Building a data powerhouse for the AI era with Felix Van de Maele from Collibra

Introduction (0s)

• The rise of AI has made it critical for companies to have accessible, accurate, and organized data, whether for making informed strategy decisions or training new LLMs, with having information in order being the first step (4s).
• Today's guest, Felix Van de Maele, has been building a data governance solution to help companies stay compliant and efficient (14s).
• Felix Van de Maele is the co-founder and CEO of Collibra, a data intelligence company that helps companies navigate privacy compliance and AI integration (29s).
• The hosts of the podcast are Becca Scag and Dominic Madori Davis, who will be discussing everything data with Felix (35s).
• Before the conversation with Felix, the hosts present two true statements and one false statement about Felix and Collibra, which listeners will have to keep listening to find out (47s).
• Listeners are encouraged to rate and review the show, which is helpful and should only take a couple of seconds (1m5s).
• Felix introduces Collibra as an enterprise software company focusing on data governance for data and AI, which started in 2008 as a spin-off from the University of Brussels (1m28s).
• Collibra's mission is to help people agree on what data means and make data meaningful, which is still their mission today (1m48s).
• Collibra helps large organizations trust their data and has become more important over the years as data has become more critical (1m54s).

The Importance of Organized Data in the Age of AI (2m0s)

• The primary goal of data governance is to ensure that data is compliant with various regulations, such as privacy and security, and to utilize data more effectively, which is the core focus of the software platform built by Collibra (2m9s).
• The origin story of Collibra began at the University of Brussels, where the founders conducted academic research on semantic technology, which was a significant area of focus at the time and is now seeing fruition in the world of AI (2m42s).
• The research focused on capturing data in a way that both people and computers could understand, enabling them to reason on top of it and perform exciting tasks (2m55s).
• A key challenge in data governance is defining what data means, as even seemingly simple concepts like "customer" can be difficult to define, especially when considering metrics like churn (3m9s).
• Collibra was founded in 2008, initially focusing on building semantic data models, but the financial crisis led to a shift in focus towards data governance as banks needed to comply with new regulations (3m30s).
• Data governance became crucial for banks to understand their data, define it, and track key performance indicators (KPIs), and Collibra was well-positioned to help with this (3m48s).
• Over the past 10-15 years, data governance has become increasingly important due to data privacy regulations, the move to the cloud, and self-service analytics, leading to more chaos and a greater need for control and understanding of the data landscape (4m19s).
• AI governance is now becoming more important, and Collibra is focused on addressing this need (4m34s).
• The founders' research at the University of Brussels laid the groundwork for their work at Collibra, although the path from point A to point B was not a straight line (4m56s).

Collibra’s Early Days (5m0s)

• The early days of Collibra involved research on how to bring people together to agree on what data means and building a shared language for understanding data, which was a collaborative and social process (5m0s).
• The founders wanted to build something impactful, rather than just creating papers and talking about ideas, and were inspired by stories of other successful companies, such as Twitter and Adobe (5m32s).
• Felix Van de Maele, one of the founders, was inspired by the book "Founders at Work" and, with youthful ignorance and naivety, decided to try starting a company at the age of 22 (5m48s).
• The four founders came together to start a company, but initially had no idea what problem they wanted to solve, which is the opposite of the recommended approach (6m9s).
• The founders spent a lot of time finding a business problem to solve, but eventually found a product-market fit, which was helped by the financial crisis making data governance a big issue (6m21s).
• The first four years of Collibra were marked by perseverance and iteration to find the right product-market fit, which was eventually achieved after a lot of hard work (7m3s).
• The company was founded 16 years ago, and the founders were able to find the right problem to solve, which has led to the company's success (6m58s).

How the 2008 Financial Crisis Sparked Collibra’s Growth (7m13s)

• The 2008 financial crisis presented challenges for raising money as a startup in Belgium, with the common wisdom at the time being that enterprise software was dead and there was no opportunity in the field, with the focus instead being on Web 2.0 and companies like Flickr and Salesforce, which had just IPO'd with around $100-150 million in revenue (7m16s).
• Despite the challenges, the crisis gave Collibra time to iterate and find product-market fit without significant competitive pressure (7m50s).
• The startup scene in Belgium at the time was almost non-existent, with only a few well-known companies like Netlog, often referred to as the "Facebook of Belgium" (8m23s).
• As an academic spin-off, Collibra gained credibility, which helped in securing seed capital, but the VC climate was very different, with most US funds not active in Europe or investing internationally (8m49s).
• The VC community has since become more globally focused, making it easier to raise capital in various European locations (9m21s).
• Before Collibra, companies handled data governance differently, often relying on a central team of 10-15 people for analytics, but data governance was not as prominent as it is today, with the importance of data increasing significantly over the last few years (9m53s).

