INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Indeed, Cloudflare had initially indicated that its shares would be priced between $10 and $12, before adjusting the price upward, which
suggests its underwriters, led by Goldman Sachs, fairly accurately gauged demand for the offering.Of course, it was still a very big day for
We talked with Zatlyn today in the hours after the duo rang the opening bell to ask about the experience, and how the IPO impacts the
Battlefield [competition, in which Cloudflare competed in 2011] is such an integral part of our funding story
Thank you for giving us the stage to launch our company.TC: Did you get any sleep last night?MZ: I was so exhausted that I got a great
This whole process has been so incredible, so special
There are 150 of our teammates, early employees, family members, board members, champions and other friends here with us [in New York at the
We also live-streamed [our debut] to our offices around the world so they could share this moment with us.TC: How are you feeling about
today? The stock is up 20%
products and in R-D development, as well as in our customer relationships.TC: Retaining employees is a challenge that some newly public
[Matthew and I will] show up Monday morning and get back to work and so will our employees, because they want to make the company [an even
greater business].TC: The company went public with a dual-class structure that gives not just management but all employees 10 times the
voting rights of the shares sold to the public
Why was this structure important to Cloudflare, and did it give investors pause?MZ: There are more than 1,000 people around the world who
put in place a few years ago with the encouragement of some of our earlier investors.TC: Were you modeling this after another company? Is
Cloudflare because of it]
It was a huge privilege to represent Cloudflare to all these investors who were incredibly smart and well-prepared
Chicago, Baltimore is common, Kansas City, Indianapolis, Toronto
You go in person to some places and in others, people dial in
But the whole thing gave me new insight into these pools of capital after venture capital
It was really interesting.TC: Cloudflare said in a recent amendment to its S-1 that it was in touch with the U.S
been blacklisted by the U.S
Did this new revelation slow anything down?MZ: There was no impact
this].TC: How will Cloudflare handle requests for service by embargoed and restricted entities going forward? As a public company, does that
process change in any way?MZ: We have a really good process today
But I work with some of the smartest minds on this and we try to be very transparent about how we figure this out
The conversation is so much better than it was a few years ago, too, with policy makers and academics and the business community engaging on
People around the world are talking about where the lines can be drawn, but these are tricky, heady conversations.TC: They certainly put
Cloudflare in a precarious spot sometimes, as when the company banned the internet forum 8chan earlier this year after it was learned that
the site was used by a gunman to post an anti-immigration rant
Can we expect that Cloudflare will continue to make decisions like this on a case-by-case basis?MZ: Freedom of speech is such a fundamental
Citizens should want the lawmakers to decide what the law should be, and if lawmakers could do this, it would be much better
Cloudflare is one [participant] in a much broader conversation.
