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Neo Technology, Inc Confidential
Building
An American Company
With A Swedish Soul
Monki Gräs, Jan 2015
@emileifrem
#neo4j
Neo Technology, Inc Confidential
Agenda
i. Main: $ diff -bBp
silicon_valley_startup
sveedish_startup
ii. Bonus: How Neo Technology uses
(aspects of) Scandinavian culture as a
competitive advantage
Neo Technology, Inc Confidential
Context
Neo Technology, Inc Confidential
!!!2000!!!!!!!!!2003!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!2007!!!2009!! 2011! 2013! 2014! 2015!
Neo4j:'The'Graph'Database'Leader'
First''
na7ve''
graph'DB'!
in!24/7!
produc3on!
Invented'
property'
graph'
model!
Contributed!
first'graph'
DB'to'open'
source'
$2.5M'Seed'
Round!from!
Sunstone!!
and!Conor!
Funding!
Technical!
Leadership!
Neo Technology, Inc Confidential
!!!2000!!!!!!!!!2003!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!2007!!!2009!! 2011! 2013! 2014! 2015!
Neo4j:'The'Graph'Database'Leader'
GraphConnect,!!
first'conference'
for'graph'DBs'
First'Global'2000'!!
Customer!
!
!
Introduced!Cypher!
as!first'and'only'
declara@ve'query'
language'for!
property!graph!
Published'
O’Reilly'book'
on!Graph&
Databases!
$11M'Series'A''
from!Fidelity,!
Sunstone!
and!Conor!
!
$11M'Series'B''
from!Fidelity,!
Sunstone!
and!Conor!
!
Commercial!
Leadership!
First''
na@ve''
graph'DB'!
in!24/7!
producDon!
Invented'
property'
graph'
model!
Contributed!
first'graph'
DB'to'open'
source'
$2.5M'Seed'
Round!from!
Sunstone!!
and!Conor!
Funding!
Technical!
Leadership!
Neo Technology, Inc Confidential
!!!2000!!!!!!!!!2003!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!2007!!!2009!! 2011! 2013! 2014! 2015!
Neo4j:'The'Graph'Database'Leader'
GraphConnect,!!
first'conference'
for'graph'DBs'
First'Global'2000'!!
Customer!
!
!
Introduced!Cypher!
as!first'and'only'
declara@ve'query'
language'for!
property!graph!
Published'
O’Reilly'book'
on!Graph&
Databases!
$11M'Series'A''
from!Fidelity,!
Sunstone!
and!Conor!
!
$11M'Series'B''
from!Fidelity,!
Sunstone!
and!Conor!
!
Commercial!
Leadership!
First''
na@ve''
graph'DB'!
in!24/7!
producDon!
Invented'
property'
graph'
model!
Contributed!
first'graph'
DB'to'open'
source'
$2.5M'Seed'
Round!from!
Sunstone!!
and!Conor!
Funding!
Technical!
Leadership!
Extended''
graph'data'
model'to!!
labeled!
property!graph!
150+!customers'
50K+!monthly!
downloads'
500+!graph!!
DB!events!
worldwide!!
!
$20M'Series'C''
led!by!Creandum,!
with!Dawn!and!
exisDng!investors!
Neo Technology, Inc Confidential
Reflections on
running a startup in
Sweden vs The Valley
*My* perspective
Neo Technology, Inc Confidential
“On a per capita basis, Stockholm is the
second most prolific tech hub globally,
with 6.3 billion-dollar companies per million
people (compared to the Valley with 6.9)”
http://www.zdnet.com/article/stockholm-is-the-most-prolific-billion-dollar-startup-hub-behind-silicon-valley/
Neo Technology, Inc Confidential
Despite this…
Neo Technology, Inc Confidential
… and this
“Tax burden as percentage of
GDP”
(OECD 2010)
Neo Technology, Inc Confidential
My Observations (thus far)
• Let’s compare Sweden and the valley along six five
axes:
• Skill set
• Funding
• Government & Policy
• Culture
• Market
• NGO (Nitty-Gritty Operations!)
• Warning: Bring huge grain of salt. All of these are
just subjective reflections and heavily (enterprise)
software biased.
Neo Technology, Inc Confidential
Skillset - Hackers
• Very high average skill
