Co-founder + CEO of @okta, proud husband + father, addicted to exercise.
Tweet identity musings and secrets to being a public company CEO.
Give me feedback!
Jun 30, 2021 • 9 tweets • 4 min read
This month @okta began our phased re-entry plan for all North American offices and a few others across the globe. 🎉
Our biggest paradigm shift? The office of the future isn’t centered only on productivity. And that’s okay!! Here’s what we’re learning ⬇️
When @okta first introduced our Dynamic Work framework in 2019, we saw it as a differentiator. Fast forward through the pandemic and a year+ of full remote work, and it’s table stakes. You can’t hire & retain the best people without embracing hybrid work: okta.com/dynamic-work
Jan 22, 2021 • 9 tweets • 3 min read
You should never be bored with your Board. A mistake CEOs can make is underutilizing their board of directors. Boards aren’t just for corporate governance; they can be a competitive differentiator.
Lessons learned over the years building a strategic Board of Directors ⬇️
Step 1️⃣: Find someone great to help you and write down your BoD goal. At @okta it’s my Chief of Staff, @angelagrady and our vision is “make Okta’s board the most strategic & effective board in the industry." Our collective goal is to build a high-performing board.
Dec 22, 2020 • 10 tweets • 3 min read
A lot happened in 2020 (understatement!!). As the year comes to an end, I've been thinking about announcements and trends that I’ve found interesting.
Allow me to introduce...
Todd’s Take on 2020 Tech Trends, Part 1: iOS 14 Privacy ⬇️
iOS 14, @Apple’s latest operating system, was released to the public in September with security and privacy enhancements front and center. A lot going on, but here’s what I found most interesting:
Dec 4, 2020 • 7 tweets • 3 min read
Feedback is a #1 priority for a CEO, especially when you’re in an enviable position like @okta. And this year, we got some tough feedback from the Magic Quadrant. We've been a leader in every identity MQ, but we have a lot to learn from this year’s.
After the usual 5 stages of grief ;) I welcome the feedback. If you ask for it, you’ve got to listen and act. So here’s the constructive feedback from this year’s analysis and what @okta is doing about it.
Dec 3, 2020 • 4 tweets • 3 min read
Today we reported another quarter with strong financial performance. To the entire @okta team: THANK YOU. You keep raising the bar every quarter despite a crazy world and I can’t wait to keep tackling the massive opportunity ahead. bit.ly/36xWBBX
We also announced that our CFO Bill Losch will be retiring in March 2021. Bill has been an incredible leader and friend since joining @okta in 2013 and we’ll miss him. Bill plans to spend deserved time with family, his favorite non profits, and binge watching @SchittsCreek.
Oct 13, 2020 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
Before I was a CEO, I made decisions faster. But now, I have the final call so I find myself pondering things more 🤔
I’m often asked about my decision making process. Here’s a look at what goes into making the most important ones...
IDENTIFY
I identify what decisions I need to make and what I don’t. I think of my job as figuring out which 5 or 6 critical decisions I need to make and get a high hit rate on them. 4 or 5 out of 6 = great. 2 for 6, not good.
Sep 16, 2020 • 10 tweets • 4 min read
Companies like @SnowflakeDB@asana@Airbnb are making headlines as some of the most anticipated IPOs of 2020. It feels like yesterday we were preparing to take @okta public.
What it’s actually like to go through an IPO & be a public company ⬇️
Concerns pre-IPO:
- Being public would make it harder to invest in the long term.
- We’d be constrained, no longer agile & aggressive.
- Employees would watch the stock price & lose focus.
- Less intensity after “reaching the goal” (which is why you have to move the goalpost).
Aug 25, 2020 • 8 tweets • 1 min read
Key elements of a high-performance engineering organization:
Talent:
“These are my new shoes. They're good shoes. They won't make you rich like me, they won't make you rebound like me, they definitely won't make you handsome like me. They'll only make you have shoes like me. That's it.” Charles Barkley on the importance of talent.
Apr 5, 2019 • 23 tweets • 5 min read
1) I was really happy how my #Oktane19 keynote turned out. I think it was the best we’ve done. Several have asked what I did to prep.
2)past years the Comms team has done more upfront and brought it to me in a more “complete state”. This year I was involved earlier. This helped my eventual delivery as it was more “my voice” and I knew it better.
