The Central Nervous System for Modern Business | Confluent CEO Jay Kreps
Timestamps are as accurate as they can be but may be slightly off. We encourage you to listen to the full context.
Podcast Summary
In this episode, Juven sits down with Jay Kreps, co-founder and CEO of Confluent, the $9 billion public company bringing real-time data streaming to enterprises. (01:25) Before Confluent, Jay was one of the creators of Apache Kafka while at LinkedIn, joining as employee #100 and helping architect the technology that powers countless applications today. The conversation explores Jay's journey from software engineer to CEO, the psychological challenges of founding a company, and his unique approach to leadership including personally running departments during executive transitions. (38:00) Jay also shares insights on work-life balance, parenting as a successful entrepreneur, and why he believes being a software engineer is more fun than being a CEO.
- Main Themes: The evolution from technical founder to seasoned CEO, managing psychological pressure in early-stage companies, and maintaining focus while navigating multiple technology waves
Speakers
Jay Kreps
Jay Kreps is the co-founder and CEO of Confluent, a $9 billion public company that democratizes real-time data streaming for enterprises. He was one of the original creators of Apache Kafka while at LinkedIn, where he joined as employee #100 in 2007 and witnessed the company's growth through its $26 billion Microsoft acquisition. Jay has successfully navigated Confluent through a decade of growth and multiple technology waves, recently joining the board of Anthropic to stay connected to the latest AI developments.
Juven
Juven is a partner at Kleiner Perkins and host of the GRYT podcast, where he explores the personal and professional challenges of building history-making companies with successful entrepreneurs and executives.
Key Takeaways
The River Effect: Understanding Market Tailwinds vs. Company Execution
Jay emphasizes that companies are always "swimming in a river that's moving in some direction" - when market conditions are favorable, you don't notice the tailwind, but when conditions turn against you, progress becomes extremely difficult. (08:48) This insight is crucial for entrepreneurs who need to distinguish between their company's execution and external market forces. During Confluent's early days, the open-source infrastructure space wasn't attractive to employees or investors, but as the market matured and data streaming became essential, the same technology suddenly had massive tailwinds. Understanding this dynamic helps leaders maintain perspective during both good and challenging times, avoiding overconfidence during growth periods and maintaining resilience during downturns.
Fear as a Growth Catalyst: From Employee Safety Net to Founder Responsibility
The psychological shift from employee to founder represents one of the most challenging aspects of entrepreneurship. (19:19) As Jay explains, at LinkedIn he felt "fearless" because worst case, he could find another job. But as a founder, "it's much more personal" - if the company fails, there's no fallback, and you're responsible for everyone you've hired and pitched your vision to. This fear, while uncomfortable, actually serves as a powerful motivator for founders to push harder and make better decisions. The key is channeling this anxiety into productive action rather than paralysis, understanding that the discomfort is a natural part of taking on greater responsibility.
Persistence Over Perfection in Hiring
Jay's approach to hiring emphasizes long-term relationship building over immediate conversions. (24:50) When great engineers initially said no to joining Confluent, Jay maintained contact and continued building relationships, often hiring people "five years later." His philosophy is that "hiring, you just need to put in the work" and "expend a lot of effort." For key executive roles, this included creative approaches like sending pictures of the executive team with one missing spot intended for the candidate. This persistence-based approach recognizes that timing, circumstances, and readiness all factor into career decisions, and maintaining authentic relationships allows you to be there when the right moment arrives.
Running Departments During Executive Transitions
When executives leave, Jay personally runs their department until a replacement is hired, often for 5-6 months. (68:04) This unconventional approach serves multiple purposes: it prevents stagnation during search periods, allows him to make necessary changes that would be harder for a new executive to implement, and gives him deep understanding of how each function works. As he explains, "it's very hard for a new executive to come in with confidence to make a bunch of changes" due to lack of context and credibility with the team. By cleaning up obvious issues and making structural improvements during the interim, he creates better conditions for incoming executives to succeed.
Focus as a Competitive Advantage
Despite opportunities to pursue side ventures or board positions, Jay maintains strict focus on Confluent, believing that "you should really do the thing full time and full engagement." (47:02) He views the CEO role as demanding complete attention, stating it would be "irresponsible to the people inside of Confluent who are working full time there if the CEO is off doing whatever else." This philosophy extends to his belief that enterprise companies require intensive, sustained effort, and that diluting attention across multiple ventures reduces effectiveness. While this approach may seem limiting, it allows for deeper engagement with the core business and sets a cultural example of commitment for the entire organization.
Statistics & Facts
- Jay joined LinkedIn as employee #100 in 2007, witnessing its growth from a small startup to a $26 billion acquisition by Microsoft. (11:07) This gave him firsthand experience of hypergrowth and the financial freedom to take entrepreneurial risks.
- Confluent grew from 3 co-founders to 25-30 employees in their first year, demonstrating rapid early scaling enabled by having an existing open-source project (Apache Kafka) with thousands of users. (32:04)
- Jay estimates his "high variance" hiring approach results in only 10-20% bad hires, with the majority being good performers and some achieving amazing results. (65:32) This risk-tolerant approach reflects his preference for potentially exceptional talent over safe, predictable choices.
