David Sacks of Yammer #245

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On This Week in Startups, CEO of the enterprise social network Yammer David Sacks rejoined the program for the first time since 2009! Since that time, David has overseen Yammer’s growth to 300 employees in the US, Australia, Europe and Asia, and 4 million corporate users worldwide.

1:00-1:45 Welcome to this episode of TWiST with David Sacks of Yammer. I’d also like to thank our friends at Tagged for lending us their studio space. Everyone check out Tagged.com.
1:45-3:00 The last time we had you on, David, how big was Yammer?
3:00-4:30 How did you pivot out of Geni?
4:30-7:00 Where is Yammer today? I hear you just raised $85M?
7:00-9:30 Discussion of IT versus user decision making.
9:30-12:45 Is this liberating for IT because they don’t have to own making bad decisions?
12:45-14:15 So in a way this is becoming the Novell networks of enterprise.
14:15-14:45 Is this a better Google docs system?
14:45-18:00 Thank you to MailChimp for supporting TWiST! Everyone thank @MailChimp!
18:00-20:15 Do you see Dropbox or Box.com eventually becoming competitors?
20:15-22:15 What about CRM? Are there third party plug-ins for that?
22:15-24:00 Do you think enterprise will become one login across all services?
24:00-26:00 Is communication always terrible at companies?
26:00-28:30 In your opinion, has Yahoo has become a patent troll?
28:30-30:30 David explains why he’s offering a $25k signing bonus for anyone who leaves Yahoo for Yammer.
30:30-32:45 Is it going to take a systematic approach to eliminate patent trolling?
32:45-36:00 How do you know the difference between photocopying a site and improving upon an idea?
36:00-38:00 Should small companies just start filing patents themselves?
38:00-43:15 Thank you to GoToMeeting for sponsoring the show! Everyone thank @GoToMeeting.
43:15-46:30 How does it make you feel that the guy who is now running Yahoo is a patent troll?
46:30-51:00 What is it like to be in the PayPal Mafia?
51:00-52:00 How similar is the product to the original?
52:00-56:30 What was the culture like at PayPal when you were there?
56:30-1:00:15 And you have 300 people in San Francisco?
1:00:15-1:03:15 What is happening the employment right now? Is the problem with employment based on education or motivation?
1:03:15-1:04:00 Do you agree with Peter Thiel saying don’t go to college?
1:04:00-1:04:15 David, I wish you continued success. We’ll see everyone next time on This Week in Startups.

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