Our AI writing assistant, WriteUp, can assist you in easily writing any text. Click here to experience its capabilities.

"A bizarro-world Salesforce": Parker Conrad talks compound startups with Strictly VC

View Original View Raw

Summary

In an interview with Connie Loizos of Strictly VC, Parker Conrad of Rippling explains his concept of a "compound startup", which involves building multiple products in parallel to address large, complex business problems. He also discusses how his personal journey as an entrepreneur shaped Rippling’s success in the SaaS industry. Rippling is a "bizarro-world version of Salesforce" that centers around employee data, allowing for dynamic workflows between different pieces of software. Parker believes that the conventional wisdom of focusing on a narrow problem is outdated, and instead companies should focus on building a collection of solutions. To achieve this, Rippling employs former founders as product line general managers.

Q&As

What is the concept of a “compound startup” and how can it help businesses succeed?
A compound startup is a concept where a startup builds multiple products in parallel to address a large and complex business problem from multiple angles. This provides greater opportunities for growth and returns than a traditional SaaS startup.

How does Rippling function as a “bizarro-world version of Salesforce”?
Rippling functions as a “bizarro-world version of Salesforce” by centering everything around employee data instead of customer data.

How does Rippling create a unified schema across many different types of business software?
Rippling creates a unified schema across many different types of business software by using employee data to create dynamic workflows that trigger, and are triggered by, employee actions in Rippling as well as those in other pieces of software.

How has Parker Conrad’s personal journey as an entrepreneur helped Rippling succeed?
Parker Conrad’s personal journey as an entrepreneur has helped Rippling succeed by providing him with the experience and knowledge to build a successful compound startup.

How does Rippling employ former founders to help build specific product lines?
Rippling employs more than 50 former founders to help build specific product lines and run them as general managers.

AI Comments

👍 This article does a great job of outlining Parker Conrad's vision for a compound startup and how Rippling has been built to fulfill that vision. It also provides a great explanation of how the employee data helps create a unified schema across many different types of business software.

👎 While this article provides an interesting perspective on compound startups, there are still some unanswered questions about how these businesses will succeed in the long term.

AI Discussion

Me: So the article is about Parker Conrad and his mission to build a compound startup called Rippling that focuses on solving large and complex business problems from multiple angles. He believes that the traditional approach of focusing on a narrow problem is outdated and that compound startups are the way to go. He's creating a type of operating system that is centered around employee data, creating a unified schema across many different types of business software.

Friend: Wow, that's really interesting. What do you think the implications of this are?

Me: Well, I think it could have a huge impact on the way businesses operate. With this type of operating system, businesses could become more efficient and streamlined by having all of their data in one place and being able to quickly and easily access it. It could also make it easier to create dynamic workflows that trigger and are triggered by employee actions, making business processes more efficient. Plus, it could make it easier for businesses to grow and scale, as they wouldn't have to manage separate point solutions.

Action items

Research other compound startups and their strategies for success.
Create a business plan outlining how to build a compound startup.
Reach out to Parker Conrad and other entrepreneurs to discuss their experiences with compound startups.

Technical terms

Bizarro-world: A term used to describe a strange or surreal situation.
Compound startups: A type of startup that builds multiple different products in parallel to solve larger business problems that span distinct business systems.
SaaS: Software as a Service, a software licensing and delivery model in which software is licensed on a subscription basis and is centrally hosted.
Schema: A structure that organizes data into a meaningful format.
Dynamic workflows: Automated processes that are triggered by certain actions.
Point source solutions: A type of software that solves a specific problem.