After all, it’s better to scale down than be stuck in a corner with an idea that doesn’t make a positive impact on the world. Listen to hear why you shouldn’t be afraid to choose the intimidating problem as a founder.Why Hiring Is The Only Skill Every Founder Needs [18:23-18:47] - When you choose an ambitious problem to tackle, you need to put together a team that can rise to the challenge. To be successful, Matthew believes you need to hire people that are equally as inspired as you. Listen to hear how to attract team members that will help scale your startup to the next level.The Power of Choosing an Uncharted Path [19:50-22:59] - Matthew and his co-founders weren’t experts in their field when they founded Cloudflare but he credits their success to their willingness to look at the problem from a different perspective. Listen to learn why going down a new path could work in your favor.Follow Jon Sakoda https://twitter.com/jonsakoda
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Michelle Zatlyn is the Co-founder, President, and COO of Cloudflare, an internet infrastructure company that is making the internet a faster and safer place. On today’s episode, Jon Sakoda speaks with Michelle Zatlyn on her path to Co-founder and why you have to love what you do in order to succeed.
Don’t Be Afraid To Deviate From The Plan [2:30-14:15] - Michelle grew up thinking she wanted to be a doctor but an unexpected award for a research project made her rethink her future. Years later, she turned down a coveted job at LinkedIn to keep growing Cloudflare. Listen to hear why going down the path unknown could turn into the best decision of your life.How To Build A Team You Can Win With [31:18-33:04] - Facing roadblocks is inevitable during the startup journey but Michelle believes in cultivating a team that can survive the ebb and flow of a growing company. Her goal was always to work in a team that loves what they do and who they work with. Listen to learn why you need a team that can play together and win together.Know When To Marry Your Tech With Business [33:34-34:41] - As self-proclaimed geeks, Michelle and her co-founders spent years developing the technology behind Cloudflare. Looking back, Michelle talks about why all good tech startups need equally good business counterparts to succeed.Follow Jon Sakoda https://twitter.com/jonsakoda
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Marty Roesch is the founder and CEO of Sourcefire, one of the very first commercial open source companies, that was acquired by Cisco in 2013 for $2.7 billion. On today’s episode, Jon Sakoda speaks with Marty Roesch on his journey to CEO, including how laser tag became his foray into cybersecurity and why he considers himself a “particularly good benevolent dictator”.
Have Empathy For Your Users [14:19-15:19] - Marty got the motivation to continue developing Sourcefire alongside his 9-5 from the direct interactions he had with its users. Later on, his business model relied on the understanding he had of the actual problems users deploying Sourcefire had and creating solutions that go above and beyond.Sometimes You Have To Call BS On Yourself [15:39-16:39] - When you become encumbered by success, it’s easy to lose sight of yourself. As Marty scaled Sourcefire, he had to re-examine his beliefs and have moments of introspection. If you’re a founder experiencing rapid growth, remember to tether yourself to your fundamental values.Ask For Help When You Need It [25:59-26:55] - Marty created the success that is Sourcefire with a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering. When he decided to branch out on his own and build a company, he had to be honest with himself and the people around him. Listen to learn how asking the simple questions got him to where he is today.Don’t Try To Be The Smartest Guy In The Room [26:45-27:15] - When Marty was starting to understand how to turn his idea into a business, someone told him that the sole key to running a successful business is hiring good people. Listen to hear why he believes the strength of your organization is the strength of your people.Follow Jon Sakoda https://twitter.com/jonsakoda
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Jon Oberheide is the co-founder and CTO of Duo Security which was acquired by Cisco for $2.4 billion. On today’s episode, Jon Sakoda speaks with Jon Oberheide about his personal journey to where he is today, including the “not illegal” way he met his Duo co-founder in a back stairwell.
The Most Unorthodox Practices Are Sometimes The Most Fruitful [06:11-09:16] - From spamming unsolicited emails at Starbucks to hacking his future business partner’s wifi network, Jon has done it all. Learn how his start at Quiznos helped him build a $2 billion app.Think Outside The Box For The Best Results [10:36-13:08] - After dropping out of his PhD program right before graduating and sneaking around Ann Arbor stairwells, Jon is no stranger to the untraditional path. Listen to hear how thinking outside the box and curiosity can help startups work around roadblocks.Lean Into The “Unsexy” Startup [17:16-17:50] - While people fixate over the idea of a “sexy” startup, Jon talks about his experience founding a startup that tackled seemingly boring problems with widespread effects.The Startup Journey Is An Emotional Rollercoaster [25:44-27:12] - Getting to where he is today was not an easy journey for Jon but the lessons he got from it proved to be invaluable. If you are or want to be a founder, hear what Jon believes is the most important part of founding a successful and scalable company.Follow Jon Sakoda https://twitter.com/jonsakoda
Follow Jon Oberheide https://twitter.com/jonoberheide
Follow Decibel https://twitter.com/DecibelVC
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