Navigating the Evolution of Data Governance (10m0s)

• In the past, data governance was not a significant concern for companies with small teams handling all reporting, but this changed with the rise of regulatory compliance, where banks needed to provide answers quickly and required visibility into their data (10m0s).
• The chief data officer role became important in highly regulated industries to address this issue, marking the first step in recognizing the importance of data governance (10m36s).
• The trend of self-service analytics, led by tools like Tableau and Power BI, further increased the need for data governance as hundreds of people within companies began using data for their jobs, leading to chaos, duplication, and inefficiencies (10m47s).
• The era of big data made it harder to find the necessary data due to the vast amount of information available, making data catalogs, inventories, and search marketplaces crucial (11m27s).
• Data privacy became a significant concern, requiring companies to deal with sensitive data responsibly, classify it, and maintain control and visibility (11m51s).
• The importance of data governance has grown, especially with the rise of AI, which relies heavily on data, making a strong data foundation and governance essential (12m9s).
• The company has been able to adapt to changing data needs, usage, and regulations by navigating the evolving landscape and recognizing the importance of data governance (12m50s).
• The rapid changes in data needs, usage, and regulations since 2008 have required companies to be agile and responsive to new challenges and opportunities (12m38s).
• The data technology market is rapidly changing, with significant developments in the past three years, particularly with the growth of AI, making the world more compelling and dynamic (13m18s).
• The importance of data is becoming more foundational for everything, and the ability to anticipate and adapt to new waves and evolutions has been crucial (13m30s).
• Over the past 15 years, the company has undergone significant changes, including migrating from on-premise software to cloud-based solutions, and from perpetual licenses to subscription models (13m44s).
• These changes have helped the company innovate and take away constraints related to data volume and complexity, allowing for more effective processing of large amounts of data at scale on cloud platforms (14m17s).
• Having a bigger, faster database is not enough to fully solve data problems, and the need for data governance is increasing, particularly with regards to understanding data, its usage, and regulatory compliance (14m27s).
• The company recognizes the importance of data governance and the need to balance data usage with privacy regulations, which is a dynamic and exciting challenge (14m42s).
• The landscape of privacy has changed, and the company must keep up with these changes while maintaining the necessary level of privacy and security for sensitive information (14m53s).

Balancing Privacy, Security, and AI Integration (15m0s)

• The concept of a "data citizen" is part of the vision, where everyone should become a data citizen with rights and responsibilities, including the right to have easy access to high-quality trusted information and the responsibility to treat data appropriately from a privacy and security perspective (15m6s).
• As a data citizen, individuals have the right to access trustworthy data to do their job better, but also need to use the right data appropriately, and this balance is really important, especially in the world of AI (15m53s).
• To help customers achieve this balance, the platform allows organizations to categorize and classify all their data, so they know where they have sensitive data and personal identifiable information, and link it to policies, controls, and legal teams to ensure appropriate use (15m58s).
• The AI governance solution is getting a lot of interest because it helps organizations adopt AI in a responsible way, addressing risks linked to data and data privacy (16m20s).
• The company started seeing a lot of investor interest after doing their Series A round with Index Ventures, which has a presence in both Europe and the US, allowing them to scale and build a management team in the US (17m1s).
• Initially, investors didn't fully understand what the company was trying to do, and it took them a while to grasp the concept of data governance, which has evolved significantly over the past 16 years (17m59s).
• Building a new category in the market can be challenging, as there are no existing analogies, market landscape, or established frameworks like the Gartner magic quadrant to reference, making it difficult for others to understand the company's vision and goals (18m4s).
• The benefits of creating a new category include the ability to define and lead it, which can be incredibly rewarding, but it also presents challenges in explaining the importance of the company's work to investors (18m31s).
• One of the biggest pushbacks the company faced was the perception that their product was only relevant to regulated industries, which was partly due to their initial customer base consisting mainly of big banks in the financial services industry (18m41s).
• However, the company's vision was that data would become increasingly important for all organizations, not just regulated ones, and that their product would be a must-have for any type of organization (19m0s).
• Today, the company has customers from various industries, including non-regulated ones like McDonald's, where data plays a crucial role in their operations, demonstrating that data is important for any organization, not just highly regulated companies (19m11s).

