Midwest Ventures Conference 2025

Keynote for Midwest Ventures Conference at UM Ross Business School

Transcript

1. Those Who Stay Will Be Champions  Can Be Unicorns :-) 
3. About Me
9. Punk
10. Graffiti
12. #givefirst
13. wØØwØØ
15. About Duo
16. 2010 A Decade of Data Breaches
17. People Technology Security
18. DEMOCRATIZE SECURITY by making it easy & effective for all Mission
21. Purpose The Why Protect Others From Harm Mission The How Democratize Security: Make Security Easy & Effective for All Vision The What The Most-Loved Company In Security Pillars Our Promise Easy Effective Trustworthy Values Our Principles Engineer The Business Learn Together Be Kinder Than Necessary
22. A2: A Culture of Learning, Teamwork, ...
23. … and Revolution
24. What makes for a winning team? Creative Rebels, Fast Learners, Team Players (... or Freaks, Geeks, & Jocks) What do you select for? History, Skills, Values, Motivation
25. How can you be successful? Make a bunch of right decisions! How do you make right decisions? Make a bunch of wrong ones!
26. Push decision-making down Do what’s right for our customers, company, community We win or we learn Win as a team, lose as a team
27. 2018 2010
29. Best-in-Class SaaS Growth Annual Recurring Revenue
30. Duo: Best-in-Class SaaS Company 2018 100% SaaS!
31. Top Private SW Acquisition Multiples Company Acquirer Year Price LTM Multiple Duo Cisco 2018 $2.4B 20x Mulesoft SAP 2018 $6.5B 22x Github Microsoft 2018 $7.5B 23x Qualtrics SAP 2018 $8B 20x Slack Salesforce 2021 $27.7B 33x Wiz Google 2025 $32B 30x
32. About Michigan
34. Sept 2018 $2.4B Nov 2020 $1.4B Jan 2021 $6B Apr 2021 $6B Apr 2021 $3.8B Feb 2023 $1.2B Oct 2024 $1.2B Dec 2024 $10.6B Jul 2024 $30B May 2022 $23.0B May 2022 $3.5B Sept 2024 $0.7B
35. Sept 2018 $2.4B Nov 2020 $1.4B Jan 2021 $6B Apr 2021 $6B Apr 2021 $3.8B Feb 2023 $1.2B Oct 2024 $1.2B Dec 2024 $10.6B Jul 2024 $30B May 2022 $23.0B May 2022 $3.5B Sept 2024 $0.7B California California Texas Grand Rapids Novi Ann Arbor Plymouth Rochester Ann Arbor Detroit Livonia Troy Novi Grand Rapids Houghton
36. UM #8 in VC-Backed Founders (undergrad, 2004) PitchBook Universities: Top 100 colleges ranked by startup founders: https://pitchbook.com/news/articles/pitchbook-university-rankings
37. But Only 4 of 46 UM Unicorns Are In Michigan
39. Ecosystems Need Verbs, Not Just Nouns Advocate Partner with business, education, and policymakers to ensure tech & innovation benefits all Promote Celebrate and amplify startup founders & impact; broadcast startup success Connect & Collaborate Build social infrastructure for founder-led ecosystem development, learning, inclusion Founders & Startups Engaging, attracting, supporting startups Capital Grow local capital and attract outside capital into the ecosystem Talent Attract, retain, and develop new talent and pathways Institutions & Infrastructure Culture & Community
41. Secret History of Michigan Popular History of Michigan 1900 – 1950s Cereal Furniture Cars Mid-century modern Unions Middle class 1960 – 1970s Anti-war movement Rock-n-roll Motown Pizza Oil crisis Unemployment 1980s Japanese auto industry disruption Techno More pizza 1990s Internet bubble 2000s Life sciences Advanced manufacturing Healthcare IT Military computing Tanks & Aerospace Time-shared computing Remote sensing Complex systems Computer vision Artificial intelligence Birth of the Internet Internet protocols, applications, & governance Cybersecurity Gaming AI for Defense More networking & cybersecurity Fintech Enterprise SaaS Supply chain Semiconductor Robotics Energy & climate tech
42. Frontier Tech in Detroit Region 🧠 Intelligent Systems 🧬 Health Innovation 🏗 Reindustrialization 🚗 Future Cities & Mobility Software-first innovation driving automation, autonomy, & security Human-centered breakthroughs in science, health, and care Next-gen tools for building and powering the future Transforming how we move, live, and connect in cities • AI & Machine Learning • Robotics & Automation • Cybersecurity & Defense • Biotech & Life Sciences • Healthcare Tech • Digital Health & MedTech • Adv. Manufacturing • Materials Science • Clean Energy • Mobility & Transportation • Smart Infrastructure • Urban Tech • Censys • SkySpecs • Tideway Logistics • Histosonics • Strata Oncology • CircNova • Atomic Industries • Pearl Edison • Luxwall • Our Next Energy • Airspace Link • May Mobility
43. newlab @ michigan central
44. 1 Startup Genome Global Startup Ecosystem Report, 2022 2 Michigan Venture Capital Association report, 2023  DETROIT IS AMERICA’S NEXT   GREAT STARTUP HUB  Ranked as the 2nd emerging startup ecosystem globally in 2022, metro Detroit (incl. Ann Arbor) is home to over 1500 startups 1 $3.1 billion in venture capital was invested in Michigan startups from 2019 to 2022 2 FOUNDERS ARE THE FLYWHEEL — when they stay, grow, and give back, the ecosystem compounds
45. Tech Equity:  Building a Culture of Collaboration  
46. For Shared Prosperity  In Greater Detroit 
47. Teens: Be a Good Student, Learn to Learn 20s: Follow a Good Boss, not a Company 30s: Work for Yourself, Choose Best Field 40s: Be Aware of and Utilize Your Strengths 50s: Young People Lead; Invest In Them Billionaire Asian Dad Says…