9.4M Dollars In Concept Financing To 100M In Bookings: Palo Alto Networks Founder Nir Zuk (Part 4)

Sramana: How did it make you feel to watch your IPS drop to last in the marketplace when you were at Juniper?

Nir Zuk: I did not like Juniper at all. The first day after they acquired NetScreen they came and explained to us that we did not know what we were doing and that they needed to teach us how to do sales, marketing, and engineering. Juniper is a great company, but they really screwed up that acquisition. >>>

9.4M Dollars In Concept Financing To 100M In Bookings: Palo Alto Networks Founder Nir Zuk (Part 3)

Sramana: When you did your validation, did you find any other pain points?

Nir Zuk: The major pain point was that companies were spending a lot of time and money on network security and monitoring security events on their network. They did not have the capability to stop security events. Companies would learn about a security breach well after it had happened. >>>

Bootstrapping Pays Off For Michael Arrington

Michael Arrington is seeing a nice payday today as AOL buys TechCrunch, reportedly for $25 million, with a possible $15 million more in earn outs. Arrington has maintained control over TC and owns the majority of the company. The company is at about $10 million in revenue, so this is a 2.5X to 4X multiple.

A few years back, when several blogs started going out and getting venture funding, I said that blogging is not a venture business. Scaling a $100 million or $500 million business out of blogs is not possible. [Ref: Deal Radar 2008: GigaOm and Deal Radar 2008: TechCrunch] >>>

9.4M Dollars In Concept Financing To 100M In Bookings: Palo Alto Networks Founder Nir Zuk (Part 2)

SM: Why was it so difficult to get customers at OneSecure?

NZ: A few months after we started the company, the [tech] bubble burst. Companies suddenly started watching their money. I also believe there was another key factor. At the end of the day, our managed service would replace the work that was done by individuals within the company. >>>

Next 1M/1M Strategy Roundtable For Entrepreneurs On September 30

The next FREE online 1M/1M strategy roundtable for entrepreneurs will take place on Thursday, September 30, 2010, starting at: 11 a.m. EDT/8 a.m. PDT/8:30 p.m. IST.  Please join us and let other entrepreneurs know. You can find more details and register here.

9.4M Dollars In Concept Financing To 100M In Bookings: Palo Alto Networks Founder Nir Zuk (Part 1)

Nir Zuk is a serial entrepreneur and the founder and CTO of Palo Alto Networks. Prior to Palo Alto Networks, he was the CTO at NetScreen Technologies, which was acquired by Juniper Networks in 2004. Prior to NetScreen, Nir was co-founder and CTO at OneSecure. Nir also served as a principal engineer at Check Point Software Technologies, where he was a lead developer of inspection technology.

SM: Let’s start by reviewing your background. Where are you from?

Nir Zuk: I was born and raised in Rehovot, Israel. The Weizmann Institute of Science is there; it is one of the top research institutions in the world. As a result, Rehovot is a very scientific town. I was exposed to science throughout my life. >>>

Catching Up On Readings: What’s Next For RIM?

The Canadian company has many strengths, but other smartphone makers are formidable opponents. Technology Stocks discusses what lies ahead for RIM. Click on the full article to read this and the rest of the week’s posts. >>>

Bootstrapping To $19 Million: Office Ally CEO Brian O’Neill (Part 7)

SM: Whom do you charge, and what do you charge, for the Patient Ally system?

BO: We offer that for free.

SM: So you are subsidizing that with your Office Ally business?

BO: Correct. Our EHR product is the least expensive in the country. It cost $9.95 a month which subsidizes Patient Ally. >>>