Matthew Prince, '00: Matthew Prince of Cloudflare on the Dangers of Fast Growth
Matthew Prince of Cloudflare on the Dangers of Fast Growth
Matthew Prince, chief executive of Cloudflare, says that adding more employees too quickly can erode the foundations of company culture. Credit Earl Wilson/The New York Times
This interview with Matthew Prince, chief executive of Cloudflare, a cybersecurity firm, was conducted and condensed by Adam Bryant.
Q. What were your early years like?
A. I grew up in a small town in Utah. There were just 60 of us in our graduating class. I did debate and a little bit of theater. I was also a skier and worked on the weekends as an assistant ski instructor.
Tell me about your parents.
Both my parents are entrepreneurs. My dad has done a million things over the years. He’s been a journalist. He started his own stock brokerage firm. He owns more than 30 restaurants across three states now. I definitely saw the struggles of entrepreneurship. Restaurants are a really tough business.
My mom owned a collection of gift stores, and I would work for her when I was in school. She has a really great eye for spotting the next trend.
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