How I Built This with Guy Raz Atlassian: Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar
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Feb 8, 2021 
Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar, the co-founders of Atlassian, share their inspiring journey from college friends to tech billionaires. They discuss the challenges of launching a startup in Australia, including societal skepticism and the early struggle to pivot from tech support to developing software. Their fortuitous creation of Jira decimated boundaries in project management and led to their monumental success. With humor, they recount their unconventional marketing tactics and the importance of core values in navigating rapid growth.
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Naming and Incorporation
- Atlassian's name derives from the Greek titan Atlas, symbolizing their initial focus on legendary customer service.
- The founders split equity 50-50 and incorporated the business, even adding a rock-paper-scissors clause for dispute resolution in their early shareholder agreement.
Product Ideation from Constraints
- Build products to solve your own problems first. Other people likely share the same needs, especially when existing solutions are lacking.
- This approach can lead to disruptive innovations by focusing on practical solutions rather than external pressures.
Early Jira Sales and Marketing
- In the early days, Atlassian aimed to sell one copy of Jira per week at $800 to cover basic expenses.
- Their website created an illusion of being a larger company to attract customers, with the founders taking on multiple roles.