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How I Built This with Guy Raz

Atlassian: Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar

How I Built This with Guy Raz

Guy Raz | Wondery

Business

4.831.1K Ratings

🗓️ 8 February 2021

⏱️ 74 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In 2001, Mike Cannon-Brookes sent an email to his college classmates in Sydney, asking if anyone was interested in helping him launch a tech startup after graduation. Back then, entrepreneurship wasn't a popular career path in Australia; and Mike's only taker was Scott Farquhar, a fellow student who shared Mike's passion for computers and his frustration for the corporate grind. Together they launched Atlassian, a two-man tech support service that they managed from their bedrooms at all hours of the night. Unable to make money, Scott and Mike decided to pivot and sell some of the software they'd developed for themselves. Out of that grew Jira, a project-management tool that's used in all sorts of endeavors, from pizza delivery to the exploration of Mars. Today, Atlassian is valued at over $50 billion and Scott and Mike are Australia's first startup-to-IPO tech billionaires.

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Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Hey, Prime Members, you can listen to how I built this early and ad-free on Amazon Music.

0:07.0

Download the app today.

0:09.0

New Year's is here, and with it brings the possibility of change.

0:13.0

As one behavioral scientist put it, first starts are really powerful.

0:17.0

So as you head into 2023, LifeKit is a great resource to help you plan your life and tackle changes, both big and small.

0:24.0

Listen to the LifeKit podcast from NPR.

0:27.0

Hey, everyone, just a quick announcement before we start the show.

0:30.0

So a lot of you may know how much I miss seeing all of you at the live in-person shows that we do around the country during normal times.

0:40.0

So I am really excited to finally announce our first how I built this virtual event.

0:47.0

It's happening next month with Jay Shetty.

0:50.0

Jay is a best-selling author, former monk and wellness coach, and if you're searching for purpose, peace, and clarity in your life, or you're struggling to find meaning and motivation at work, you will not want to miss this conversation.

1:03.0

Please join us. It's happening on Thursday, March 11th, and anybody around the world can take part.

1:09.0

For more information and tickets, head to nprpresents.org, and I hope to see you there.

1:20.0

And one more quick thing, just a quick note.

1:23.0

There is a little bit of salty language in this episode, so if you are listening with kids, just be aware. And thanks.

1:30.0

I would have my computer running 24 hours a day under my bed. Both our mobile phones were turned to the loudest ringtone they possibly could.

1:41.0

We'd alternate which nights we were on call and get up at 2 in the morning and try and answer the phone call.

1:47.0

It's like, oh, that's a last year? That's, yep. We're trying to sound like you're a coach at that time in the morning.

1:55.0

And we realized that actually it was just such a terrible business. Almost anything would be better.

2:07.0

Brahmin PR is how I built this. A show about innovators, entrepreneurs, and idealists, and the stories behind the movements they built.

2:16.0

I'm Guy Raaz and on the show today, how two friends from college started a business named for a Greek Titan and built a modern day empire, Atlassian, a software company that's been valued at over $50 billion.

2:33.0

Back in 2018, there was an article in a major Australian newspaper, The Sydney Morning Herald, the headline read, Atlassian, the $30 billion tech giant nobody understands.

...

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