From Private to Public with Drew Houston (Dropbox) | Disrupt SF 2018 | Summary and Q&A

Transcript

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Summary

Drew Houston, CEO of Dropbox, discusses the evolution of Dropbox from its early days in 2008 to its current mission of designing a more enlightened way of working. He describes how Dropbox has become a popular tool for businesses and highlights the need for a more organized and less distracting work experience. Houston also talks about the advantages and challenges of being a public company and shares advice for startups.

Questions & Answers

Q: How has Dropbox evolved since 2008?

Dropbox has evolved from a tool to move people's lives into the cloud to a platform that helps businesses work more efficiently. The company realized that many people were using Dropbox in their workplaces, so they decided to design a more enlightened way of working, addressing the broken experiences of using technology at work.

Q: How does Dropbox differentiate itself in the market and grow its user base?

Dropbox already has over 500 million registered users and is widely adopted in millions of companies. This gives Dropbox a head start in solving the work productivity problem. Additionally, Dropbox is where people go to work and store their most important information, making it a natural choice for businesses. Furthermore, Dropbox sees itself as an opportunity to reduce distraction and improve attention management for users.

Q: In terms of product, why did Dropbox shift away from building a full suite of productivity tools like Google Docs?

Dropbox realized that many problems related to storage, collaboration, and document management had already been solved well by other companies. Instead of replicating what they already existed, Dropbox wanted to redesign these tools for the modern era. They wanted to use their relative youth as a company to make different foundational design decisions. An example is Dropbox Paper, which goes beyond being a static document and becomes a living workspace for teams.

Q: How does Dropbox use data from its 500 million users to inform product decisions?

While privacy is a top concern, Dropbox can gain insights into user behavior and patterns at a broad level. For instance, they noticed that users were using Dropbox to take pictures of documents, as a makeshift scanner. This observation led to the development of the document scanning feature, which enhances the user experience with document management.

Q: As a public company, how do you deal with the stock market's impact on decision-making?

Houston acknowledges that the stock market can be noisy and speculative, but he advises not to pay too much attention to short-term gyrations. Instead, he focuses on building a good business and maintaining predictability and growth in the core business. Recognizing that stock price fluctuations are inevitable, he prioritizes long-term goals over short-term market responses.

Q: Did the IPO process require significant changes in the company or layoffs?

The IPO process did not lead to any significant layoffs, but the management team has evolved over time, as is common in growing companies. Different stages of a company require different skill sets, so it's essential to have the right people in place for each phase. Dropbox had been laying the groundwork for going public for a few years, ensuring it had a solid foundation.

Q: How do you view Google as a competitor in the market?

Dropbox sees Google and Microsoft, the incumbents with their respective office suites, as competitors. However, they also partner with these companies, as their products complement each other. Dropbox aims to help users tie together the various ecosystems, providing a seamless experience across different tools.

Q: Any advice for startups participating in a pitch event like TechCrunch Battlefield?

Houston advises startups to embrace the adventure and not stress too much about getting everything perfect. He highlights the unpredictability of the journey and suggests focusing on making progress and enjoying the process.

Takeaways

Drew Houston's discussion sheds light on the evolution of Dropbox and its mission to design a more enlightened way of working. Dropbox has grown to become a popular tool for businesses, with millions of users relying on the platform. The company differentiates itself by focusing on reducing distraction, improving attention management, and integrating various productivity tools. Despite the challenges of being a public company, Houston emphasizes the importance of building a good business and prioritizing long-term goals over short-term market fluctuations. For startups, he advises embracing the adventure and enjoying the journey, rather than striving for perfection.