• High and early internet
penetration
• Predated by early PC
penetration (“home PC
reform”)
• Probably among the best in the
world when it comes to mobile
(because unlike in the valley,
mobile phones actually work)
• Employee affinity is higher <—
compounding effect of this is
huge!
Swedland The Valley
• The best in the valley are
the best in the world
• Deep technology mainly
based on experience
from leading tech
companies like
Facebook, Google, etc
• But combined with a
general savviness about
running a startup
• Most sophisticated and
influential early adopters in
the world
Neo Technology, Inc Confidential
Skillset - Mentors
• Very few
• Most (but not all!)
suck, because if they
didn’t they already
moved to London or
the Valley
• There’s a strong
positive first derivative
here — huge diff vs a
few years ago
Swedland The Valley
• Most experienced and
clueful in the world. (x)
• Most willing to share in
the world. (y)
• x * y = leaps and
bounds ahead of
anyone else in the world
• Don’t think anyone
will catch up for
several decades
Neo Technology, Inc Confidential
Government & Policy
• Some immature legislation,
e.g. around stock options
• Strong labor laws
• “Quick to hire, never fire”
• But legislation / policy don’t
really move the needle in
either direction in my
experience:
• Taxes don’t really matter
• Setting up a company is
equally easy
Swedland The Valley
• I guess very pro-
business?
• In reality just
seems pro lawyer
to me
Neo Technology, Inc Confidential
Culture
• Less quarter capitalism
than the valley and more
long-term sustainability
• OTOH, less “shooting
for the stars”
• Supposed challenges
that haven’t been a
problem (for me):
• Cultural fear of failure
• Lack of fellow
entrepreneurs
Swedland The Valley
• Echo chamber
rocks for staying
on the leadin’
bleedin’ edge
• Everyone’s as
clued in about
startups as you
are
Neo Technology, Inc Confidential
Market
• Small domestic market
• Swedish is only
spoken in Sweden
(and some 5% of
Finland)
• Companies have to go
outside of Sweden for
scale
• For good and for
bad
Swedland The Valley
• Harmonized, US
domestic market,
strongest
economy in the
world
• High influence
consumers, trend
setters
Neo Technology, Inc Confidential
“Nitty-Gritty Operations”
• Trust makes a lot of
things easier
• Invoices are kinda
cool
• The social fabric in
Sweden is very
powerful
• Parental leave,
medical benefits,
daycare, etc
Swedland The Valley
• Guilty until proven
otherwise (and
probably a little bit
longer)
• Service providers
galore
• But everything in the
valley is less friction
and more liquid
Neo Technology, Inc Confidential
So why again?
• Why does Sweden have a
disproportionate (to its population)
amount of “global” startups?
• Some ideas:
• Small domestic market — has to go
outside
• High PC penetration -> Internet penetration
-> Working Mobile technology
• Good English
• Reaaaally cold winters?
Neo Technology, Inc Confidential
From
The
N
eo
C
ulture
D
eck
How we use (aspects of)
Scandinavian culture
as a competitive advantage
Neo Technology, Inc Confidential
Cultural Identity
I frequently say that I want to create an American
company with a Swedish soul. What does that mean?
Neo Technology, Inc Confidential
<oooh! movie time!>
http://youtu.be/SX1rQdUl8-M?t=59s
Neo Technology, Inc Confidential
We value good consensus(tm) and
intellectually honest discussions
• There’s Good Consensus(tm) and Bad Consensus(tm)
• Bad Consensus
• Analysis paralysis /

