Jeff Lawson (Twilio) on how to build a strong company culture

Entrepreneur Talks by STATION F

Did you know that Jeff Lawson, the co-founder and CEO of Twilio, sold his wedding gifts to kick the company off? Back in the summer of 2008, this strategy may seem risky but looking at what Twilio achieved since, it clearly was a winning choice. Twilio is now the leading cloud communications platform and became an international company.

Despite its international growth, Twilio managed to keep its very strong company culture, focused on the well-being of its employees, and that’s something that Jeff is very proud of. He explains the concept of “Twilio Magic”, the company’s core values, and defines what is “blameless post-mortem”, an important mindset in the big Twilio family.

This episode is hosted by Roxanne Varza, STATION F’s Director, and Laurence Benamran, co-founder and CEO of Pinpo, a STATION F company selected to be part of Future 40 in 2019. Pinpo is a leading tech platform specializing in lead qualification and a happy user of Twilio.

Topics

00:10 — Introduction with Roxanne Varza (STATION F) and Laurence Benamran (Pinpo)

02:58 — The story behind Twilio’s funding. Spoiler: it involves Jeff Lawson’s wedding gifts!

12:35 — Jeff about Twilio going international and its launch in France

17:51 — How to implement a strong company culture, like Twilio does, on a large scale?

22:30 — Jeff describes Twilio’s core values as “Twilio Magic”

24:18 — The difference between a company culture and its values

26:16 — Jeff explains the concept of “blameless post-mortem”

32:30 — Jeff’s biggest advice for entrepreneurs

This episode is supported by TikTok, hosted by Roxanne Varza, produced by Cindy Yang, and edited by Grégoire Duhourcau. Art is by Gaëtan Lefebvre.

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