EP 88: Nikesh Arora (CEO, Palo Alto Networks): The CEO that Revolutionized Palo Alto Networks To ~$100B

The Logan Bartlett Show

Nikesh Arora became the CEO of Palo Alto Networks with no cybersecurity domain expertise and has grown the company from $18B to nearly $100B in under 6 years. In the episode, we discuss some of the greatest learnings from revolutionizing Palo Alto Networks into a powerhouse, his celebrated M&A strategy, and stories from his wide-ranging career path.

Prior to Palo Alto Networks, Nikesh was Chairman and COO of Softbank, working alongside Masa to make investments. Before that, he spent time scaling T-Mobile in Europe as CMO then spent a decade at Google as CBO. Hear how Nikesh has consistently succeeded in each new role and built a prolific career across industries.

(0:00) Intro

(1:13) The Benefits of Being a Generalist

(2:20) Acquiring Domain Expertise

(4:05) The Constant Learning Curve in Cybersecurity

(5:07) Understanding the Cybersecurity Industry

(9:19) Nikesh's 3 Rules For M&A

(20:04) The Role of Marketing and Storytelling in Tech

(24:57) Leadership and Management in Large Companies

(35:49) The Challenge of Scaling and Managing People

(36:43) Transitioning Roles and the Importance of Skill Sets

(38:01) The Art of Making Successful Career Choices

(38:36) The Journey from Analyst to Tech Entrepreneur

(43:44) The Impact of Artificial Intelligence in Business

(50:43) The Importance of Product Obsession in Tech Leadership

(52:52) The Journey from India to the U.S. and the Pursuit of Education

(1:01:04) Venturing into the World of Investment and Venture Capital

(1:05:54) The Mission-Driven Aspect of Cybersecurity

(1:07:21) Romanticizing the Past: A Perspective on Life and Career

Produced: Rashad Assir & Leah Clapper

Mixed and edited: Justin Hrabovsky

Executive Producer: Josh Machiz

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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.

Executive Producer: Rashad Assir

Producer: Leah Clapper

Mixing and editing: Sam Dewees and JR Bohannon

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/id1606770839

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5WqBqDb4br3LlyVrdqOYYb?si=3076e6c1b5c94d63&nd=1

Google 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.