Databricks’ Ali Ghodsi Talks Talent, Open Source and the Limits of PLG

Several factors are driving explosive growth at a handful of cloud-native, B2B technology companies these days—and Databricks*, a high-profile decacorn which makes next-generation data-analytics technology, is a prime example.In this first episode of our “Billion-Dollar B2B” podcast, Databricks CEO Ali Ghodsi chats with Battery’s Dharmesh Thakker about how technical founders can effectively scale their cloud-native B2B companies today. Ghodsi, a former academic who grew up in Sweden, says leadership qualities like empathy and respect, in addition to technical chops, are crucial to fueling hypergrowth—and that building well-rounded teams with expertise in non-technical areas like human resources/talent, sales, finance and communications is essential. The views expressed here are solely those of podcast guests, not Battery.The information provided in this podcast is solely intended for the use of entrepreneurs, corporate CEOs and founders regarding Battery Ventures’ potential financing capabilities for prospective portfolio companies. The information is current as of the date it was published. The contents are not intended to be used in the investment decision making process related to any product or fund managed by Battery Ventures. Battery Ventures provides investment advisory services solely to privately offered funds. Battery Ventures neither solicits nor makes its services available to the public or other advisory clients.*Databricks is a Battery portfolio company. Investments identified above are for illustrative purposes only. No assumptions should be made that any investments identified above were or will be profitable. It should not be assumed that recommendations in the future will be profitable or equal the performance of the companies identified above. For more information about Battery Ventures’ potential financing capabilities for prospective portfolio companies, please refer to our website. For a complete list of portfolio companies, please click here.Content obtained from third-party sources, although believed to be reliable, has not been independently verified as to its accuracy or completeness and cannot be guaranteed. Battery Ventures has no obligation to update, modify or amend the content of this podcast nor notify its audience in the event that any information, opinion, projection, forecast or estimate included, changes or subsequently becomes inaccurate.