EP 108: Olivier Pomel (CEO, Datadog) Shares Every Lesson From Scaling to $40B

Olivier Pomel built Datadog into a $40B company while burning only $25M in capital. In our conversation, he shares the fundraising lessons, operating principles, and core insights that made this possible. He also discusses the pros and cons of building a tech company in NYC, how early-career professionals should approach learning AI tools, how Datadog is building a trusted relationship with their users around AI features, and much more(00:00) Intro(01:30) Datadog's Early Challenges and Lessons(04:32) The Core Insight Behind Datadog(05:20) Building the Right Product(07:46) Transitioning to Open Beta(09:38) Expanding Datadog's Product Line(11:26) Platform Vision and Modular Products(18:12) Empowering Product Teams(22:14) Acquisitions and Integration Strategy(33:18) Customer-Centric Approach(36:39) Bottom-Up Sales Strategy(46:04) Navigating Founder Challenges(46:37) Building a Collaborative Management Team(48:32) Staying Close to Customers(51:36) Maintaining a Culture of Discipline and Efficiency(56:26) Pricing Strategy and Market Positioning(01:01:24) Fostering a Low-Ego, High-Performance Culture(01:06:32) Hiring and Promoting for Long-Term Success(01:12:21) Fundraising and Investor Relations(01:16:03) Deciding Whether to Sell or Scale(01:18:26) The Impact of AI on Software Development(01:23:24) Choosing New York Over Silicon Valley(01:28:04) Final Thoughts and Reflections Executive Producer: Rashad AssirProducer: Leah ClapperMixing and editing: Justin Hrabovsky Check out Unsupervised Learning, Redpoint's AI Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@UCUl-s_Vp-Kkk_XVyDylNwLA 🎙 Listen to the show Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-logan-bartlett-show/id1606770839Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5WqBqDb4br3LlyVrdqOYYb?si=3076e6c1b5c94d63&nd=1Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5zaW1wbGVjYXN0LmNvbS9zb0hJZkhWbg 🎥 Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCugS0jD5IAdoqzjaNYzns7w?sub_confirmation=1 Follow on Socials 📸 Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/theloganbartlettshow🐦 Twitter - https://twitter.com/loganbartshow🎬 Clips on TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@theloganbartlettshow About the Show Logan Bartlett is a Software Investor at Redpoint Ventures - a Silicon Valley-based VC with $6B AUM and investments in Snowflake, DraftKings, Twilio, and Netflix. In each episode, Logan goes behind the scenes with world-class entrepreneurs and investors. If you're interested in the real inside baseball of tech, entrepreneurship, and start-up investing, tune in every Friday for new episodes.