Goguen keynotes high-tech summit
Expansion of computing power is driving major changes in the technology market, Michael Goguen told a jobs summit on Monday.
Goguen, a managing partner of Sequoia Capital who is a Whitefish resident and well-known Flathead Valley philanthropist, was the keynote speaker at the Montana High Tech Jobs Summit at Montana State University.
He covered three main ingredients to establish a powerful technology market: technology and market disruptions, company founders and the right environment to incubate a successful technology market.
Disruptions — major changing factors in the technology market — have been primarily caused by the significant boost in computing power in recent years coupled with the massive drop in cost of running that computing power, Goguen said.
Goguen said that just around the corner, tech firms should expect great advancements in artificial intelligence.
“By 2020, a single computer element is expected to have the same computing power as the human brain; in 2040 a single computer element will have the same computing power as the human race,” Goguen said.
One of the biggest disruptions for Montana has been the rise of Software as a Service, Goguen said — the ability to use off-premise software that removes the distance constraint of using the software that best suits certain companies.
“If you have an on-premises software for your business, you’ve got a boat anchor around your neck,” Goguen said. “You can move a lot faster, innovate a lot quicker and be more flexible if you look at what’s available in SAS companies.”
Goguen said due to open-source software, the cost and time it takes to start a business has dropped by 95 percent since 2000.
Founders, Goguen said, are the most important of the three ingredients. The company founders that are focused, fail and adapt quickly and are not concerned with ego or status are the most likely to make a dent in the market.
Goguen spoke about the company WhatsApp, a mobile messaging app that Facebook acquired for $19 billion.
“The founders at WhatsApp knew that mobile messaging existed, they just didn’t like how it existed.” Goguen said. “Everyone is connected to the Internet, so how do we move messaging off the phone minutes and plans and message using the data that they’re already using?”
There were four numbers Goguen used to illustrate WhatsApp’s trajectory into a disruptive company: 450, 32, one and zero. That’s 450 million users, 32 employees, one mantra (a sticky note that read no ads, no games and no gimmicks) and zero dollars spent on marketing. Founders who recognized a need and developed a product that was largely useful in the market accelerated the WhatsApp startup into a multibillion-dollar company.
As far as environment, Montana boasts one of the best places for qualities of life, Goguen said. Early education is one critical factor in developing a more complete environment to foster the high-tech industry in Montana.
Goguen said Velinda Stevens, chief executive officer of Kalispell Regional Medical Center, has already made strides in improving Montana’s high-tech environment. Earlier this year, Stevens was able to secure a $13.6 million grant to build a 425-mile network of fiber optic cable that will connect 21 regional hospitals and medical centers and six universities and schools.
“This kind of thing is phenomenal,” Goguen said. “I’m not a big fan of spending taxpayer money, but that was very well spent. In company formation, connectivity is everything.”
Goguen concluded that Montana is ripe for high-tech unicorns — high-tech startups that become disruptive, billion-dollar companies seemingly overnight. But using the technology that’s available today is key.
“The technology is there,” Goguen said. “We have these massive tech disruptions that Sequoia has never seen before, and we have a phenomenal crop of Montana entrepreneurs and future dent makers.”
Reporter Seaborn Larson may be reached at 758-4441 or by email at slarson@dailyinterlake.com.