EP 86: Christian Chabot (Co-Founder, Tableau) on Operating Lessons From Scaling Tableau to $15.7B

Christian Chabot (Co-Founder, Tableau) dives into the journey from bootstrapping Tableau in the early days to eventually IPOing and selling to Salesforce for $15.7B. Christian shares the biggest operating lessons from scaling Tableau and thoughtful insights for founders, especially those in the business software industry.

(0:00) Intro

(0:55) Christian’s Early Career and Entrepreneurial Journey

(3:14) Finding an opportunity in the market

(6:12) Joining SoftBank

(7:14) Lessons on venture capital

(10:50) Company origin stories

(12:03) The Birth of Tableau: From Idea to Company

(16:20) Getting right in the early days

(20:55) Commercializing something out of academia

(23:42) Bootstrapping it

(28:23) The growth and success of Tableau

(32:38) Reflections on the journey and the future

(43:57) Patience and basic metrics in business growth

(45:33) The role of external investors in business expansion

(48:02) The impact of capital on business ambitions and control

(49:38) Choosing the right investor

(51:39) The importance of maintaining control in fundraising

(54:11) Competition in business growth

(58:28) The importance of team chemistry in scaling a business

(1:02:19) Impact of disruptive hiring practices on business growth

(1:21:26) Power of community and innovating marketing

(1:26:16) Global expansion

Produced: Rashad Assir & Leah Clapper

Mixed and edited: Justin Hrabovsky

Executive Producer: Josh Machiz

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Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-logan-bartlett-show/id1606770839

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

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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: 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/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.