Acquired Episode 42: Opsware (with special guest Michel Feaster)
Aug 5, 2017
01:19:24
Loudcloud's Premature AWS Vision
- Loudcloud, Opsware's predecessor, envisioned AWS before AWS existed.
- Its timing was premature; the market lacked virtualization and cost-effective company creation.
Loudcloud's Pivot
- Loudcloud’s initial customers, primarily dot-com era startups, went bankrupt after the tech bubble burst.
- This forced Loudcloud to pivot, selling its managed service product to EDS for $60 million.
Opsware's Transition to Product
- Loudcloud pivoted by repurposing its internal data center management tool, Opsware, as a product.
- This transition from an internal tool to a customer-facing product proved challenging, particularly regarding usability.
Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode
Get the app 1 chevron_right 2 chevron_right 3 chevron_right 4 chevron_right 5 chevron_right 6 chevron_right 7 chevron_right 8 chevron_right 9 chevron_right 10 chevron_right 11 chevron_right 12 chevron_right 13 chevron_right 14 chevron_right 15 chevron_right 16 chevron_right 17 chevron_right 18 chevron_right 19 chevron_right 20 chevron_right 21 chevron_right 22 chevron_right 23 chevron_right 24 chevron_right 25 chevron_right 26 chevron_right 27 chevron_right 28 chevron_right 29 chevron_right 30 chevron_right 31 chevron_right 32 chevron_right 33 chevron_right 34 chevron_right 35 chevron_right 36 chevron_right 37 chevron_right 38 chevron_right 39 chevron_right 40 chevron_right 41 chevron_right 42 chevron_right 43 chevron_right
Introduction
00:00 • 2min
The Acquisition of Zoom Info
01:47 • 1min
B2B Revenue Growth Platform - Zoom Info
03:16 • 2min
Do You Want to Talk About Opsware Acquisition History?
05:14 • 2min
Loud Cloud Is an Infrastructure as a Service Product
06:48 • 2min
AWS Is Like the Electric Power Grid and Companies Can Plug In
08:28 • 2min
AWS, Loud Cloud, Not a Huge Successful Business
10:06 • 2min
HP Needs to Buy Opsware, Right?
11:36 • 2min
Loud Cloud Is Trying to Be AWS and There's So Much Hype
13:32 • 2min
What's Going Through Your Head Right Now?
15:13 • 2min
Is It Crazy or Genius?
16:55 • 2min
How Long Did It Take You to Build a Product?
18:46 • 2min
The First CEO Who Said, You Know, Your Heart Is Challenged
20:42 • 1min
How Did You Come to HP?
22:10 • 2min
Opsware Is the Market Leader in Data Center Automation End to Ends
23:45 • 2min
How Did You Do That Build Versus Buy?
25:18 • 2min
How to Build a New Product in a Consolidated Market?
27:15 • 2min
How to Monetize a Software Business
28:51 • 1min
Is This Strategic Control Point to Owning the Future Disruption of the Enterprise?
30:20 • 2min
Opsware
31:59 • 2min
What Was It Like After You Purchased Opsware?
33:37 • 2min
Opsware vs Blade Logic
35:14 • 2min
Opsware and Blade Logic - What's the Difference?
37:23 • 1min
Opsware vs Blade Logic
38:50 • 2min
Is There a Freaky Friday?
40:32 • 2min
Opsware Integration - The DNA Maps Closely to the Opswap Teams
42:04 • 2min
Taking Over Overlays for HP Software
43:53 • 2min
HP Overlays - What's the Biggest Challenge?
45:49 • 2min
Hp
47:33 • 2min
Dockerization
49:22 • 2min
The Second Challenge in a Big Company
50:58 • 2min
Is HP Product Acquisition a Product Acquisition?
53:04 • 2min
HP Software Integration Strategy
54:43 • 2min
Should We Jump Into Tech Themes?
56:15 • 2min
The Role of Talent in Technology
57:48 • 2min
The One Law You Just Don't Control
59:24 • 2min
Is It the Courage to Fight for the Deal?
01:00:59 • 2min
Is It an a or B?
01:02:41 • 2min
Is Ben a CEO? Andreessen Horowitz CEO?
01:04:13 • 2min
How to Hire a CEO - Is That Really the Key to Success?
01:05:46 • 2min
Adding Value to Venture Capital
01:07:39 • 2min
Carvouts - Is That the Right Choice for You?
01:09:13 • 2min
The Ringer Podcast
01:10:57 • 5min
Acquired dives into the legendary acquisition of Ben Horowitz & Marc Andreessen’s “second act” software company Opsware, from a perspective never before heard—HP’s side of the story! Our heroes are joined by Michel Feaster, who led both the acquisition for HP and then the Opsware product as part of the integrated company afterward under Ben Horowitz. Today the tables have turned: Michel is the Co-Founder and CEO of Seattle-based startup Usermind, and Ben Horowitz sits on her board on behalf of A16Z. This episode is not one to miss!
Sponsors:
WorkOS: https://bit.ly/workos25
Sentry: https://bit.ly/acquiredsentry
ServiceNow: https://bit.ly/acquiredsn
More Acquired!:
- Get email updates with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodes
- Join the Slack
- Subscribe to ACQ2
- Merch Store!
© Copyright 2015-2025 ACQ, LLC
Topics covered include:
- Opsware’s early history and origins as Loudcloud, the “second act” of internet wunderkind Marc Andreessen and Netscape product manager Ben Horowitz
- Ben’s first person telling of the Loudcloud/Opsware history in The Hard Thing about Hard Things, as well as the great Wired "period piece” covering Loudcloud’s launch in August 2000
- The importance of timing, and Loudcloud’s too-early vision of—essentially—AWS before AWS (including eerie parallels between the metaphor Andreessen used to describe Loudcloud during the company’s first press briefing, and Jeff Bezos’s description of AWS at YC nearly a decade later)
- Creation of the “Opsware” tool inside of Loudcloud to automate deploying and configuring servers within Loudcloud’s data centers
- Loudcloud's meteoric rise, crash following the burst of the internet bubble, and hard pivot as a public company into Opsware—now an enterprise software company selling datacenter tools
- Michel’s role in HP’s evaluation of the company as an acquisition target, and process leading to its $1.6B acquisition in July 2007
- Integration of the company into HP’s culture and sales channel
- The creation of Ben & Marc’s “third act”, the VC firm Andreessen Horowitz, and what it’s like for Michel now having Ben as an investor on her board at Usermind
The Carve Out: