Matthew Prince, Co-Founder of Cloudflare: The Power of an Uncharted Path

Matthew Prince is the Co-founder and CEO of Cloudflare, an internet infrastructure company that is making the internet a faster and safer place. On today’s episode, Jon Sakoda speaks with Matthew Prince on how he went from bartender to founder of one of the most successful startups built in the last decade. 

1. Pick Your Co-Founders Wisely [13:10-15:16]- Choosing who to build your startup with is just as important as choosing the problem you want to solve, says Matthew, who’s worked in teams that quickly became counter-productive. If you’re thinking about working with friends, listen to learn why Matthew believes choosing co-founders you can split the work with might be your best bet.
2. Pick The Big, Thorny, Hairy Problem [16:19-18:23] - If you’re going to pitch an idea for a startup, Matthew believes in choosing a problem so ambitious you may not even understand the depth of it. After all, it’s better to scale down than be stuck in a corner with an idea that doesn’t make a positive impact on the world. Listen to hear why you shouldn’t be afraid to choose the intimidating problem as a founder.
3. Why Hiring Is The Only Skill Every Founder Needs [18:23-18:47] - When you choose an ambitious problem to tackle, you need to put together a team that can rise to the challenge. To be successful, Matthew believes you need to hire people that are equally as inspired as you. Listen to hear how to attract team members that will help scale your startup to the next level.
4. The Power of Choosing an Uncharted Path [19:50-22:59] - Matthew and his co-founders weren’t experts in their field when they founded Cloudflare but he credits their success to their willingness to look at the problem from a different perspective. Listen to learn why going down a new path could work in your favor.

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