PQ 143: The Strange Dynamics Of Buying & Selling Enterprise IT

I spent a few weeks in Silicon Valley recently, and Martin Casado generously agreed to record a conversation with me. Martin is a general partner at VC firm Andreessen Horowitz. He previously worked at VMware and was cofounder of Nicira, which VMware acquired in 2012 for $1.2 billion.
I wanted to dig deeper into the business concepts behind product/market fit and the differences in how big vendors and startups come to market. Not everyone thinks about how business drives what you buy.
Apology: There is some bad audio for the first 5 minutes or so. I was using someone else’s equipment and I forgot to double check. The audio clears up about 5 minutes in if you want to skip ahead.
Here are the topics we cover in this wide-ranging discussion, based in part on a post Martin wrote:
1. Getting stuck in the “innovation-friend zone”
2. Even when customers are “sold”, they still can’t buy
3. Your biggest competition isn’t another company… it’s the status quo (or is it?)
4. Is money leaving Enterprise IT because the market is shrinking?
5. Are we seeing the death of Enterprise IT brands?
6. Is the intent-based networking movement legit? How does it work out?
Also, a wasp briefly interrupts the conversation before meeting a swift end.
Link: “Need More Time” or Lack of Product-Market Fit? Guideposts for Tech Founders Going to Market When No Market Exists – Andreessen Horowitz