What if your company’s mission turned out to be bigger than you imagined?

In this episode of The Eric Ries Show, I speak with Matthew Prince, co-founder and CEO of Cloudflare, now a $70 billion company defending 20% of all internet traffic. We trace how Cloudflare’s mission wasn’t declared at the start, but discovered through a series of principled decisions, from protecting journalists and activists to making encryption free for everyone.

We also explore today’s urgent challenges: how AI’s shift from search engines to answer engines threatens the web’s business model, why creators must be compensated, and what a sustainable, human-centered internet could look like.

This is a conversation about technology, power, and what it means to build with principle.

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Where to find Mathew Prince: 

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mprince/

• X: https://x.com/eastdakota

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Where to find Eric:

• Newsletter:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://ericries.carrd.co/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

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• YouTube:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@theericriesshow⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

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In This Episode We Cover:

(00:00 ) Intro

(02:44 ) Cloudflare’s history of blogging 

(08:06 ) How Cloudflare got involved in safeguarding democracy 

(14:30 ) How Matthew learned Cloudflare would make enemies

(16:42 ) Why Cloudflare stopped charging for encryption 

(18:36 ) How a series of principled decisions led to Cloudflare’s mission

(26:24 ) Why a clear mission makes recruiting and building a company easier

(32:00 ) Cloudflare’s culture of psychological safety around failure 

(34:18 ) Lessons from Cloudflare’s mission and scrappy early team

(44:27 ) Why scale and valuation didn’t shake Cloudflare’s mission

(50:12 ) How the shift from search to answers is reshaping the internet

(1:01:00 ) Why we need a new business model to compensate content makers 

(1:03:48 ) Matthew’s vision for a sustainable future of creators and AI

(1:06:26 ) How supporting creators sustains both the internet and Cloudflare’s mission

(1:09:57 ) Lessons from Spotify on supporting creators

(1:12:26 ) How Cloudflare handles its civic responsibility with transparency

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You can find episode references at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.ericriesshow.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Production and marketing by ⁠⁠⁠⁠Pen Name⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Eric may be an investor in the companies discussed.