B2BaCEO: Ali Ghodsi @ Databricks
Databricks founder speaks at FC BUILD, listicles featuring FC companies
“How to Commercialize Open Source” Featuring Ali Ghodsi, Founder & CEO of Databricks
If you enjoyed hearing from Ali Ghodsi during our first interview for B2B a CEO, you won’t want to miss our latest episode. Ali was one of 50 speakers at our recent FC BUILD_enterprise conference. He joined me on the virtual stage to recount his journey building Databricks. We discuss how Databricks made the leap from an open-source project at UC Berkeley to the commercial market. We also dive into the art of finding product-market fit. Listen here.
ICYMI: Kevin Johnson, CEO of Udemy
Kevin Johnson is a repeat CEO with experience growing companies at very different stages. When he joined Ebates, Kevin was one of 40 employees. When he left, the company was acquired by Ratuken for $1 billion. For his next gig, Kevin joined the team at Udemy and worked to create a culture of empowerment, one in which employees felt able to independently follow through on the company's values. In this episode, you’ll hear how Kevin transitioned with the company as it grew and how he knew when to hire and fire. Listen here.
DataJoy’s Seed Round
Jon Lee, founder and CEO, made the decision to build DataJoy after experiencing frustration gathering financial data at his last company, Copper. Jon made it his mission to help answer basic business questions by hosting all data financial in one place. With their fresh round of seed funding, DataJoy will continue growing the team and work towards a product launch.
Fast Company Names 2021’s Most Innovative Companies
March was the month of listicles! Fast Company published their annual list of the world’s most innovative companies and we were thrilled to see no fewer than six of our companies—Bolt Threads, Cerebras, HOOKED, Netflix, Tubi, and Turing—made the list!
Ashu Recommends…
For those craving even more B2BaCEO in their lives, you’ll be excited to learn that I have expanded the show to Clubhouse! Every Wednesday at 8:30PM Pacific, you can catch me and Nick Mehta, CEO of Gainsight, leading informal discussions with rotating guests in the enterprise. You’ll hear unedited and unscripted conversations with founders and enterprise leaders on the lifecycle of a startup. Follow me @ashugarg on Clubhouse to be notified of our next episode!