Founders Helping Founders with Jon Oberheide of Duo Security

When you're a founder, the road often feels steep and unpaved. We believe that the best advice and mentorship for founders comes from experienced entrepreneurs who have stood in your shoes before. The Founders Helping Founders Podcast is a weekly discussion between Jon Sakoda, founding partner of Decibel, and founders of successful startups.

Episode 1 of our Founders Helping Founders series is a discussion between Jon Sakoda, founder of Decibel, and Jon Oberheide, co-founder of Duo Security.

Duo is a user-centric two-factor authentication platform that protects access to sensitive data at scale for all users, all devices and all applications. Jon Oberheide founded Duo shortly after the 2008 financial crisis and scaled the company through good times and bad. In 2018, his company was acquired by Cisco for $2.35 billion, making it one of the most successful security companies and the largest exit ever for a Michigan-based software company. Together, they review advice for founders starting companies during new and challenging environments.

Episode notes

[4:54] Building a company during a recession forces you to deliver  

[7:56] How Jon Oberheide found his co-founder, Dug Song  

[12:25] Identifying which problem was worth solving

[16:36] Building the solution and finding product-market fit  

[22:19] Fundraising right after the 2008 recession

[25:11] Remote culture at Duo Security

[41:12] Finding the right early adopters in our current environment

[48:22] The prospect of fundraising now and in the near future

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