How to build billion-dollar companies from pivots – Cal Henderson, Co-Founder 6 CTO Slack

Show notes

Cal Henderson and his team wanted to improve ways to connect online. The result was a lot of bad decisions - and finally, Flickr and later Slack.

Where did the courage come from to build something from the failed pile to such successful companies?

What you learn:

When was the right moment for Cal to walk away from Flickr, and how that led to the idea for Slack

What strategies have been established for a small company to make software popular in the B2B space?

What role do blockchain, crypto, AI, and other technologies Play in the future - and can artificial intelligence improve software like Slack?

Chapters:

(00:03:11) When and how did you start as an entrepreneur?

(00:06:41) Why didn't you go to Microsoft after all, and what was your work like at Flickr?

(00:08:46) How did the purchase by Yahoo! change your work, and how did it feel to be bought by such a corporation?

(00:09:50) When and why did you decide to leave Flickr, and how did you end up on Slack?

(00:14:46) Why a communication tool, and how did you approach companies to promote Slack?

(00:17:20) From today's perspective, would you promote software the way you did with Slack back then?

(00:20:53) When did you realize that Slack could do more than just enterprise communications and what impact does that bring to the future?

(00:23:43) What is coming technologically in the next few years? Will things like blockchain and AI become more critical?

(00:27:10) How would you evaluate the role of blockchain and crypto from an expert perspective, and are you concerned about it yourself?

(00:31:17) What book would you recommend?

(00:35:58) How did your company culture evolve when you proliferated?

(00:38:08) Closing Words

Cal Handerson

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iamcal

Slack: https://slack.com/