20VC: Atlassian Co-Founder Scott Farquhar on The Biggest Lessons Scaling Atlassian to $50BN Market Cap; The Four Roles of the CEO, The Funding Round That Net Accel $6BN, The Regrets of Omission and Commission & The Honeymoon Cut Short

Scott Farquhar is the Co-Founder & Co-CEO @ Atlassian. Scott co-founded the company with his university friend, Mike Cannon-Brookes, in 2002 from Australia. Over an incredible 20-year journey they have grown to a market cap of $50BN today, over 11,000 staff globally and serving over 260,000 customers. Scott is also a co-founder of Skip Capital, a private investment fund with a portfolio including Figma, Snyk, Canva and more.

In Today’s Episode with Scott Farquhar We Discuss:

1. The 20-Year Journey to $50BN Market Cap:

• How did Scott first make his way into the world of tech and come to co-found Atlassian?

• What does Scott know now that he wishes he had known at the beginning?

• From 20 years with Mike, what is Scott’s biggest advice on choosing your co-founder?

2. The Fundraising Masterclass with Atlassian:

• An emergency phone call, a honeymoon cut short; how did the first funding round for Atlassian come to be? Where was the business revenue-wise at the time?

• Why did Scott not like the traditional fundraising process? What did he do to add game theory and ensure that they got the best deal as a company?

• Why did Scott choose Accel with their offer? How did Peter Fenton lose a $3BN deal with Atlassian?

3. Lessons Scaling Atlassian to $4BN in Revenue:

• What does Scott believe are the 4 core roles of the CEO? Is resource allocation the most important?

• What are the single biggest acts of commission and omission that Scott regrets?

• What are the biggest lessons Scott has from shutting down Stride, their Slack competitor?

4. Scott: The Father, Husband and Philanthropist:

• What does great fatherhood mean to Scott today?

• What is the secret to a truly successful marriage?

• How does Scott assess his relationship to money today? How has it changed with time?

• How does Scott think about bringing children up in a world of affluence and abundance?

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