WEBVTT - Box CEO Aaron Levie on Strength of the Cloud

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<v Speaker 1>Who are listening to Bloomberg Business Week. Jason Kelly and

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<v Speaker 1>Paul Sweeney here wrapping up a Friday show, and who

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<v Speaker 1>better to do it with then our pal Aaron Levy,

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<v Speaker 1>he's the co founder as CEO of Box, joining us

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<v Speaker 1>on the phone from California. Aaron, how are you? How

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<v Speaker 1>are things out there? Because it's a it's been quite

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<v Speaker 1>a week. Yeah, it's um. Uh, you know, certainly in

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of context, has been quite a week. And UM,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, we're we're we're hanging in there. Um. Fortunately

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<v Speaker 1>we're able to avoid the impact of the fires. But um,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, no questionable lot going on in California and

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<v Speaker 1>across the country right now. Yeah, and so tell us,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, you give an update to your investors this week.

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<v Speaker 1>Reported earnings was the big thing that you think people

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<v Speaker 1>should be taking away there. Yeah, we're we're very happy

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<v Speaker 1>about the performance in UM in Q two. We were

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<v Speaker 1>able to beat on UM, you know, every metric that

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<v Speaker 1>we guide to and consensus on revenue growth, UM, operating margin,

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<v Speaker 1>ep S, and buildings. So we're we're halfy about the

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<v Speaker 1>performance in Q two. UM we're really driving study growth,

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<v Speaker 1>deliver above UM your year revenue growth and um an

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<v Speaker 1>over fiftcent operating margin um in the business, and that's

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<v Speaker 1>up from about zero percent a year ago, so uh,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, very steep increase in operating margins for the company,

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<v Speaker 1>which has been just a path we've been on to

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<v Speaker 1>try and better balance growth and profitability. And then we

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<v Speaker 1>were able to raise guidance for the second half around

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<v Speaker 1>both revenue and our profitability targets. So, Aaron, your company,

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<v Speaker 1>other tech timies, particularly those UH with cloud exposure, really

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<v Speaker 1>putting up some good numbers in the last quarter and

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<v Speaker 1>even obviously before that. Some concern, as I talked to

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<v Speaker 1>some tech investors, is that maybe you and some other

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<v Speaker 1>tech companies are pulling some of that revenue or that

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<v Speaker 1>revenues being pulled from next year as companies really trying

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<v Speaker 1>to ramp up their UH their tech stack to cope

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<v Speaker 1>with the changing works style. Is that a concern that

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<v Speaker 1>next year could be weaker than and maybe expect as

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<v Speaker 1>some of the revenues pulled forward. You know, I'm sure

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<v Speaker 1>there are examples of that um UH in in in

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<v Speaker 1>some particular software categories. It's hard to make a general

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<v Speaker 1>statement across the cloud category, um UH and industry broadly UM.

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<v Speaker 1>And the reason I think you're seeing so much growth

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<v Speaker 1>right now is that these markets UM, we're often actually

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<v Speaker 1>far larger than what most investors and the market generally realized.

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<v Speaker 1>You know, if you take a product like Zoom or

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<v Speaker 1>Slack or WebEx or these types of technologies, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>we're used to thinking about enterprise software as maybe being

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<v Speaker 1>able to be used by tens of millions of knowledge

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<v Speaker 1>workers that come into large corporations. And yet today when

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<v Speaker 1>you have billions of people on the Internet, whether that's

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<v Speaker 1>for healthcare reasons or home schooling reasons or being able

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<v Speaker 1>to work from anywhere, UM, you have billions and billions

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<v Speaker 1>of potential users of these technologies, and you have a

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<v Speaker 1>set of products and services, whether it's again companies like

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<v Speaker 1>Zoom or Salesforce or Microsoft that have been around for

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<v Speaker 1>a long time and they think they are really in

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<v Speaker 1>a strong position to go and serve these customers. So

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<v Speaker 1>I think you have much larger markets than what people realize.

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<v Speaker 1>And so even though there has been an accelerant to

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<v Speaker 1>growth in some cases in UM in some of these

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<v Speaker 1>product lines, you're also going to continue to see them

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<v Speaker 1>go and and uh and reach the full potential of

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<v Speaker 1>their TAM over the coming years. So I think there's

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<v Speaker 1>still a lot of growth left in a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>these product categories. And so Aaron, when you think about

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<v Speaker 1>different verticals that you guys serve, you know, the pandemic

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<v Speaker 1>has has laid there a lot of weaknesses through no

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<v Speaker 1>fault of of people's own with this in terms of

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<v Speaker 1>your customers. Where are you seeing strength? Where are you

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<v Speaker 1>seeing weakness? I think, you know, we're we're seeing a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of strength in sectors like financial services, healthcare, life sciences,

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<v Speaker 1>professional services, the technology and digital sectors, um, even retailers

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<v Speaker 1>that are experiencing growth right now or consumer brands. Uh.