Overcoming Early Challenges (19m25s)

• Being the first player in a market does not always guarantee success, as there is often a "learning capital" that comes with being a pioneer, and the company has had to adapt to changing competition and market evolution over time (19m31s).
• Initially, the biggest competitors were large platforms like IBM, but as the market evolved, new competitors emerged, and the company had to adjust to changing use cases and technologies (20m10s).
• The company has maintained its position as a leader in the market, with the largest market share according to analyst firms, but recognizes that this makes it a target for competition and requires constant innovation and improvement (21m0s).
• The company's success is attributed to its ability to provide the best product and value for its customers, and its paranoia about being disrupted by new competitors keeps it on its toes (21m12s).
• The company's founder came from an academic background and transformed his research into a company at a relatively young age, which is unusual compared to other entrepreneurs who have been on the show (21m43s).
• The founder's experience of taking research out of academia and into the real world was unique, and he had to gain the conviction to commercialize his research and build a company around it (22m3s).
• The company's journey has been marked by constant adaptation to changing market conditions, technologies, and competitors, and its success is a testament to its ability to innovate and stay ahead of the curve (20m59s).
• The importance of having the right mindset in startups is crucial, as it involves having conviction and belief in success, while also being aware of what one doesn't know and being open to learning and listening to others (22m40s).
• Surrounding oneself with good people who can provide guidance and support is essential, and having fantastic mentors, team members, co-founders, employees, and board members can make a significant difference (23m9s).
• A growth mindset is vital, and it involves always looking at everything as an opportunity to learn, asking questions, and seeking to improve (23m19s).
• The job of a startup founder can change significantly over time, and it's essential to continue learning and adapting to new challenges and responsibilities (23m33s).
• Having the right mindset allows one to navigate uncertainty and find solutions to problems, even when the answer is not immediately apparent (23m54s).
• In the early days of hiring, it's essential to strike a balance between doing things oneself and hiring people who have the necessary skills and expertise (24m24s).
• Hiring ahead of sales can be beneficial, as it can bring in people with the necessary skills and experience to help drive revenue and growth (24m46s).
• The founder's experience and background can influence the hiring process, and being aware of one's limitations and weaknesses can help inform hiring decisions (24m37s).
• Felix Van de Maele from Collibra is involved in building a data powerhouse for the AI era.
• No additional information is available due to the incomplete text.

Lessons in Leadership and Building a Team (25m0s)

• Founders need to surround themselves with people who can help them understand what they don't know, but also be willing to learn the things they don't know to be effective in leading the whole company (25m10s).
• Having a willingness to learn and a level of curiosity is essential for founders to continue scaling with the company (25m44s).
• Founders should not be limited by their mindset, such as only wanting to work on the product or in engineering, and should be open to learning about other aspects of the company, such as customers and employees (25m30s).
• Having people around who can help founders learn and grow is crucial, and founders should be willing to ask for help when needed (25m51s).
• The journey of running a company is full of ups and downs, mishaps, and learning moments, and luck can play a significant role in the success or failure of the company (26m17s).
• One of the mishaps that occurred in the early days of the company was when they were running out of money and competing against IBM for a government account, which they won due to a coincidence of being $1,000 cheaper (26m32s).
• The experience of competing against IBM and winning the deal due to a coincidence was a humbling experience that highlighted the importance of luck in the success of the company (27m26s).
• The price that was submitted for the deal was picked almost at random, and it turned out to be $1,000 cheaper than IBM's price, which was the reason they won the deal (27m35s).
• Founders and CEOs make the most impactful decisions, both good and bad, which are often related to people, and these decisions are usually the hardest to make (28m17s).
• A pivotal moment in a company's growth is when it evolves from a founder-led company to an executive management-led company, requiring the core founding team to scale and bring in more talent (28m31s).
• Scaling too slowly can make the founder a bottleneck, constraining growth, while scaling too quickly can lead to losing the company's initial magic and culture (28m47s).
• It's challenging to navigate the trade-off between optimizing for operational excellence by bringing in experienced talent and taking the time to develop and grow the existing team (29m21s).
• High-growth companies face the challenge of growing quickly, doubling in size every year, and needing help, making it attractive to bring in experienced people who can scale and put in processes (29m35s).
• However, the "magic" of people with a deep vested interest in the mission, vision, and domain is incredibly valuable, and it's essential to balance this with the need to scale and bring in new talent (29m56s).

