Sep 9, 2019
In Part One of our Cloudreach special, the Cloudbusting team find themselves in the birthplace of the company - the Counting House Pub in the City of London - joined by co-founders James Monico and Pontus Noren.
The founders discuss Cloudreach’s conception back in 2009. They then look back on the company's growth and the challenges they faced in the years following. Finally, they reflect on the acquisition by Blackstone in 2017.
00:00 - Introductions
Part One: Cloudreach Origins
01:50 - Why are we in a pub? The birth of Cloudreach
05:54 - The right people at the right time - The importance of an entrepreneurial outlook.
10:10 - What was going on in the cloud industry in 2009?
13:20 - What was it like reaching out to enterprises in the early days? The black sheep of the IT family.
17:00 - What was your initial pitch?
18:46 - Cloudy Cliffhanger Question
Part Two: Growth
22:00 - A terrible joke…
23:08 - How did you hire your first employee?
25:00 - The rise of the Systems Developer
26:51 - How did you get more customers? Forging partnerships
31:00 - How did you address the challenges associated with growth
35:51 - What were your chief concerns at this stage?
37:47 - When did you know that you were on to something?
39: 43 - Where did ‘cloudy culture’ come from?
42:40 - Cloudy Cliffhanger Answer
Part Three: Investment
46:13 - A major pivot in the business…
48:18 - Is investment required? How do we scale?
50:53 - Enter Blackstone
55:00 - What was the most impactful moment during the Cloudreach journey?
58:44 - Was there a sense of loss after selling Cloudreach?
01:00:40 - Do you feel proud of what you achieved?
01:01:58 - Would you do it all again?
01:02:20 - Where do you see the cloud industry in the next 10 years?
01:08:30 - All-Time Ten Second Recommendations