Grit

Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon believes his company is perfectly positioned for the world economy of the future, connecting everything from phones to exercise bikes to cars. And he predicts we’re about to see AI-assisted cars  deployed at a “mass scale.” Fully autonomous vehicles, he concedes, will take longer — perhaps 5 or 10 years — but he says it’s in everyone’s interest to make an intermediate level of assisted driving available in every vehicle on the highway, not just premium cars like Teslas.In this episode, Cristiano and Joubin discuss Cristiano’s brief diversion away from Qualcomm in venture capital, connecting smart devices, endurance and reinvention, growing up in Brazil, work-life balance, self-driving cars and vintage sports cars, making the “Star Wars hologram” real, digital twins, and introversion vs. extroversion.In this episode, we cover:The semiconductor supply chain, and manufacturing chips in the US & EU (10:00)Why Qualcomm is in the “gladiator business” (14:30)Making time for your family and your health (18:57)Measuring Qualcomm in two-year and ten-year cycles (21:28)The incremental steps from today’s assisted driving to fully autonomous cars (24:41)Virtual reality, augmented reality, smart glasses, and the metaverse (30:31)Cristiano’s time demands and the difference between impatience and being in a hurry (36:41)Loving your job and making space for everything else (40:38)Links:Connect with CristianoTwitterLinkedInConnect with JoubinTwitterLinkedInEmail: grit@kleinerperkins.com Learn more about Kleiner PerkinsThis episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm

5 Sep 202246min

“When I grew up in Bangalore, I’d never seen a computer,” says Thomas Kurian. The former president of Oracle, now the CEO of Google Cloud, remembers learning how to write while sitting outside his childhood home, and doing homework by candlelight during power blackouts. He credits his “trailblazer” mother, who instilled curiosity and discipline in all her children, with helping them understand the value of education beyond doing well on the next test. Something must have stuck, because Thomas is not the only Kurian in a major leadership position in Silicon Valley; his twin brother, George, is the CEO of NetApp. In this episode, Thomas and Joubin discuss how he accidentally got into computer programming, giving children the freedom to be curious, how to order a sandwich, leading 60 software acquisitions, knowing your own value-add, innovation through experimentation, investing in the future, and being competitor-aware and customer-obsessed.In this episode, we cover:Thomas’ childhood in India (03:45)His twin brother George — the CEO of NetApp — and their trailblazing mother (07:40)Nostalgia for simpler times without responsibilities (14:03)Working up the ranks at Oracle, from product manager to president (21:40)The Google Cloud opportunity (30:12)How to succeed inside a huge organization (32:38)The big difference between Oracle and Google Cloud in 2019 (39:35)The “mother of God” opportunity of the cloud (42:35)The advice Thomas gives to other CEOs (48:25)Links:Connect with ThomasTwitterLinkedInConnect with JoubinTwitterLinkedInEmail: grit@kleinerperkins.com Learn more about Kleiner PerkinsThis episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm

29 Aug 202251min

After Kleiner Perkins chairman John Doerr first invested in Google — $12.8 million for 13 percent of the company — he told co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin that they needed to hire a CEO to help them build the business. After they took meetings with a variety of successful tech execs, they came back to Doerr and told him “We’ve got some good news and some bad news.” The good news was that they agreed on the need for a CEO; the bad news, Doerr recalls, is that they believed there was only one person qualified for the role: The then-CEO of Pixar and interim CEO of Apple, Steve Jobs. In the 100th episode of Grit, John and Joubin discuss the urgent need to act on the climate crisis, getting turned down by Kleiner Perkins, CEOs as sales leaders, the microprocessor revolution, balancing between work and family, the opportunity of AI and sustainability, what makes Jeff Bezos special, Bing Gordon and the invention of Amazon Prime, the Google CEO search, how the iPhone nearly killed Apple, Steve Jobs’ greatest gift, Bill Gates’ philanthropy, and how Doerr divides his time.In this episode, we cover:John’s two books — Measure What Matters and Speed & Scale — and applying OKRs to the climate crisis (02:45)How John got to Silicon Valley and what he learned from his entrepreneurial father, Lou (09:00)“I didn’t want to be in venture capital” (16:28)Joining Kleiner Perkins at the dawn of personal computing (20:05)The internet, cloud computing, smartphones, and the next big tech wave: AI (24:53)How John met Amazon founder Jeff Bezos (29:48)Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, and teaming up with Mike Moritz from Sequoia (38:29)John’s friendship with Steve Jobs and the creation of the $100 million iFund for iPhone apps (45:20)“Family first” and setting personal OKRs (50:14)Working with Bill Gates outside of Kleiner Perkins (52:53)Brian Roberts, Comcast, and hustling to make at-home broadband nationwide (59:30)Links:Connect with JohnTwitterLinkedInConnect with JoubinTwitterLinkedInEmail: grit@kleinerperkins.com Learn more about Kleiner PerkinsThis episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm

