How to build a $65b company, with Twilio Co-Founder and CEO Jeff Lawson
Jeff Lawson is the co-founder and CEO of probably the biggest company we’ve ever had on the show, Twilio. Since its founding in 2008, Twilio has grown to 4,500 employees, annual revenue of $1.74 billion, and is valued at $65 billion. But how did Jeff get there? How do you build a company like Twilio?Key takeaways Learning how to start companies and how big companies workReinventing yourself if you want to stay CEO Having difficult conversationsIPOing on the day of the Brexit vote
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Show Notes
Today’s guest is at the helm of probably the biggest company we’ve ever had on Secret Leaders. Jeff Lawson is the Co-Founder and CEO of Twilio, a cloud communication platform that helps businesses use everything from text to video calls in their sites and apps.
Since its founding in 2008, Twilio has grown to 4,500 employees, annual revenue of $1.74 billion, and is valued at $65 billion. Yup, $65 billion. Woof.
All this despite investors not being interested at the beginning which forced Jeff and his team to make a decision.
“When choosing between listening to investors and customers, we're gonna choose customers. And we're gonna let customers guide our actions. And if that works, then investors will follow suit. And sure enough, they did.”
But how did Jeff actually do it? How do you build a company like Twilio?
We chat about:
- Learning how to start companies
- How big companies work
- How to reinvent yourself if you want to stay CEO
- How to have difficult conversations
- IPOing on the day of the Brexit vote