464: Silicon Valley Outsider Michelle Zatlyn on Building a Tech Disruptor

Michelle Zatlyn and her co-founders were outsiders when they moved to Silicon Valley to launch their web security startup. It was 2009, in the middle of a recession, but the team knew their visceral early-user feedback validated the need to be bold. In 2010, Cloudflare launched its first freemium product and hasn’t looked back. Today, Cloudflare has four million customers worldwide, surpassed a $1 billion revenue run rate, and employs 3,200 team members. Zatlyn currently serves as the publicly traded company’s president and CEO. She is one of the few women founders leading a public tech business. 

Listen to Nathan and Michelle discuss: 

• A “made for TV” meeting with her co-founders
• Validating an idea with visceral feedback
• Being a Silicon Valley outsider
• Starting a tech business during a recession
• Launching a product MVP
• Six business reasons to have a freemium product 
• Being a female founder in the tech industry
• And much more tech founder advice… 

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