Madrona at 30: Sujal Patel on What Real VC Support Looks Like in a Crisis скачать в хорошем качестве

Madrona at 30: Sujal Patel on What Real VC Support Looks Like in a Crisis

When Isilon's stock fell to $1.83, Sujal Patel was stepping back into the CEO chair of a public company that was falling apart. What Madrona did in that moment is what he still talks about over a decade later. Sujal Patel founded Isilon Systems at 26 and built it into a storage infrastructure leader — but the path wasn't straight. Sujal reflects on the Isilon turnaround: the financial crisis, the layoff, the board dynamics, and how the company eventually reached $100M quarters before selling. He also shares what he's carried from that experience into his current work at Nautilus Biotechnology. In conversation with ‪@GeekWire‬'s John Cook, Sujal reflects on the Isilon turnaround, what Madrona's support looked like when the company was in freefall, and why that kind of partnership is harder to find today than it used to be. Chapters 00:00 – Madrona's approach to early-stage founders: what made it different 01:39 – Madrona's impact on the broader Northwest tech ecosystem 02:32 – Isilon's turnaround: stock at $1.83 and stepping back as CEO 03:21 – Navigating the 2008 financial crisis and a company layoff mid-rebuild 03:55 – From near-collapse to $100M quarters and a successful exit 04:26 – Why hands-on VC partnership is rarer today than it used to be