The Future of Collibra and the Role of Data Citizens (30m0s)

• Building a strong core team from the beginning and helping them grow is crucial, but it can be challenging due to time constraints and the need to move quickly (30m4s).
• Looking back, some missteps were made, and different decisions might have been made with hindsight, but managing team growth is an important aspect to consider (30m21s).
• After 16 years, Collibra continues to focus on its mission, which is more relevant than ever, especially with the increasing importance of data in the AI era (30m49s).
• The company's goal is to build a category-defining company, with a strong position in providing easy access to trusted data for AI use cases while ensuring responsible data use (31m14s).
• Collibra aims to make a positive impact with data, as seen in the media, and wants to be proud of what it builds, with a sense of pride in its accomplishments (31m18s).
• The company is not done building and has a lot more to achieve, with a focus on its mission and helping more customers (31m23s).
• Felix emphasizes the importance of data citizens having easy access to trusted data, not just for AI use cases, but also for responsible data use (31m1s).

Closing Reflections and Takeaways (31m42s)

• A company, Collibra, had its first client as the government, beating out IBM for a major contract, with a $1,000 price difference being a deciding factor (31m48s).
• The company's pricing decision was somewhat random, but it happened to be the perfect price for the customer they were trying to get (32m10s).
• This moment was crucial for the company, as it was a turning point that saved the business (32m27s).
• The story is similar to that of other startups, where they have secured major clients despite being small and relatively new (32m45s).
• The government's decision to go with the startup over a huge legacy company like IBM is surprising, especially considering the budget (33m1s).
• Collibra is a data governance company, which is an area that has become increasingly important with the rise of AI and technological advancements (33m33s).
• When the company was founded 15 years ago, people were not aware of the need for data governance, but now it is a widely discussed topic (33m41s).
• The company's timing was perfect, as it was able to capitalize on the growing need for data governance solutions (34m3s).
• Data governance is essential, as it ensures that data is controlled and secure, which is critical in today's digital landscape (34m32s).
• The need for data governance is not limited to AI, as it is also necessary for other areas, such as payroll, where control and security are crucial (34m47s).
• The importance of having guardrails and understanding data before running regular company operations, such as payroll, was highlighted, drawing a comparison to the financial crisis and the need for banks to implement more protections (34m53s).
• The 2008 recession was discussed, with the realization that it was likely to collapse due to loose data, and the benefit of hindsight in understanding the situation (35m22s).
• The startup scene in Belgium was explored, with the acknowledgment that it was not well-developed in 2008, and the challenges of breaking through in such an environment were noted (35m43s).
• The growth of the European startup scene was discussed, with examples of successful companies like Spotify, and the recognition that the market was fragmented, with venture capitalists often investing in specific countries or regions (36m14s).
• The difficulties of raising funding in Europe during that time were highlighted, with American investors being hesitant to invest in European startups, a situation that has since changed (36m46s).
• The success of Collibra, despite being founded in Belgium with no startup scene at the time, and being led by people with no work experience after college, was attributed to a combination of factors, including timing and luck (37m11s).
• The unusual nature of the founder's career path, having worked at the same company for 16 years, was noted, as well as the fact that this was his first and only company, making his success story even more remarkable (37m45s).
• The conversation is part of a podcast called "Found" hosted by TechCrunch senior reporters Becca Szkutak and Dominic-Madori Davis, and produced by Maggie Stamitz (38m36s).
• The podcast is edited by Kel, with illustrations by Bryce Durbin, and audience development and social media managed by Morgan Little, Alysa Stringer, and Natalie Chmielewski (38m47s).
• TechCrunch's audio products are managed by Henry Pickavet (38m55s).
• The conversation is about a person who started their first job out of college and it worked out well, unlike many others who have a history of launching startups or working at companies like Meta (38m28s).
• The person's career path is unusual in that they stayed with the same company through its ups and downs, as well as the industry's changes (37m59s).