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Some guests came to the Cloud 100 dinner Wednesday night in suits, and some came in sneakers. A few wore both. This annual event brings together people from all sectors of the tech industries -- from small startups to established companies.
The third annual event, which recognizes the top cloud-computing startups, mingled established success with inspired innovation. Sponsors included financial powers NASDAQ, JP Morgan, and Silicon Valley Bank – and guests RSVP’d from startups including LaunchDarkly, BugSnag, and Gong.io.
It was a diverse gathering for an industry and community that has a place for all kinds of success stories, said Matt Garratt, Managing Partner of co-sponsor Salesforce Ventures.
“Often you’ll see trends start in the consumer side from technology to dress, because those companies are so visible,” Garratt said. “But over time you see those same trends get adopted in enterprise and many of those engineers and entrepreneurs move over too. Founders of all kinds are starting enterprise companies, and it’s really exciting to see.”
For the second straight year, Stripe, the online payments company, topped the Cloud 100 list, which is compiled with the help of partners Bessemer Venture Partners and Salesforce Ventures, and is based on operating metrics such as revenue and funding.
Slack, the collaboration software company was No. 2; Zoom Video Communications was No. 3; security vendor Tanium was No. 4; and construction tech company Procore was No. 5. See the full list here. Slack also won the Pledge 1% award this year for their commitment to giving back to the community and Salesforce.org committed to donate to $10,000 to their charity of choice, Code for America’s Clear My Record Program. Docusign and Twilio, the previous two year’s winners, also matched Salesforce.org’s donation. Salesforce Ventures partners with Pledge 1% to encourage our portfolio companies to make giving back a priority.
The Bay Area dominated the 2018 Cloud 100 list this year, representing 51 of the 100 companies, with second-place New York City with 11.
Nasim Pedrad, a cast member on “Saturday Night Live” from 2009 to 2014, teased the Bay Area in her monologue, getting a laugh with a line about housing costs: “San Francisco, where even the CEOs have roommates.”
The NBA’s great rivalry was represented onstage as Golden State Warriors star Andre Iguodala and Koby Altman, general manager of the Cleveland Cavaliers, sat on a panel discussing leadership. “Don’t worry Andre, I’ll protect you,” teased Claire Hughes Johnson, COO Stripe. The panel covered the importance of diversity in skills, talents and backgrounds to building a winning team.
Andre Igoudala of the Golden State Warriors (left), Claire Hughes Johnson of Stripe, Koby Altman of the Cleveland Cavaliers, and Jen Tejada of PagerDuty discuss leadership and diversity
Jen Tejada, CEO of PagerDuty, commented that having diversity has been a huge advantage for PagerDuty, “Having diversity has absolutely been an advantage for PagerDuty. This is not a women’s issue. It’s a leadership issue.”
Guests came from many companies, and the “business smart” dress code reflected that. Pranav Yadav, CEO of Neuro-Insight, who wore a dashing, form-fitting, charcoal gray three-piece wool suit. Complimented on it he replied, “Thank you! I designed it.” Nearby a man in an impeccable blue suit laughed with a woman in a tie-dye pattern dress.
Conservative and casual, big business and scrappy startup, NBA and DYI startup – the evening was an exciting blend of people and ideas crackling with the possibilities of a growth industry with room for more success. Even a tiny dessert reflected that energy.
After dinner, guests were offered small chocolate treats topped with elegant garnishes. Inside the smooth chocolate lurked a surprise: Pop Rocks fizzy candies.
Beneath tiny golden lights twinkling across the soaring arched ceiling of the historic Ferry Building, the multi-faceted crowd talked and laughed. Garratt smiled as he watched them pass by. “This evening probably couldn’t have happened even five years ago.”
