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Mike is the Chief Executive Officer of Qlik, a leading provider of analytics software and visualization analytics. As CEO, Mike is responsible for leading Qlik’s mission to become the leader in the analytics economy.
Prior to Qlik, Mike was the Chief Operating Officer of Medidata Solutions. Before Medidata Solutions, Mike spent 26 years at ADP in a variety of senior leadership positions including Chief Information Officer, Head of Product Development, and General Manager of Global HR/Payroll.
Mike received his Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Dickinson University and his MBA from Pace University.
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Bill is the Chief Executive Officer of GE Digital, as well as the Senior Vice President and Chief Digital Officer of General Electric, a 126 year-old industrial conglomerate with revenues exceeding $120 billion. At GE, Bill has been responsible for leading a massive digital transformation by bringing in new employees, reprogramming the existing employees, and bringing in Chief Digital Officers from the outside.
Before joining General Electric, Bill served as the Vice President at CISCO. Prior to working at CISCO, Bill was the Senior Vice President at Software AG. Bill has also held executive management positions at The Advisory Board, The MITRE Corporation, and Concept 5 Technologies.
Bill received both his Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in Computer Science from California State University, Fullerton.
Bill serves on the Board of Directors of Magna International Inc.
Mickey is the Co-Founder and CEO of Transmit Security, a cybersecurity startup focused on building a cross-channel identity platform designed to simplify, accelerate, and reduce the cost of identity-related projects for large enterprises. Along with his Co-Founder and company President, Rakesh Loonkar, Mickey has positioned the self-funded company as a go-to security solution for enterprise.
Prior to founding Transmit Security, Mickey was the Founder and CEO of Trusteer, which was acquired in 2013 by IBM for $1 billion. Before founding Trusteer, Mickey was co-founder of Imperva, now a leader in web and database security.
Mickey has successfully invested in various cybersecurity startups including Skyfence, Aorato, Hyperwise, and Lacoon Security, among several others. Mickey holds board seats at several companies he has invested in.
Mickey received his Masters of Science in Computer Engineering from the Israel Institute of Technology (Technion), and his MBA from Ben Gurion University.
Stephen is the co-founder and CEO of Chronicle, a cybersecurity company born out of Alphabet’s Moonshot factory X (formerly Google X) that aims to “10X the speed and impact of security teams by making it easier, faster, and more cost-effective for them to capture and analyze security signals that have previously been too difficult and expensive to find.” As CEO, Stephen is building the team, setting the vision and strategy, and developing relationships with potential customers.
Prior to founding Chronicle, Stephen was a senior leader and advisor at X. While at X, Stephen explored the potential for a cybersecurity moonshot and developed the concept for Chronicle. Stephen’s collaboration with X grew out of his position as Executive in Residence at GV (formerly Google Ventures), where he was a resource and mentor to the entrepreneurs of the fund’s portfolio companies. Prior to joining Alphabet, Stephen was the Chief Operating Officer of Symantec. Prior to Symantec, Stephen was the President of Digital, Marketing, and Operations at Best Buy. Before Best Buy, Stephen was the Chief Information Officer and GM of Digital Ventures at Starbucks. Prior to Starbucks, Stephen held a number of IT leadership roles at Corbis, Yahoo!, CNET and Sun Microsystems.
Stephen received a Bachelor of Science in Political Science from the University of Oregon, and an MBA from San Francisco State University.
Among other topics, Larry and Theador discussed the following issues with Metis Strategy:
Everipedia is a wiki-based online encyclopedia that is the largest in the English language. Everipedia leverages blockchain technology to incentivize content generation and ensure democratized access to information.
Theodor co-founded Everipedia in 2014. Prior to that, he was the creator of social gaming networks Hello and Mobafy, and was a web developer at Swedish advertising agency NOGA.
Larry is the CIO of Everipedia and has been focused on developing Everipedia’s blockchain network since joining in December 2016. Larry co-founded Wikipedia with Jimmy Wales in 2001. Larry also taught philosophy at Ohio State University as a visiting professor. Larry received a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from Reed College and a Ph.D. in Philosophy from Ohio State University.
I recently caught up with Theodor and Larry by phone from their office in Los Angeles, California, and our conversation the genesis of and vision for Everipedia, the company’s unique use of blockchain and the value it provides, the key differences between Everipedia and Wikipedia, among a variety of other topics.
Among other topics, Thaddeus discusses the following issues with Metis Strategy:
Thaddeus is Chief Executive Officer of AT&T Business, which serves over 2.5 million business customers in almost 200 countries and territories, including nearly all of the world’s Fortune 1000 companies. As CEO, Thaddeus is responsible for AT&T’s integrated business solutions and international organization.