Dragged out discussions /

Deadlocks
• Countered by clear decision-

making authority and

narrowly defined groups
• Good Consensus
• Buy in from all parties who will execute on a particular task
• Leads to alignment and more efficient execution
• Enables one of the strongest forces on earth: intrinsic
motivation
Neo Technology, Inc Confidential
We value good consensus(tm) and
intellectually honest discussions
facts + logic

judged on merit, not origin
Neo Technology, Inc Confidential
We value good consensus(tm) and
intellectually honest discussions
• Furthermore, we invite and expect Neo employees
to challenge decisions-in-the-making.
• It is NOT ok to sit

back and watch Neo

go in a direction you

believe is wrong.

Speak up!
• But we balance that

by disagreeing and

then committing:

once a decision has been made, it doesn’t matter
if we agreed or disagreed. Then we execute.
Neo Technology, Inc Confidential
Conclusions?
Unclear.
Neo Technology, Inc Confidential
But, we’re hiring! :)
London Malmö Silicon Valley
Neo Technology, Inc Confidential
thank you!

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Startups in Sweden vs Startups in Silicon Valley, 2015 edition

  • 1. Neo Technology, Inc Confidential Building An American Company With A Swedish Soul Monki Gräs, Jan 2015 @emileifrem #neo4j
  • 2. Neo Technology, Inc Confidential Agenda i. Main: $ diff -bBp silicon_valley_startup sveedish_startup ii. Bonus: How Neo Technology uses (aspects of) Scandinavian culture as a competitive advantage
  • 3. Neo Technology, Inc Confidential Context
  • 4. Neo Technology, Inc Confidential !!!2000!!!!!!!!!2003!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!2007!!!2009!! 2011! 2013! 2014! 2015! Neo4j:'The'Graph'Database'Leader' First'' na7ve'' graph'DB'! in!24/7! produc3on! Invented' property' graph' model! Contributed! first'graph' DB'to'open' source' $2.5M'Seed' Round!from! Sunstone!! and!Conor! Funding! Technical! Leadership!
  • 5. Neo Technology, Inc Confidential !!!2000!!!!!!!!!2003!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!2007!!!2009!! 2011! 2013! 2014! 2015! Neo4j:'The'Graph'Database'Leader' GraphConnect,!! first'conference' for'graph'DBs' First'Global'2000'!! Customer! ! ! Introduced!Cypher! as!first'and'only' declara@ve'query' language'for! property!graph! Published' O’Reilly'book' on!Graph& Databases! $11M'Series'A'' from!Fidelity,! Sunstone! and!Conor! ! $11M'Series'B'' from!Fidelity,! Sunstone! and!Conor! ! Commercial! Leadership! First'' na@ve'' graph'DB'! in!24/7! producDon! Invented' property' graph' model! Contributed! first'graph' DB'to'open' source' $2.5M'Seed' Round!from! Sunstone!! and!Conor! Funding! Technical! Leadership!
  • 6. Neo Technology, Inc Confidential !!!2000!!!!!!!!!2003!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!2007!!!2009!! 2011! 2013! 2014! 2015! Neo4j:'The'Graph'Database'Leader' GraphConnect,!! first'conference' for'graph'DBs' First'Global'2000'!! Customer! ! ! Introduced!Cypher! as!first'and'only' declara@ve'query' language'for! property!graph! Published' O’Reilly'book' on!Graph& Databases! $11M'Series'A'' from!Fidelity,! Sunstone! and!Conor! ! $11M'Series'B'' from!Fidelity,! Sunstone! and!Conor! ! Commercial! Leadership! First'' na@ve'' graph'DB'! in!24/7! producDon! Invented' property' graph' model! Contributed! first'graph' DB'to'open' source' $2.5M'Seed' Round!from! Sunstone!! and!Conor! Funding! Technical! Leadership! Extended'' graph'data' model'to!! labeled! property!graph! 150+!customers' 50K+!monthly! downloads' 500+!graph!! DB!events! worldwide!! ! $20M'Series'C'' led!by!Creandum,! with!Dawn!and! exisDng!investors!
  • 7. Neo Technology, Inc Confidential Reflections on running a startup in Sweden vs The Valley *My* perspective
  • 8. Neo Technology, Inc Confidential “On a per capita basis, Stockholm is the second most prolific tech hub globally, with 6.3 billion-dollar companies per million people (compared to the Valley with 6.9)” http://www.zdnet.com/article/stockholm-is-the-most-prolific-billion-dollar-startup-hub-behind-silicon-valley/
  • 9. Neo Technology, Inc Confidential Despite this…
  • 10. Neo Technology, Inc Confidential … and this “Tax burden as percentage of GDP” (OECD 2010)
  • 11. Neo Technology, Inc Confidential My Observations (thus far) • Let’s compare Sweden and the valley along six five axes: • Skill set • Funding • Government & Policy • Culture • Market • NGO (Nitty-Gritty Operations!) • Warning: Bring huge grain of salt. All of these are just subjective reflections and heavily (enterprise) software biased.
