Grit Building Cloudflare for the Next 50 Years | Co-founder Cloudfare Michelle Zatlyn
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Dec 1, 2025 Michelle Zatlyn, co-founder and President of Cloudflare, shares insights from 15 years of building a leading web security company. She discusses the challenges of maintaining customer connections amid success and the need for content creators to adapt in an AI-driven landscape. Michelle emphasizes long-term thinking in leadership decisions and the importance of prioritizing sleep and customer interactions in daily routines. She also highlights Cloudflare's role in safeguarding web monetization against AI crawlers and envisions a bright future for the company and the internet.
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Playing The 50-Year Game
- Michelle Zatlyn believes Cloudflare is still early at 15 years and aims to be a 50-year company.
- Thinking generationally changes decisions toward long-term value over short-term wins.
Always Be Recruiting, Always Be Closing
- Always be recruiting and always be closing are core mantras for high-growth companies.
- Prioritize hiring and revenue continuously because talent and deals drive scaling.
Founders Outlast Most Hires
- Founders often outlast nearly everyone they hire and must live with decisions longer.
- That longevity gives founders a unique long-term perspective when making hard calls.
