37: Mike Knoop, Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer of Zapier

In Silicon Valley today, it’s become a phenomenon to talk about raising less venture capital and going remote to offset capital cost and get better access to talent. This wasn’t always the dominant perspective; in fact it was often looked upon as an inhibitor to building a great company. Zapier - founded roughly a decade ago - has turned those two principles, amongst others on their head. Today the business has (still!) raised less than $1.5M, just recently crossed $50M in ARR and has been fully remote since Day 1. This episode was a ton of fun - I talked to Mike about how him, Wade and Bryan founded the company, their original vision for the business and how it has transformed a decade later, and how they have successfully led a remote company. Mike’s authenticity is audible in his voice - it was great to hear his very candid and humble perspective on building a once in a generation company.