EP 120: Evan Goldberg (Founder and EVP, Oracle NetSuite) on 26 Years of Operating Lessons Running NetSuite

Evan Goldberg has been leading NetSuite for 26 years and counting. In this episode, Evan reflects on the journey of building NetSuite—from launching it with Larry Ellison’s support, to scaling through its IPO, and eventually being acquired by Oracle for $9.3B. He shares his leadership philosophies around humor and empathy, lessons learned from Larry Ellison and Marc Benioff, and why he still feels passionate about the business after all these years.

[0:00] Intro
[1:13] Lessons from Economic Crises
[2:22] The Importance of Existing Customers
[4:24] Founding and Early Days of NetSuite
[6:32] The Pivot to Business Software
[10:26] NetSuite's Growth and Customizability
[20:26] AI and the Future of NetSuite
[32:24] The Role of Customizability in NetSuite's Success
[38:49] Balancing Profitability and Growth
[40:46] Leadership Evolution and Management Philosophy
[46:59] The Importance of Empathy in Leadership
[48:42] Navigating Hypergrowth and Tough Decisions
[51:11] Consumer Quality in Enterprise Software
[52:31] Oracle's Transformation and Redwood Design System
[55:57] Maintaining Focus Amid Distractions
[59:39] Company Culture and Humor
[1:03:03] NetSuite's Unique Position within Oracle
[1:10:15] Involvement with the V Foundation
[1:13:52] Reflections on Founding and Leadership
[1:16:38] Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Executive Producer: Rashad Assir

Producer: Leah Clapper

Mixing and editing: Sam Dewees and JR Bohannon

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About the Show

Logan Bartlett is a Software Investor at Redpoint Ventures - a Silicon Valley-based VC with $6B AUM and investments in Snowflake, DraftKings, Twilio, and Netflix. In each episode, Logan goes behind the scenes with world-class entrepreneurs and investors. If you're interested in the real inside baseball of tech, entrepreneurship, and start-up investing, tune in every Friday for new episodes.