CrowdStrike’s George Kurtz | Building a Generational Company | S2E5 | Spotlight On | AccelVC

Since its inception in 2011, CrowdStrike has had a profound impact on the security landscape. Yet, despite their wildly successful 2019 IPO, there is no finish line for CEO and Co-Founder George Kurtz. With each passing year, the company grows larger, the market opportunities expand, and the need to prevent breaches becomes even more critical.
In this episode of Spotlight On, George and Accel’s Sameer Gandhi reflect on how their shared vision for a full suite of security solutions on a single platform, which kickstarted the partnership in 2013, has become a reality. As CrowdStrike approaches the 5th anniversary of its IPO, boasting a market cap of $72 billion, George reflects on the company’s enduring success. He shares his learnings as a second-time founder, detailing how he structures his investors and his board, and how his unwavering focus on solving the hard problems first continues to guide the company today.
#vc #venturecapital #founder #entrepreneurs #tech #CEO #crowdstrike
Season 2:
Hear from Chainalysis, Crowdstrike, Monte Carlo, Klaviyo, Linear, Wonder, and more on this season of Spotlight On. Established and rising leaders across both private and public sectors discuss the challenges and opportunities of building companies in today’s rapidly changing technology landscape. .
Spotlight On:
Spotlight On examines the technology shaping our world. Highlighting a new topic each
season, company builders at all stages of company growth will share their learnings,
challenges, and breakthroughs.
Accel:
Accel is a global venture capital firm that is the first partner to exceptional teams everywhere, from inception through all phases of private company growth. Atlassian, Bumble, CrowdStrike, Fiverr, Flipkart, Freshworks, Qualtrics, Scale, Segment, Slack, Spotify, Squarespace, Tenable, and UiPath are among the companies Accel has backed over the past 40+ years. We help ambitious entrepreneurs build iconic global businesses.
Featured: George Kurtz, President, CEO, and Co-Founder of CrowdStrike, and Sameer Gandhi, Partner at Accel
Conversation highlights:
00:00 - Recounting the first meeting between George and Accel, which, against all odds, kickstarted a successful partnership
11:34 - How George held onto conviction for an unconventional approach to security
16:41 - Advice for founders operating in highly competitive landscapes
30:19 - Building an effective board of directors
33:00 - The importance of retaining the agility of a startup, even as a scaled business
38:01 - Parallels between racing and leading a business: time, data, team, and detail
44:40 - Considerations for the impact of AI and dark LLMs across the security landscape
51:05 - How George reinforced his commitment to customers post-IPO
Watch the episode on Spotlight On: www.accel.com/spotlight-on/ep...
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CrowdStrike’s George Kurtz | Building a Generational Company | S2E4 | Spotlight On | AccelVC
• CrowdStrike’s George K...

[@todd.westra]

It's inspiring to see their vision become reality at CrowdStrike. George's advice for founders is valuable.