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<v Speaker 1>You know, any company right now that is able to

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<v Speaker 1>either work remotely or serve their customers via you know,

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<v Speaker 1>social distance measures are probably companies right now that are

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<v Speaker 1>investing in digital technologies that are investing in the cloud

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<v Speaker 1>because they have to keep their operations running, they have

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<v Speaker 1>to keep their operations resilient, and they're looking for cloud

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<v Speaker 1>platforms to be able to help them do that. If

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<v Speaker 1>you look at salesforces the last quarter this week, which

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<v Speaker 1>was obviously, you know, one of the strongest quarters they've

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<v Speaker 1>ever put up as a company, but now at a

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<v Speaker 1>five billion dollar quarter scale was was almost unprecedented. Um,

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<v Speaker 1>you're seeing still the market demands for these types of

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<v Speaker 1>technologies where companies can go and better serve their customers,

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<v Speaker 1>better empower their employees, and run their operations in a

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<v Speaker 1>more resilient way. UM. Companies that can go and deliver

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<v Speaker 1>on those types of experiences for their clients are going

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<v Speaker 1>to do well in this environment. That leads a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of organizations to to really going and investing in proud technology.

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<v Speaker 1>Aaron Levy, CEO of Box, you are staying with us,

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<v Speaker 1>we'll talk you more about what is going on in

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<v Speaker 1>the world of technology again, Jason. We're seeing in the

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<v Speaker 1>marketplace technology continuing to drive this market. Some of the

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<v Speaker 1>performance of these companies with cloud exposures has been extraordinary.

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<v Speaker 1>It's not just the pandemic, it's pre pandemic as well.

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<v Speaker 1>And companies going public tech companies actually going public a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of them, uh, in manyway. So we're gonna talk

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<v Speaker 1>to Aaron Levy about that and much more. You know, Jason,

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<v Speaker 1>as we've just heard about just today, there's been some

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<v Speaker 1>real winners and losers here from an economic perspective, from

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<v Speaker 1>a business perspective, from this pandemic. We had Andy Alexander

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<v Speaker 1>to CEO of Red ruf on uh, just kind of

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<v Speaker 1>highling the challenges facing the hotel motel business. Aaron Levy,

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<v Speaker 1>CEO of Box, He rejoins us here in the technology industry,

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<v Speaker 1>many of the verticals within tech have really been beneficiaries

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<v Speaker 1>of kind of how business is changing, life is changing. Uh,

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<v Speaker 1>it's really fascinating. Aaron love to see to get your

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<v Speaker 1>thoughts all about how you think the funding environment is

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<v Speaker 1>for the technology industry these days. Again, one could argue

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<v Speaker 1>that many of the verticals uh in technology are in

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<v Speaker 1>fact clear winners and beneficiaries economically, business process wise from

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<v Speaker 1>this this endemic. Is it a good time to raise

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<v Speaker 1>private capital here venture capital in the tech space? I

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<v Speaker 1>think it's um, it's definitely a uh, you know, probably

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<v Speaker 1>a tale of two cities in terms of there's there's

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<v Speaker 1>absolutely some companies where they're very primed because of the

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<v Speaker 1>market environment, where they have products or services that will

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<v Speaker 1>help companies run more effectively, or consumer services that are

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<v Speaker 1>in high demand. Of course, it's it's hard to make

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<v Speaker 1>a general statement across all of technology because you do have,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, some startups that are in the travel space

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<v Speaker 1>and other categories that might be more directly impacted because

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<v Speaker 1>of COVID, but in general, uh, it's it's certainly if

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<v Speaker 1>you are aligned with where the trends are going from

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<v Speaker 1>a digital acceleration standpoint. Um, it definitely, you know, could

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<v Speaker 1>be a great time to be a startup right now.

