Frederic Kerrest is the executive vice chairman and co-founder of Okta. He is responsible for Okta's day-to-day operations, working with employees, partners, and customers to deliver on the company's vision of enabling any organization to use any technology. Kerrest is the author of “Zero to IPO,” a WSJ Bestseller guidebook to building startups featuring insights from some of the world’s most successful and recognizable entrepreneurs. He’s also the co-host of the “Zero to IPO” podcast. In this presentation, Kerrest shares stories from his life to illustrate the challenges and excitement of being an entrepreneur and offers practical advice for students starting their careers.—-----------------------------------Stanford eCorner content is produced by the Stanford Technology Ventures Program. At STVP, we empower aspiring entrepreneurs to become global citizens who create and scale responsible innovations.CONNECT WITH USTwitter: https://twitter.com/ECorner LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/stanfordtechnologyventuresprogram/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StanfordTechnologyVenturesProgram/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ecorner LEARN MOREeCorner Website: https://ecorner.stanford.edu/STVP Website: https://stvp.stanford.edu/Support our mission of providing students and educators around the world with free access to Stanford University’s network of entrepreneurial thought leaders: https://ecorner.stanford.edu/give.

Explore the journey of Okta, a multi-billion dollar company, overcoming challenges and competing with tech giants. Learn about the founder's personal growth, lessons learned, and the importance of determination. Reflect on transitioning from SMB to enterprise focus after a revenue target miss. Discuss competition, time management, and entrepreneurial traits. Dive into raising institutional venture capital, building a strong company culture, and Octa Stock's performance.

In this podcast episode, Okta's founder shares insights on pursuing valuable ideas, evaluating markets, and the benefits of being a monopolist in a small market. He also discusses the challenges faced by Okta, the importance of balancing vision and realism, and navigating venture capital funding and investor partnerships.