  • 12. Neo Technology, Inc Confidential Skillset - Hackers • Very high average skill • High and early internet penetration • Predated by early PC penetration (“home PC reform”) • Probably among the best in the world when it comes to mobile (because unlike in the valley, mobile phones actually work) • Employee affinity is higher <— compounding effect of this is huge! Swedland The Valley • The best in the valley are the best in the world • Deep technology mainly based on experience from leading tech companies like Facebook, Google, etc • But combined with a general savviness about running a startup • Most sophisticated and influential early adopters in the world
  • 13. Neo Technology, Inc Confidential Skillset - Mentors • Very few • Most (but not all!) suck, because if they didn’t they already moved to London or the Valley • There’s a strong positive first derivative here — huge diff vs a few years ago Swedland The Valley • Most experienced and clueful in the world. (x) • Most willing to share in the world. (y) • x * y = leaps and bounds ahead of anyone else in the world • Don’t think anyone will catch up for several decades
  • 14. Neo Technology, Inc Confidential Government & Policy • Some immature legislation, e.g. around stock options • Strong labor laws • “Quick to hire, never fire” • But legislation / policy don’t really move the needle in either direction in my experience: • Taxes don’t really matter • Setting up a company is equally easy Swedland The Valley • I guess very pro- business? • In reality just seems pro lawyer to me
  • 15. Neo Technology, Inc Confidential Culture • Less quarter capitalism than the valley and more long-term sustainability • OTOH, less “shooting for the stars” • Supposed challenges that haven’t been a problem (for me): • Cultural fear of failure • Lack of fellow entrepreneurs Swedland The Valley • Echo chamber rocks for staying on the leadin’ bleedin’ edge • Everyone’s as clued in about startups as you are
  • 16. Neo Technology, Inc Confidential Market • Small domestic market • Swedish is only spoken in Sweden (and some 5% of Finland) • Companies have to go outside of Sweden for scale • For good and for bad Swedland The Valley • Harmonized, US domestic market, strongest economy in the world • High influence consumers, trend setters
  • 17. Neo Technology, Inc Confidential “Nitty-Gritty Operations” • Trust makes a lot of things easier • Invoices are kinda cool • The social fabric in Sweden is very powerful • Parental leave, medical benefits, daycare, etc Swedland The Valley • Guilty until proven otherwise (and probably a little bit longer) • Service providers galore • But everything in the valley is less friction and more liquid
  • 18. Neo Technology, Inc Confidential So why again? • Why does Sweden have a disproportionate (to its population) amount of “global” startups? • Some ideas: • Small domestic market — has to go outside • High PC penetration -> Internet penetration -> Working Mobile technology • Good English • Reaaaally cold winters?
  • 19. Neo Technology, Inc Confidential From The N eo C ulture D eck How we use (aspects of) Scandinavian culture as a competitive advantage
  • 20. Neo Technology, Inc Confidential Cultural Identity I frequently say that I want to create an American company with a Swedish soul. What does that mean?
  • 21. Neo Technology, Inc Confidential <oooh! movie time!> http://youtu.be/SX1rQdUl8-M?t=59s
  • 22. Neo Technology, Inc Confidential We value good consensus(tm) and intellectually honest discussions • There’s Good Consensus(tm) and Bad Consensus(tm) • Bad Consensus • Analysis paralysis /
 Dragged out discussions /
 Deadlocks • Countered by clear decision-
 making authority and
 narrowly defined groups • Good Consensus • Buy in from all parties who will execute on a particular task • Leads to alignment and more efficient execution • Enables one of the strongest forces on earth: intrinsic motivation
  • 23. Neo Technology, Inc Confidential We value good consensus(tm) and intellectually honest discussions facts + logic
 judged on merit, not origin
  • 24. Neo Technology, Inc Confidential We value good consensus(tm) and intellectually honest discussions • Furthermore, we invite and expect Neo employees to challenge decisions-in-the-making. • It is NOT ok to sit
 back and watch Neo
 go in a direction you
 believe is wrong.
 Speak up! • But we balance that
 by disagreeing and
 then committing:
 once a decision has been made, it doesn’t matter if we agreed or disagreed. Then we execute.
  • 25. Neo Technology, Inc Confidential Conclusions? Unclear.
  • 26. Neo Technology, Inc Confidential But, we’re hiring! :) London Malmö Silicon Valley
  • 27. Neo Technology, Inc Confidential thank you!