The $20B Zoom story

Hey - It's Farzan & Guy

Early bird morning for me. Level 5 elevator at 6:30. Just coffee and a quiet Sydney city. Muggy ferry ride home. Let's dive into some founder stories.

Reading time: 9 mins

In the mail today. 2 founder stories, 1 founder playbook, 1 marketing playbook, 1 tweet

 Founder story 1 

8 Visa Rejections to a $22B Empire; The Zoom Story

That's what Eric Yuan achieved with Zoom. But this 'overnight success' took over 20 years of persistence.

Here's the crazy journey:
→ Started in China, dreaming of Silicon Valley in the 1990s
→ Rejected 8 times for a US visa before finally succeeding in 1997
→ Built WebEx's engineering team for 14 years
→ Created Zoom from scratch in 2011
→ Now powers communication for hundreds of millions

But the nuts part isn't just the numbers, it's how the vision evolved:
1970s: "I wish I could see my girlfriend without a 10-hour train ride"
1997: "Let's make video conferencing work"
2011: "Video should be simple and reliable for everyone"
2020: "Connecting the world during a pandemic"
2024: "AI-powered communication for all"

The journey wasn't smooth:
- Eric was rejected 8 times for a US visa
- He left a cushy VP job at Cisco
- Started from scratch at 41
- Built for 2 years before launch
- Faced massive security challenges during COVID

Then everything changed. COVID-19 transformed Zoom from a business tool to a global necessity:
- 10M to 300M daily users in 4 months
- Became a verb ("Let's Zoom")
- $16B valuation at IPO
- Handled global scale overnight

Key insight about the future of communication:
We're moving from "video calls" to "AI-enhanced collaboration platforms", just like email evolved into complete workspace tools.

The biggest opportunities now?
→ AI integration (AI Companion 2.0)
→ Task management automation
→ Custom enterprise solutions
→ Real-time language translation

Real example:
During COVID, schools worldwide switched to Zoom in days, enabling education to continue globally.

Why all this matters:
The future of work is shifting from "where we communicate" to "how effectively we collaborate."

AI and automation are becoming more valuable than basic video capabilities.

This is why Eric believes we'll see a transformation in how the world connects, with AI-powered tools leading the way.

The future isn't just about video calls, it's about intelligent, seamless communication.

Founder story 2

From Ceramics to $6.5M: Jono Pandolfi’s story

From Ceramics to $6.5M: Jono Pandolfi's Story

Lost his job at a tableware manufacturer in 2010 with a baby on the way. Started with a $40K order from Anthropologie making 400 teapots solo. Today, runs a 30-person company with 13 kilns, producing 1,400 handmade ceramic pieces daily.

The breakthrough? A $100K restaurant order that put them on the hospitality map. Used pandemic to pivot, now split between restaurants and direct-to-consumer sales. Built entirely through cashflow, with minimal loans.

Current stats:
- $6.5M annual revenue
- Featured on The Bear S3
- Plates retail at $50 (made from $1 of clay)
- Customers include high-end restaurants nationwide

Key lesson: Build bulletproof from day one - every bit of growth should be sustainable and lasting.

 Founder playbook 

From $10M to 40M users in 3 years: Inside Revolut’s plan to build a $40B+ global bank

"Most people believe a balanced life leads to success. I believe the opposite."

Meet Nik Storonsky, who built Revolut into a global fintech giant.

Here's the fascinating story behind Europe's most successful fintech:

→ Now in 39 markets
→ #1 in 19-20 markets
→ 10M+ active users
→ Valued at multi-billions

But the interesting part isn't the numbers, it's his unconventional approach:
On hiring: "I don't work with people who aren't excellent. They should be like self-guided missiles - select the goal themselves, press the button, and reach it without help."

On product development:
- Runs 20+ experimental "bets" simultaneously
- Only 5-6 out of 27 recent bets worked
- But those winners grew exponentially
- Killed products fast if they didn't show immediate traction

On mistakes:
"I spent $2M hiring 55 experienced managers through executive recruiters. I ended up firing 49-50 of them."

Key lessons learned:
- Speaking directly to regulators works better than hiring intermediaries
- Early banking licenses are crucial - "Get them before you have customers"
- Traditional management theory often fails in hypergrowth
- Maintaining tight cap table control prevents future fundraising problems

Contrarian insights:
- Balanced life myth: "The more imbalanced you are, the more focused you are on goals and sacrificing everything else, the more likely you'll succeed."
- Age matters: Data shows founders aged 30-35 have the highest success rates at Series B+
- Growth strategy: "99% of things were harder than I thought. The few things that were easier didn't matter."

The future?
- Targeting 30-40M active users in 3 years
- Aiming for 40% market share in top European markets
- Building the first truly global bank

Why this matters:
The era of local banks is ending. Technology finally enables truly global financial services - but only for those willing to make the sacrifices to build them.

Marketing playbook

The $22,381 
Anti-Marketing Playbook

Meet Rory Sutherland, Vice Chairman of Ogilvy, one of the largest marketing agencies in the world.

His client list includes Apple, IBM, and Microsoft.
Average consulting fee: $355/minute.
Core message: Marketing is psychology, not technology.

Here's what stood out:

Most marketers try to:
→ Reach the widest audience possible
→ Focus on product features
→ Compete on price
→ Chase quick sales
→ Copy what's working for others

Rory does the opposite:

Focus on psychology first. Why?
→ People don't buy products, they buy better versions of themselves
→ The most valuable real estate is in the customer's mind
→ Small psychological changes often beat huge technological ones
→ What people think about your product matters more than the product itself

Here's the really counterintuitive part:
"The best marketing doesn't try to change what people think. It changes what people think about."

5 Core Principles that made Ogilvy famous:

The Power of Reframing
→ First-class passengers don't pay more for better food
→ They pay more to feel special
→ Rory helped an airline reframe their message
→ Bookings increased 300%

The Persuasion Paradox
→ Hard selling reduces trust
→ Building trust first makes selling unnecessary
→ Red Bull never advertised energy
→ They sold a lifestyle instead

The Magic of Meaning
→ Uber's real innovation? The disappearing payment
→ Starbucks didn't sell better coffee
→ They sold the "third place" between work and home

The Context Secret
→ Same wine tastes better in a better glass
→ The same hotel room feels better on a higher floor
→ Context shapes perception more than content

The Opposite Rule
→ When everyone zigs, zag
→ When others shout, whisper
→ When the market goes broad, go deep
→ When others rush, take your time

But here's the game-changing insight:
"The opposite of a good idea can be another good idea."

Take Spotify vs. Apple Music:
→ Spotify wins on discovery and sharing
→ Apple wins on artist payments and quality
→ Both succeed by owning opposite positions
→ Neither tries to be everything to everyone

The strategy is simple:
→ Find what everyone else assumes
→ Question if the opposite could work
→ Own that position completely
→ Let others fight over the mainstream

An insight I love: The most valuable marketing insight isn't what to do - it's understanding why it works.

Ready to apply these insights? Start here:
→ List your industry's common assumptions
→ Ask "What if the opposite is true?"
→ Find the psychological trigger behind successful campaigns
→ Test small changes in framing before big changes in features

The world's top brands don't outspend their competition. They outthink them.

 A tweet we loved

That’s us for now. Cheers for reading.

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See you Monday.

Guy + Farzan
Founderoo