Wade Foster is the co-founder and CEO of Zapier, the leading automation tool in the ever-growing no-code space.

Earlier this year, Zapier reached $5 billion in valuation and $140 million in recurring revenue — one might think of it as a standard Silicon Valley startup that has raised lots of money with VCs but, apart from having done YC, the company has in reality taken a very different path. Wade and his co-founder started Zapier in Columbia, Missouri. They have been running the company entirely remote before the pandemic made it commonplace. And, they have only raised a total of 1,4 million dollars in funding, which gives them a 100x ratio of ARR/funding.

In this episode, Wade tells us the story behind Zapier’s growth, shares some invaluable tips for startups looking to scale, speaks about the company's long-term vision for automation, and a lot more.

Topics

00:22 — Introduction with Cindy Yang

01:49 — Wade Foster's background and founder story

04:48 — Surprising use cases of Zapier

07:14 — Zapier's new product, Transfer

08:17 — Wade's approach to VC fundraising

09:31 — How Zapier reached 140M ARR in 10 years

12:31 — The importance of defining your go-to-market strategy early on

13:55 — Why Zapier does not have a Sales team

16:17 — Full remote work and "de-location" packages

23:28 — Technologies that Wade is excited about: Web3 and AI / Machine Learning

25:47 — Zapier's vision on the long term

27:48 — Wade's advice for early-stage founders

This episode is supported by TikTok, hosted and produced by Cindy Yang. Art is by Gaëtan Lefebvre.

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