EP 101: Andrew Bialecki (CEO, Klaviyo) on Building a $6B Software Company - Klaviyo’s Uncharted Path

Before Andrew Bialecki took Klaviyo public and scaled the company to $6B, he bootstrapped it to over $1M in ARR. In our discussion, Andrew reveals his philosophies around fundraising, finding the best talent, cultivating entrepreneurship inside Klaviyo, scaling culture, and more. (00:00) Intro(01:13) Klaviyo's Bootstrap Beginnings(09:37) The Strategic Pivot to E-commerce and Retail(15:02) Narrow Focus as a Catalyst for Growth(25:48) Building a Culture of Learning and Growth(34:02) The Entrepreneurial Path: From Engineer to Founder(37:09) The Commute to Innovation: A Startup Journey(37:57) From Performable to HubSpot: A Tale of Acquisition and Growth(39:26) Building Klaviyo: Lessons in Entrepreneurship and Team Building(40:40) Scaling a Startup: The Challenges of Leadership and Hiring(47:04) Fostering a Culture of Experimentation and Entrepreneurship(53:15) The Art of Hiring: Identifying Entrepreneurial Spirit(58:39) Chronological Resumes and the Power of Storytelling in Interviews(01:06:16) Embracing the Unsexy: The Philosophy of 'Eating Your Vegetables'(01:13:33) Klaviyo University: Training Future Founders and Leaders(01:15:25) Cultivating a Culture of Learning at Klaviyo(01:16:17) The Genesis of Klaviyo University(01:17:05) Core Curriculum and Electives: A Deep Dive(01:20:46) Adapting Learning Programs in a Remote World(01:21:56) The Art and Science of Effective Business Writing(01:28:35) Recruitment and Onboarding: Strategies for Success(01:38:05) Building and Sustaining Company Culture(01:41:28) Leveraging Boston's Ecosystem for Growth(01:47:06) The Future of Software: Productivity vs. Output(01:52:33) Closing Thoughts and Acknowledgements Executive Producer: Rashad AssirProducer: Leah ClapperMixing and editing: Justin Hrabovsky Check out Unsupervised Learning, Redpoint's AI Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@UCUl-s_Vp-Kkk_XVyDylNwLA 🎙 Listen to the show Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-logan-bartlett-show/id1606770839Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5WqBqDb4br3LlyVrdqOYYb?si=3076e6c1b5c94d63&nd=1Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5zaW1wbGVjYXN0LmNvbS9zb0hJZkhWbg 🎥 Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCugS0jD5IAdoqzjaNYzns7w?sub_confirmation=1 Follow on Socials 📸 Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/theloganbartlettshow🐦 Twitter - https://twitter.com/loganbartshow🎬 Clips on TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@theloganbartlettshow About the Show Logan Bartlett is a Software Investor at Redpoint Ventures - a Silicon Valley-based VC with $6B AUM and investments in Snowflake, DraftKings, Twilio, and Netflix. In each episode, Logan goes behind the scenes with world-class entrepreneurs and investors. If you're interested in the real inside baseball of tech, entrepreneurship, and start-up investing, tune in every Friday for new episodes.