The Value Flywheel Effect

Chapter 8

Case Study—A Cloud Guru

Our first study is an excellent illustration of the first phase of the Value Flywheel Effect: Clarity of Purpose. A Cloud Guru was formed in 2015 from an idea, a clear north star purpose that drove everything the company did. By 2021, it sold for almost $2 billion. Simon Wardley famously said in 2018 that people will go nuts “when a two-person company that produces a single function that everyone uses gets acquired for $1 billion. It’s only a matter of years.”1

Yes, Simon’s prediction came to life just three years later, and A Cloud Guru was that company. They epitomized the Value Flywheel Effect, including using a serverless technical strategy, but—most importantly—they had an absolute laser focus on their clarity ...