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<v Speaker 1>So Aaron, I do wanna maybe take it in a

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<v Speaker 1>slightly different direction and talk to you about being a

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<v Speaker 1>CEO right now because I think and we talked a

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<v Speaker 1>little bit about this. I think the last time you

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<v Speaker 1>were with us, and you were very thoughtful about it,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, sort of leading a team right now, choosing

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<v Speaker 1>your spots in terms of when to be outspoken, when

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<v Speaker 1>to take a stand. I feel like more pressure in

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<v Speaker 1>some ways is on leaders and specifically CEOs and specifically

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<v Speaker 1>CEOs of publicly traded companies to take a stand on things,

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<v Speaker 1>whether they're social justice issues or others. How do you

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<v Speaker 1>assess that and how do you deal with it as

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<v Speaker 1>a leader? Yeah? I think, you know, there's certainly no

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<v Speaker 1>question with the rise of social media, the fact that

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<v Speaker 1>that you know, companies have to take on greater responsibility

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<v Speaker 1>with their broader communities. Also the fact that at this

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<v Speaker 1>point kind of politics and um and corporate success are

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<v Speaker 1>almost intertwined. When you think about world trade, if you

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<v Speaker 1>think about immigration reform, if you think about the health

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<v Speaker 1>of our of our communities. Uh, these are no longer

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<v Speaker 1>just domains of the government or just domains of of

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<v Speaker 1>you know, purely the political sphere. These are issues that

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<v Speaker 1>affect our our employees and our communities and our ability

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<v Speaker 1>to succeed as businesses. So I do think this is

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<v Speaker 1>an environment, especially given the multitude of challenges, whether it's

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<v Speaker 1>the healthcare crisis, racial injustice um uh and other issues

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<v Speaker 1>going on that that that CEO is especially but that

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<v Speaker 1>companies do have to step up and do have to

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<v Speaker 1>make sure that the views of their employees are well

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<v Speaker 1>represented and that there you know, that that that we're

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<v Speaker 1>able to you know, push forward hopefully a vision for

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<v Speaker 1>the future that that's going to be able to make

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<v Speaker 1>our businesses and communities to be able to thrive. So

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<v Speaker 1>it's a it's an environment where um you do have

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<v Speaker 1>to step up as a as a ceor leader because

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<v Speaker 1>of the fact that the these issues are just too

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<v Speaker 1>important to be silent about and there are these issues

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<v Speaker 1>they could have some real business ramifications for lots of

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<v Speaker 1>difference industries. Does it rise to the board level as well?

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<v Speaker 1>Does a board come to you and say, hey, Andy,

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<v Speaker 1>how are you in the company dealing with some of

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<v Speaker 1>these issues, whether it's you know, how you're dealing with

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<v Speaker 1>your workforce diversity, so on and so forth trade issues?

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<v Speaker 1>How exposed are we to some of these countries where

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<v Speaker 1>there may be some trade disputes that go up to

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<v Speaker 1>the board level. Uh? Absolutely, I think you know, the

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<v Speaker 1>board at least, you know, for for our company, is uh,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, always having ongoing conversations around things like diversity

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<v Speaker 1>and inclusion. Um, you know, how do we make sure

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<v Speaker 1>that we're building up a company that has a resilient

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<v Speaker 1>talent pool. Uh, you know, getting given the you know,

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<v Speaker 1>dynamics from an immigration standpoint. Um, you know, I think

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<v Speaker 1>the I think the board and investors look to c

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<v Speaker 1>e o s to make sure to have a clear

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<v Speaker 1>perspective and a clear stance on where their company stands

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<v Speaker 1>on these issues. I've I've had numerous public market investors

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<v Speaker 1>reach out saying, you know, thank you for taking a

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<v Speaker 1>stand on immigration, and thank you taking it first, taking

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<v Speaker 1>a stand on some of these social issues because you know,

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<v Speaker 1>ultimately businesses can't succeed, we can't thrive, and we can't

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<v Speaker 1>build UM you know, uh, you know, strong organizations. If

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<v Speaker 1>if the community around us is in UM is in

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<v Speaker 1>you know, state of arrests, and and if we have

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<v Speaker 1>you know, challenges in the broader you know, social and

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<v Speaker 1>healthcare landscape. So I do think this is an environment

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<v Speaker 1>where businesses and and CEOs in particular, do you have

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<v Speaker 1>to step up to make sure that their their views

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<v Speaker 1>are all well known in the market. And so Aaron,

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<v Speaker 1>as you think about some of the big issues facing

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<v Speaker 1>Silicon Valley specifically, as as I'm sure as you may

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<v Speaker 1>be aware, Bloomberg and others have done a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>reporting around the diversity or lack thereof in in Silicon

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<v Speaker 1>Valley companies. Is there a greater sense of urgency around

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<v Speaker 1>Silicon Valley to fund more black entrepreneurs to understand a

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<v Speaker 1>little bit more about a not a perceive but in

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<v Speaker 1>actual lack of diversity when it comes both to funding

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<v Speaker 1>and hiring in tech companies. Yes, and so um you

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<v Speaker 1>know this is this is something that there has been

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<v Speaker 1>a growing spotlight put on this topic over the past

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<v Speaker 1>certainly you know, a few years, and it's been even

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<v Speaker 1>more pronounced this year over the past few months given

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<v Speaker 1>the broader conversations around racial injustice in the in the country,

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<v Speaker 1>and tech is not immune, you know, from that that issue.

