Episode Details

Episode 116: Paul Madera – Why He Invested $10 Million In Facebook In 2005

Paul Madera is one of the most down to earth and humble people I’ve ever spoken to… Considering the immense level of success in multiple life categories, I initially expected that he would have at least a semblance of an ego. As you’ll hear, that does not exist within Paul. What a refreshing and enjoyable conversation on this episode of The Learning Leader Show.

Paul Madera is the founder of Meritech (1999). Meritech is known as the pioneer of late stage investing. Paul currently focuses on the SaaS, storage, e-commerce, financial technology, digital consumer, and medical device sectors. In 2005, Paul sat down with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and made the decision to invest $10 million to earn 2% of Facebook at the time ($500m valuation). As most people know, Facebook is now worth hundreds of billions of dollars. Paul also led the charge for Meritech to be an early investor in Salesforce.com among many other great decisions.

Paul holds a B.S. from the United States Air Force Academy and an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, and currently serves as the Chairman of the US Air Force Academy Endowment. Previously he flew F 16’s on missions that included dropping bombs on targets and dealing with enemy aircrafts (dogfighting).

Episode 116: Paul Madera – Why He Invested $10 Million In Facebook In 2005

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The Learning Leader Show

“I Love To Invest In Leaders Who Are Obsessed About Their Company. Those Who Absolutely Love What They Are Doing.”

In This Episode, You Will Learn:

• The most dedicated, focused individuals who stress personal excellence tend to sustaine excellence
• Why Paul initially wanted to invest in MySpace
• What his first thoughts of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg were in 2005
• Agreeing to a deal with Mark Zuckerberg – Investing $10m at a $500m company valuation
• How his company makes decisions on who to invest in
• The specific qualities he looks for in a CEO to invest in (He loves leaders who are obsessed with their company and certain of their future success)
• The biggest mistakes young leaders/managers make
• The specific missions he flew as a fighter pilot – dropping bombs on enemy targets and dealing with combative opposing aircrafts
• Dogfighting like they did in the movie “Top Gun” – incredible stories!
• Great leaders are always “doing” – Always striving to learn more

“It’s Important To Have a Commitment Strategy… Not An Exit Strategy”

Continue Learning:

• Go To: MeritechCapital.com
• See Paul on The Forbes Midas List: Forbes Midas List: Paul Madera
• Connect with Paul on LinkedIn: com/in/paulmadera
• To Follow Me on Twitter: @RyanHawk12

You may also like these episodes:

Episode 001: How To Become A Master Connector W/ Jayson Gaignard From MasterMind Talks

Episode 078: Kat Cole – From Hooters Waitress To President of Cinnabon

Episode 082: Dan Pink – The Science of Motivation, Legendary Writer & Ted Talk

Episode 086: Seth Godin – How To Become Indispensable & Build Your Tribe

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