22 Aug 20221h 6min

Touch The Top CEO Erik Weihenmayer, the first blind person to summit Mount Everest, climbs hundreds of mountains every year. And he’s learned over the years that sometimes, the smartest thing to do in the face of adversity is stop, turn around, and go home; but in other situations, like an unexpectedly icy day climbing Mount Kenya, one only has to change their approach. “The mountain doesn’t care, the mountain’s not gonna change,” he says. “We could still maybe get to the summit, even though the mountain gave us absolute, unforeseen challenges.”In this episode, Erik and Joubin discuss climbing Mount Everest, kayaking the Grand Canyon, how Erik went blind, the “seven summits,” his relationship with his father, turning back vs. changing your approach, continually growing and scaring yourself, the Khumbu Icefall, what’s different about ice climbing, how to be OK with the small things, and what Erik learned from watching Canadian athlete Terry Fox.In this episode, we cover:Are blind people’s other senses heightened?  (05:56)The different types of blindness and how Erik perceives the world — and dreams (09:17)The “double-knockout blow” of going blind and losing his mother (19:07)“No-mistakes moments” and pushing yourself to your limit (24:49)Erik’s relationship with death, and with the calm times between accomplishments (30:18)Needing to stand on the summit (36:31)Learning how to be miserable and training yourself to suffer (47:55)The importance of having a team you can trust with your life (52:05)The personal toll of climbing, and the terror of kayaking blind (55:20)Erik’s story’s resonance with the business community (01:00:46)Not letting yourself be imprisoned by fear, and realizing your full potential (01:04:06)Links:Connect with ErikTwitterLinkedInConnect with JoubinTwitterLinkedInEmail: grit@kleinerperkins.com Learn more about Kleiner PerkinsThis episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm

15 Aug 20221h 10min

After rescuing his first startup BigMachines from the brink of bankruptcy and building it to positive cash flow, Godard Abel thought the express lane of life was opening up to him. But after the board replaced him as CEO, Godard — now the CEO of B2B tech buying firm G2 — found himself on a rocky road for 10 years. He had all the money he could want, but also overwhelming fear, anxiety, and depression. To break out of this funk, Godard says he had to embrace presence and reckon with why entrepreneurship called him.In this episode, Godard and Joubin discuss the mental benefits of running, Silicon Valley during the dotcom boom, ex-Apple CEO John Sculley and “scale at all costs,” turning around a failing startup, a young founder’s “FU mentality,” Jim Dethmer and conscious leadership, the importance of “wallowing in the muck,” the best part about entrepreneurship, WFIO moments, and the advantage of getting older.In this episode, we cover:The first company Godard co-founded, BigMachines (09:00)The race to IPO as soon as possible, and the “dot bomb” bubble (18:41)Rock bottom for BigMachines: “I felt like a massive failure every day” (23:20)How Godard lost the CEO job: A “Trojan horse” swap (26:55)Financial success and debilitating anxiety (32:30)Conscious leadership, being present, and embracing one’s emotions (36:12)Godard’s redemption: Joining, building, and selling SteelBrick (42:55)How often are you happy? (51:05)The humbling moments of starting G2, and staying an entrepreneur (53:35)Links:Connect with GodardTwitterLinkedInEmail: godard@g2.comConnect with JoubinTwitterLinkedInEmail: grit@kleinerperkins.com Learn more about Kleiner PerkinsThis episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm

