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

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/