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How to Grow from Ph.D. to Two-Time Startup CEO (Sanjit Biswas, Co-Founder & CEO of Samsara)

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Manage episode 416265471 series 2388137
Content provided by Foundation Capital and Ashu Garg. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Foundation Capital and Ashu Garg or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://player.fm/legal.

My guest today is Sanjit Biswas, the co-founder and CEO of Samsara, a platform that helps companies digitize their physical operations. In 2023, Samsara reached $1 billion in ARR, making it one of the fastest startups in history to hit this milestone.
But this wasn't Sanjit's first major success. Before starting Samsara, Sanjit left his Ph.D at MIT to build Meraki, a cloud networking company that Cisco acquired for $1.2 billion in 2012.
In our conversation, Sanjit shares his journey from grad school research to bootstrapping Meraki in the early days. He reflects on the lessons he learned from Meraki's pivot to the enterprise, the decision to sell to Cisco, and the insights that led him to start Samsara.
We then turn to how Samsara found product-market fit, Sanjit's philosophy on allocating capital, and the areas where he believes generative AI will have the biggest impact.
It was a really fun and insightful conversation that I think you'll enjoy!
(00:00) Intro
(00:16) Sanjit's background and the genesis of Meraki
(06:25) Meraki's pivot to the enterprise and rapid growth
(09:45) Lessons from building Meraki's enterprise sales motion
(16:15) The decision to sell Meraki to Cisco
(20:05) Founding Samsara and its mission
(27:11) Defining Samsara's product strategy based on customer feedback
(31:00) Samsara's unique journey to $1B in revenue
(39:16) Sanjit’s "70/20/10” framework for allocating capital
(43:13) The importance of board alignment and company culture
(50:58) Sanjit's thoughts on AI and hype cycles
(54:22) Sanjit's advice for aspiring entrepreneurs

  continue reading

54 episodes

Artwork
iconShare
 
Manage episode 416265471 series 2388137
Content provided by Foundation Capital and Ashu Garg. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Foundation Capital and Ashu Garg or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://player.fm/legal.

My guest today is Sanjit Biswas, the co-founder and CEO of Samsara, a platform that helps companies digitize their physical operations. In 2023, Samsara reached $1 billion in ARR, making it one of the fastest startups in history to hit this milestone.
But this wasn't Sanjit's first major success. Before starting Samsara, Sanjit left his Ph.D at MIT to build Meraki, a cloud networking company that Cisco acquired for $1.2 billion in 2012.
In our conversation, Sanjit shares his journey from grad school research to bootstrapping Meraki in the early days. He reflects on the lessons he learned from Meraki's pivot to the enterprise, the decision to sell to Cisco, and the insights that led him to start Samsara.
We then turn to how Samsara found product-market fit, Sanjit's philosophy on allocating capital, and the areas where he believes generative AI will have the biggest impact.
It was a really fun and insightful conversation that I think you'll enjoy!
(00:00) Intro
(00:16) Sanjit's background and the genesis of Meraki
(06:25) Meraki's pivot to the enterprise and rapid growth
(09:45) Lessons from building Meraki's enterprise sales motion
(16:15) The decision to sell Meraki to Cisco
(20:05) Founding Samsara and its mission
(27:11) Defining Samsara's product strategy based on customer feedback
(31:00) Samsara's unique journey to $1B in revenue
(39:16) Sanjit’s "70/20/10” framework for allocating capital
(43:13) The importance of board alignment and company culture
(50:58) Sanjit's thoughts on AI and hype cycles
(54:22) Sanjit's advice for aspiring entrepreneurs

  continue reading

54 episodes

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