The Data Stack Show - The PRQL: Amplitude - From Startup to IPO

Episode Date: February 13, 2023

In this bonus episode, Eric and Kostas preview their upcoming conversation with Spenser Skates of Amplitude Analytics.

Welcome to the Data Stack Show prequel, where we replay a snippet from the show we just recorded. Kostas, are you ready to give people a sneak peek? I am, of course. Let's do it. Let's do it. You know, Kostas, I think one of the things that I appreciate most about that episode is there was sort of an underlying sense of humbleness that Spencer brought to the table.

Taking a, you know, he said, I tried to start multiple companies. They were failures. He starts Amplitude, you know, in many ways, sort of a almost a classic, you know, founder story where, you know, you're trying to build a company and you end up solving a problem that isn't directly related to what you're trying to sell with that company. That ends up becoming what you really focus on. They took it to market. Over a decade, they went public. And his willingness to explain how small Amplitude is in comparison to like Salesforce and Adobe, I think speaks a lot to why, or at least in part,

why they have been very successful. Because if that's their attitude, you know, in many ways, you almost hear them talking. It's like, we haven't even scratched the surface, right? We have so much more to learn, so much more to build. We're so small compared to like the established players.

And I just think that's an attitude that I'm going to take with me and really think about over the next several weeks, because I think that's rare, right? To see that. And it was really encouraging and I think says a lot about the future of Amplitude. Oh, a hundred percent. And I would add to what you just said, that the excitement is still there. You know, like most people that when they think about like entrepreneurship or like starting a company, they think of like a journey where you start and hopefully you

grow it and at some point you exit one way or another with, let's say, the major exit being like going public and then you're done. Like you cross the finish line. And then you talk with this guy and he's like, oh, we're just starting. Yeah. Like we have just like scrubbed the surface and there's like so much more that we can do here, like so much more like to build. That's together with what you said about how humble he is, like something

that like I'll definitely keep and think about and reflect on it and say, yeah, like how much of this I also have. How can I help me grow? Right. So. David Pérez- Indeed. Well, thank you for joining us on the Data Stack Show. Always a pleasure to talk with brilliant people like Spencer Skates.

Many more on the horizon this spring. So definitely stay tuned. Subscribe if you haven't. We'll notify you of new episodes. Also, we have the live meet and greet at Data Council Austin in March. You definitely don't want to miss that. Go to datasackshow.com to sign up and register and you can meet Kostas and I in person and we'll do some live recordings. Until then, we will catch you on the next one.