Thaddeus joined AT&T through its acquisition of Cingular Wireless, where he was CIO. Upon joining AT&T, he became CIO of AT&T, a role he held for seven years. Thaddeus has since held a number of senior executive positions including President of Technology Development, CEO of AT&T Mexico, and now, CEO of AT&T Business. Prior to joining Cingular Wireless Thaddeus was a Senior Vice President at Sabre.
Thaddeus holds a Bachelor or Science degree in mathematics and computer science from The University of Texas at Arlington, as well as a MBA from Southern Methodist University.
Among other topics, Greg discusses the following issues with Metis Strategy:
Greg is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Fifth Third Bank, a diversified financial services company with $142 billion in assets.
Greg joined Fifth Third in 2003 as Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer. By 2006 he was offered the Chief Operating Officer role, and became President in 2012. Greg has served as President and CEO since 2015.
Prior to joining Fifth Third, Greg was the CIO of Emerson Electric, and held several information technology and leadership positions at General Electric.
Greg earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the University of Dayton and a master’s degree in business administration from Central Michigan University.
Greg is a member of Fifth Third Bank’s Board of Directors and of the Financial Services Roundtable Advisory Board, the leading advocacy organization for America’s financial services industry.
Among other topics, Taso discusses the following issues with Metis Strategy:
Taso Du Val is the CEO and co-founder of Toptal, an Andreessen Horowitz-backed company that connects innovative companies with engineering, design, and finance talent. Taso is also a founding member and serves as an advisor for Artsy, an online database of art, architecture, and design images.
Prior to co-founding Toptal and Artsy, Taso was a lead engineer at photo-sharing startup Fotolog and a lead engineer at the social media company Slide.
Taso was selected for the Forbes 30 under 30 as a leader in Enterprise Technology, in 2015.
Among other topics, Alan discusses the following issues with Metis Strategy:
Alan is the founder and CEO of Pegasystems, a $750 million provider of strategic applications. Since founding the company in 1983, Alan has grown the organization to more than 4,000 employees, in 30 global offices.
Alan is also the author of “Build for Change, Revolutionizing Customer Engagement through Continuous Digital Innovation.” The book describes a new generation of customers that have the unprecedented power to make or break brands and discusses the changes businesses must embrace to succeed in today’s digital world.
Alan and his wife Pam established the Trefler Foundation, in 1996. The Foundation’s mission is to improve opportunities for young people from urban neighborhoods by helping them develop the skills, knowledge, and values they need to lead productive lives.
Alan holds a degree in Economics and Computer Science from Dartmouth College.
Among other topics, Eric discusses the following issues with Metis Strategy:
• Evolution of collaboration through different eras • Differentiation in the web conferencing space • Rationale behind deliberately controlling growth of Zoom in early days • Importance of having a company philosophy to deliver happiness to customers • Possibilities of Augmented Reality in the business world • Impact of Silicon Valley on new and upcoming companies • The need to create a culture of self-motivation for employees • Trade-offs required to build a sustainable company • Hybrid approach to selling to Small Businesses and Large Enterprises • Focus on existing customers rather than only pursuing new customers • Sequoia Capital’s impact on Zoom’s growth
Eric Yuan Biography:
Eric is the Founder and CEO of Zoom, a people-centric, cloud service solution, currently valued at $1 billion, that offers video, audio, and screen-sharing experience across multiple platforms. As CEO, Eric influences and guides his team to be single-mindedly focused on excellent call quality and prioritizes delivering happiness to customers. Prior to founding Zoom in 2011, Eric was Corporate Vice President of Engineering at Cisco, where he was responsible for Cisco’s collaboration software development. As one of the founding engineers and Vice President of Engineering at WebEx, Eric grew the WebEx team from 10 engineers to more than 800 worldwide, and contributed to revenue growth from $0 to more than $800M. Eric is a named inventor with 11 issued and 20 pending patents in real time collaboration.
Eric received an Executive MBA from Stanford University.
I recently caught up with Eric in his office in San Jose, California and our conversation covered World Class IT Principle One, People, as we discussed the importance of developing a company culture where employees are focused on end customer happiness; Principle Two, IT Infrastructure, as we discussed the importance of technology reliability to keep customers satisfied; Principle Four, IT and Business Partnerships, as we discussed the importance of innovation that stems from the partnership between the Business and IT around customer needs, Principle Five, External Partnerships, as we discussed the impact of Sequoia Capital’s funding of Zoom, along with a variety of other topics.
