AI Security Cameras to $3.5B Company
EP 93 of The Logan Bartlett Show: Untold stories from tech's inner circle
Filip Kaliszan is the Co-Founder and CEO of Verkada, one of the fastest growing private companies out there today. In episode 93, we discussed many of the first principles decisions Filip has made growing Verkada into a $3.5B business that employs over 2000 people.
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✉️ Episode Memo
→ Why being open about your ideas wins
As a college student, Filip assumed secrecy was vital in building his first startup. He later learned that success depends less on guarding your ideas and more on luck, passion, and dedicated effort. Gathering feedback and sharing prototypes while building can elevate customer closeness and faster iteration, which has proved essential in growing Verkada.
→ On giving the team one year to launch something remarkable
After selling CourseRank to Chegg and working there for a few years, Filip felt the urge to start another venture. He reunited with his founding team, setting a one-year deadline to develop a fantastic idea, or else they'd pursue different careers.
When selecting the security camera idea, the team sought out an opportunity that could quickly scale from 0 to $100M in sales within a few years. After researching market demand to validate the size of the opportunity, they committed to moving forward with Verkada.
→ Verkada’s unconventional org structure: why they separate product teams
When Verkada was building their second product, the engineering team kept getting distracted fixing bugs in their existing offering. So, Filip moved a small team to a separate office area and cut them off from working on anything other than the new product. With a sole mission, a tight 6-month timeline, and a limited headcount, management and communication was much easier, and progress ramped up.
Now, Verkada has repeated the separation process for a total of 6 product lines, and the teams continue to operate separately. This divide-and-conquer organizational structure has allowed for autonomy and accountability across all teams. On top of this separation, Verkada has decentralized recruiting, decentralized IT, and decentralized human resources, which has led to a fundamentally better and more personal employee experience.
Hear more of Filip’s contrarian business building tactics, including what’s worked and what hasn’t in the full episode.
⭐ Trailer
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