20VC: Atlassian Co-Founder Scott Farquhar on The Biggest Lessons Scaling Atlassian to $50BN Market Cap; The Four Roles of the CEO, The Funding Round That Net Accel $6BN, The Regrets of Omission and Commission & The Honeymoon Cut Short
The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch
The Twenty Minute VC
4.4 • 637 Ratings
🗓️ 9 October 2023
⏱️ 53 minutes
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Summary
Scott Farquhar is the Co-Founder & Co-CEO @ Atlassian. Scott co-founded the company with his university friend, Mike Cannon-Brookes, in 2002 from Australia. Over an incredible 20-year journey they have grown to a market cap of $50BN today, over 11,000 staff globally and serving over 260,000 customers. Scott is also a co-founder of Skip Capital, a private investment fund with a portfolio including Figma, Snyk, Canva and more.
In Today's Episode with Scott Farquhar We Discuss:
1. The 20-Year Journey to $50BN Market Cap:
- How did Scott first make his way into the world of tech and come to co-found Atlassian?
- What does Scott know now that he wishes he had known at the beginning?
- From 20 years with Mike, what is Scott's biggest advice on choosing your co-founder?
2. The Fundraising Masterclass with Atlassian:
- An emergency phone call, a honeymoon cut short; how did the first funding round for Atlassian come to be? Where was the business revenue-wise at the time?
- Why did Scott not like the traditional fundraising process? What did he do to add game theory and ensure that they got the best deal as a company?
- Why did Scott choose Accel with their offer? How did Peter Fenton lose a $3BN deal with Atlassian?
3. Lessons Scaling Atlassian to $4BN in Revenue:
- What does Scott believe are the 4 core roles of the CEO? Is resource allocation the most important?
- What are the single biggest acts of commission and omission that Scott regrets?
- What are the biggest lessons Scott has from shutting down Stride, their Slack competitor?
4. Scott: The Father, Husband and Philanthropist:
- What does great fatherhood mean to Scott today?
- What is the secret to a truly successful marriage?
- How does Scott assess his relationship to money today? How has it changed with time?
- How does Scott think about bringing children up in a world of affluence and abundance?
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | the four things a CEO should do. One of them is hire and fire the management team. Two is |
| 0:06.0 | set the vision for the company. Three is set the culture for the company. And four is basically |
| 0:11.6 | a resource allocation where you put the dollars in the bets. When you're small as a company, |
| 0:16.2 | the mistakes are mistakes of commission. Like you do something stupid or you invested time |
| 0:20.7 | in something that ultimately was wasted time. |
| 0:22.6 | When we get larger, most of the mistakes I've made are of omission and not doing something that we should have done. |
| 0:28.6 | Welcome back. This is 20 VC with me, Harry Stebbings, and what a show we have for you today. |
| 0:32.6 | Today we have the story of an Australian technology company that has scaled to be one of the largest in the world, with a market cap of close to $50 billion, 11,000 staff and over 260,000 customers. |
| 0:45.3 | Yes, today we bring the story of Atlassian with their co-founder, Scott Farkwa, joining us in the hot seat. |
| 0:50.3 | This is one that I wanted to do for a long time, having respected their journey immensely, and my word, it did not disappoint? But before we dive into the show's day, |
| 0:58.5 | did you know that every 20VC episode you listen to is recorded with Riverside? Riverside is |
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| 1:27.7 | and then send after, which is a total nightmare. But for me, honestly, what I love so much is how |
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| 1:45.1 | Use my coupon code, 20 VC, that's 20VC, and get a 15% discount. It is the tool I could |
| 1:51.9 | not run my business without. And then tech startups are some of the fastest growing and scalable |
| 1:56.7 | companies, but even the greatest startups can hit hard times. That's why I want to tell you about |
| 2:01.6 | arising ventures. If you're looking for a second chance for your tech business, you'll want to hear |
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| 2:11.3 | setbacks, whether it's because of cab table issues, outsize preference status, or other special |
... |
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