Welcome to In Depth, a new podcast from First Round Review that’s dedicated to surfacing the tactical advice founders and startup leaders need to grow their teams, their companies and themselves. Hosted by Brett Berson, a partner at First Round, In Depth will cover a lot of ground and a wide range of topics, from hiring executives and becoming a better manager, to the importance of storytelling inside of your organization. But every interview will hit the level of tactical depth where the very best advice is found. We hope you’ll join us. Subscribe to “In Depth” now and learn more at firstround.com
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Welcome to In Depth, a new podcast from First Round Review that’s dedicated to surfacing the tactical advice founders and startup leaders need to grow their teams, their companies and themselves. Hosted by Brett Berson, a partner at First Round, In Depth will cover a lot of ground and a wide range of topics, from hiring executives and becoming a better manager, to the importance of storytelling inside of your organization. But every interview will hit the level of tactical depth where the very best advice is found. We hope you’ll join us. Subscribe to “In Depth” now and learn more at firstround.com
1Password’s growth story | How they went from bootstrapped to $6B company | Jeff Shiner (CEO)
In Depth
1 hour 8 minutes
6 months ago
1Password’s growth story | How they went from bootstrapped to $6B company | Jeff Shiner (CEO)
Jeff Shiner is the CEO of 1Password, the access management company used by over 100,000 businesses and millions of individuals worldwide. He joined 1Password as CEO in 2012, when the team was just under 20 people. Under Jeff’s leadership, 1Password expanded into B2B, launched a SaaS platform, and scaled from a small family-run operation into a global company. In 2019, Jeff led 1Password through its first-ever funding round – a $200M Series A from Accel – to build out its go-to-market team and accelerate product development. Before joining 1Password, Jeff held senior roles at IBM and led teams through multiple acquisitions and integrations.
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In today’s episode, we discuss:
Why bootstrapping isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be
The switch from a consumer product to B2B
Launching before billing — and why that worked
When being “too secure” nearly killed the product
Becoming CEO… without telling anyone
Much more
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Referenced:
1Password: https://1password.com
Accel: https://www.accel.com
Arun Mathew: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arun-mathew-b7186412/
David Teare: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daveteare/
Floodgate: https://floodgate.com
LastPass: https://www.lastpass.com
Mike Maples: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maples/
Natalia Karimov: https://1password.com/company/meet-the-team/natalia-karimov
Roustem Karimov: https://www.linkedin.com/in/roustem/?originalSubdomain=ca
Sara Teare: https://1password.com/company/meet-the-team/sara-teare
Shopify: https://www.shopify.com
Tobi Lütke: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tobiaslutke/
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Where to find Jeff:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jshiner
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Where to find Brett:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brett-berson-9986094/
Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/brettberson
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Where to find First Round Capital:
Website: https://firstround.com/
First Round Review: https://review.firstround.com/
Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/firstround
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FirstRoundCapital
This podcast on all platforms: https://review.firstround.com/podcast
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Timestamps:
0:03 – How Jeff got involved with 1Password
2:01 – How 1Password was initially set up
10:41 – The secret CEO
13:44 – What Jeff’s first six months encompassed
16:13 – The lightbulb moment that caused a pivot
17:50 – 1Password’s unusual company journey
22:08 – Creating an aligned product roadmap
29:19 – Retaining a customer-centric focus at scale
30:40 – Why 1Password’s first B2B product failed
39:43 – How Jeff thinks about competitors
46:44 – Building different go-to-market functions
52:45 – Staying bootstrapped for 15 years
57:17 – Jeff’s one regret
1:02:00 – 1Password’s most pivotal moments
In Depth
Welcome to In Depth, a new podcast from First Round Review that’s dedicated to surfacing the tactical advice founders and startup leaders need to grow their teams, their companies and themselves. Hosted by Brett Berson, a partner at First Round, In Depth will cover a lot of ground and a wide range of topics, from hiring executives and becoming a better manager, to the importance of storytelling inside of your organization. But every interview will hit the level of tactical depth where the very best advice is found. We hope you’ll join us. Subscribe to “In Depth” now and learn more at firstround.com
