After PMF: People, Customers, Sales by Mathilde Collin

Following on from Paul's talk about some of the ways to think about becoming, or what it takes to become, or whether you might believe you might become a hundred billion dollar business, I am going to have a conversation with Mathilde, who is in the process of building one of those hundred billion dollar businesses. She's going to be able to tell us all about that and her company called Front.

So, Mathilde, what patch were you in at YC summer '14?

Summer '14! Wow, already four years ago. So tell us about your, if you would, your journey to being the CEO of Front.

Sure! So in just a few seconds, I think I’ve always been wanting to start a company, but the main thing is I didn't feel confident enough to think that I could build a company. I was hearing all these people saying, "Oh yeah, I’ll start a company," and I was like, "I wish I could say that!" But I didn't feel like I could do it.

So instead, what I did is after I graduated, I joined a startup that was super small, doing a contract management software. That’s when I discovered the world of software. There was something that went well during this first experience, and something that didn’t go well.

So what went well was I became very passionate about software in general. I felt like the fact that you could build something in a few months that could change how people work, and people spend so much time at work—I felt was super rewarding. So that’s what went well.

So, you didn't find its contract management sounds painfully boring?

Yes, it’s boring! But what was cool about it was that it actually changed how people work.

Exactly! And so when I was talking to people, I was in charge of launching a new product for them. When I was talking to people using the product and they were telling me how their day-to-day was much better because they were using the product, it made sense to me and it's still one thing that drives me today. So that's what was great.

What wasn't great was the culture. It was terrible, and so I was very unhappy. I also understood how much of a responsibility you had as a founding team of a company to create an environment where people would be happy to come to work.

So a year after I joined this company, I quit.

Can you elaborate a little bit on what was it about the culture that was bad?

So I think the main thing is there was no transparency. Without transparency, there is no trust, and then there is no engagement from employees. I can tell you more about how I've built Front and I think what’s unique about our culture, but one of the things is how transparent we are.

I don't believe that transparency is good in itself, and that's why you should be transparent. I believe that’s the most efficient way I’ve found to create engagement at scale.

If you ask people at Front why they are happy to come to work every day, they will tell you, "I’m happy because I can see the impact of my work," and that's what I care about.

How do you make sure that people see the impact of their work? You make sure that everything is transparent—from where you want to go, how you’ll get there, what the goals are that need to be achieved, and how their work relates to these goals.

It seems like there’s something really fundamental there for the companies that are going to be successful. Paul talked about what it felt like at Google, where everyone knew where they were going and everyone was passionate. Everyone believed, and so you had this energy in the company.

So I guess somehow this is about sharing a vision with the team and having them believe in it. At every step in the way, having them be able to see how that vision is being created.

Yeah! So, I think there are two things that are incredibly important as early as you are. One is the vision. Of course, you should know where you’re going, and of course, you don’t know yet, and that’s totally fine. Like, I didn’t know four years ago how big Front would be, and I still don’t know today! But I think that will just evolve along the way.

What you need to have is just what you...