8 Aug 20221h

Mark Roberge’s first anxiety attack hit him six months after 9/11, and his second hit him in the middle of a big speech while he was an executive at HubSpot. And Roberge, who now lectures at Harvard Business School and co-founded the venture firm Stage 2 Capital, says it’s important to include that anxiety in his entrepreneurial story. “I talk about it because there is a stigma associated with it,” he says. “Society values some of the things I’ve accomplished, but when I admit to everyone that I have severe anxiety, it gives other people comfort.” In this episode, Mark and Joubin discuss the connections between HBS and KPCB, taking the long way around to get to MIT, Mark’s first company PawSpot, the meteoric rise of HubSpot, why it decided to zag when all the competition was moving upstream, being pigeonholed inside of big companies, what to say to reps who are trying to leave, extreme anxiety attacks, escaping to the gym, whether Mark would encourage his sons to work in tech, why customer retention matters more than revenue growth, becoming a VC, and why the best plan can be not having a plan.In this episode, we cover:Mark’s first sales job — selling $2000 vacuum cleaners — and what he learned from his sales coach father (06:45)How he met and started working with HubSpot co-founder Dharmesh Shah (10:24)Should you hire more sales reps, or incentivize existing reps to work harder? (19:40)Why established players can’t embrace product-led growth as quickly as smaller competitors (27:19)The stress of chasing a number and why “it’s always a grind” (36:03)Struggling with — and talking about — anxiety (41:01)Making time exercise and family dinners during the HubSpot journey (46:29)The reasons why someone might not want to join a startup (50:25)Ex-Shopify exec Loren Padelford’s big question for Mark (55:28)Do MBA programs “get” what’s happening in the tech sector? (59:54)Why Mark decided to get into venture capital with Stage 2 Capital (01:02:40)Links:Connect with MarkTwitterLinkedInConnect with JoubinTwitterLinkedInEmail: grit@kleinerperkins.com Learn more about Kleiner PerkinsThis episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm

1 Aug 20221h 9min

Canva CMO Zach Kitschke was the company’s fifth employee, joining right before the product launched to the public — or, that was the plan anyway. Emerging technologies like HTML5 and negative feedback from early testers delayed the debut of the design startup, but in the 10 years since its launch Canva has become one of the most successful companies to ever come out of Australia. “One of our values is to set crazy big goals and make them happen,” Zach says.In this episode, Zach and Joubin discuss Zach’s first job in small-town bureaucracy, how he got introduced to Canva before the company was hiring anyone, helping teammates achieve their potential, “culture carriers,” the pressure of comparing your companies to others, Canva’s “underwhelming” launch night and finding product-market fit, the four pillars of success in Canva’s culture, localization as a growth strategy, predictable anxiety, the hypergrowth gap, and “the two-step plan.”In this episode, we cover:What Canva does, and where the idea came from (08:08)Zach’s first impressions of Canva co-founders Mel Perkins and Cliff Obrecht (12:49)Making bets on unproven people in an organization (16:41)Setting “crazy big goals” and readying Canva v1 for launch (21:17)The pre-launch inferiority complex  (27:30)An important cold email from the Huffington Post (33:59)Wearing many hats in a startup and building company culture (36:17)Learning on the job and managing a hypergrowth company (45:23)How does Canva’s growth compare to what Zach expected? (51:09)Canva’s unique approach to work-life balance, and Mel and Cliff’s philanthropic “two-step plan” (59:23)Links:Connect with ZachTwitterLinkedInConnect with JoubinTwitterLinkedInEmail: grit@kleinerperkins.com Learn more about Kleiner PerkinsThis episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm

25 Jul 20221h 5min

Girish Mathrubootham is the founder and CEO of Freshworks, the first Indian SaaS company to be listed in NASDAQ — and when he’s in his home country, he gets the celebrity treatment. Freshworks’ 2021 IPO was a milestone for the country’s tech sector, and Mathrubootham has also attracted a “take a selfie with me!” level of fame for trying to change the conversation about entrepreneurship there. “You can be successful in business without doing bad things,” he says. “Being a good person and winning is not mutually exclusive.”In this episode, Girish and Joubin discuss the silver lining of COVID lockdown; learning how to make mistakes and fight for what you want; why Girish started Freshworks after finding success at Zoho;  the challenges of starting a small business in Chennai in the early 2010s; the “modern jail” of being a CEO; immediate job offers; “Indian cowboys”; why multi-product startups should hire in India; why moving to the US was like competing in the Olympics; and why the IPO is not the endgame.In this episode, we cover:Growing up in a “tier-two town” and social norms in India (06:03)Why entrepreneurial people don’t always fit in at big companies (13:00)Being a celebrity businessman in India, breaking up biases, and the pressure of being an idol (20:49)500 crorepatis and generating wealth for employees (24:27)Why Girish started Freshworks, originally known as Freshdesk (28:09)Keeping up morale & being scrappy when Freshworks didn’t have much funding (36:35)Nostalgia for the early days and the luxury of time (39:44)“Ripoff or not” and doing battle with a respected analyst (45:29)Growing from one product to many, and the support needed to do that (49:58)Deciding to build a billion-dollar company, and moving from India to the US (58:43)Why Girish has re-committed himself to Freshworks for at least seven more years (01:04:24)Finding happiness in small things and not letting others control your feelings (01:07:57)Links:Connect with GirishTwitterLinkedInConnect with JoubinTwitterLinkedInEmail: grit@kleinerperkins.com Learn more about Kleiner PerkinsThis episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm

18 Jul 20221h 13min