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<v Speaker 1>If you look at the reverse and the underrepresented groups

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<v Speaker 1>getting ventured capital, um it's happening, you know, far uh,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, far less than than proportionately should be happening.

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<v Speaker 1>If you think about the the number of people starting

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<v Speaker 1>businesses out there, so um so you know, whether it's

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<v Speaker 1>new entrepreneurs getting funded, whether it's you know, hiring at

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<v Speaker 1>leadership levels of of our organizations. I think the tech

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<v Speaker 1>industry has a huge role to play in improving the

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<v Speaker 1>diversity of of of our companies and of the industry.

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<v Speaker 1>And um uh. And I know that, you know, certainly

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of companies are paying a lot more attention

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<v Speaker 1>to this. Venture capitalists are starting to pay more attention

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<v Speaker 1>to this. But there's so much more I think collectively

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<v Speaker 1>as an ecosystem that we need to do. All right, well,

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<v Speaker 1>we're gonna leave it there. We really appreciate your time.

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<v Speaker 1>Good to catch up with you, come back and see

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<v Speaker 1>us soon. Aaron Levy is the co founder as CEO

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<v Speaker 1>of Box, joining us on the phone from Silicon Valley

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<v Speaker 1>and uh, Paul Sweeney man, Uh, it's a different time

0:11:52.559 --> 0:11:55.120
<v Speaker 1>to be running a company. It feels like it really is. Um.

0:11:55.160 --> 0:11:57.800
<v Speaker 1>It's you know, always challenging, particularly the technology space where

0:11:57.800 --> 0:12:01.080
<v Speaker 1>the technology is always is always changing. You need to

0:12:01.120 --> 0:12:04.560
<v Speaker 1>be uh, you know, creatively paranoid. I guess to make

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<v Speaker 1>sure that you're on the edge there. But now you've

0:12:06.960 --> 0:12:09.079
<v Speaker 1>got these other issues, whether it's global trade and kind

0:12:09.080 --> 0:12:10.800
<v Speaker 1>of you know coming to the forefront over the last

0:12:10.880 --> 0:12:13.679
<v Speaker 1>nine to twelve months. Uh two, Now, um, you know,

0:12:13.800 --> 0:12:17.720
<v Speaker 1>kind of really thinking looking inward at your organization and saying,

0:12:17.720 --> 0:12:20.440
<v Speaker 1>doesn't really reflect the markets that I served as reflect

0:12:20.600 --> 0:12:23.840
<v Speaker 1>the communities which I work. Um, is it really to

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<v Speaker 1>the point where we're maximizing our potential here? That's another

0:12:27.600 --> 0:12:29.599
<v Speaker 1>thing that as CEO and a board That's why I

0:12:29.679 --> 0:12:31.640
<v Speaker 1>raised the board questions. You know, you want to make

0:12:31.640 --> 0:12:33.960
<v Speaker 1>sure And I heard that from David Rubinsteinel many of

0:12:34.160 --> 0:12:38.120
<v Speaker 1>his conversations. He'll ask a question, does this get board attention?

0:12:38.520 --> 0:12:40.120
<v Speaker 1>And I think that's really kind of goes to the

0:12:40.160 --> 0:12:43.160
<v Speaker 1>issue for a lot of companies. No, it's a great point,

0:12:43.320 --> 0:12:46.559
<v Speaker 1>and uh, yeah, it'll be interesting to see. I feel

0:12:46.559 --> 0:12:49.520
<v Speaker 1>like more CEOs more boards. They don't want to be

0:12:49.520 --> 0:12:52.120
<v Speaker 1>on the wrong side of history. I mean it's that big,

0:12:52.240 --> 0:12:55.360
<v Speaker 1>it feels that weighty in many ways. Well it was

0:12:55.400 --> 0:12:58.880
<v Speaker 1>a weighty week, but we made it. Um really appreciate

0:12:58.960 --> 0:13:03.960
<v Speaker 1>you hind that more than a double shift here. Hopefully back. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>she'll come back. She'll come back next week. Alex Steele

0:13:06.440 --> 0:13:08.080
<v Speaker 1>is going to be in that seat, looking forward to

0:13:08.120 --> 0:13:11.640
<v Speaker 1>having her in the meantime. For Paul Sweeney, the rest

0:13:11.640 --> 0:13:14.200
<v Speaker 1>of the Bloomberg Business Week team, I'm Jason Kelly. Have

0:13:14.240 --> 0:13:15.760
<v Speaker 1>a great weekend. Everyone, stay safe.