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Wade Foster
Co-founder & CEO at Zapier, YC & Mizzou Alum
Wade Foster is the Co-founder and CEO of Zapier, a prominent automation platform that enables users to connect various web applications and automate workflows without needing extensive technical expertise. He co-founded Zapier in October 2011 alongside his friends Bryan Helmig and Mike Knoop, initially developing the product in Columbia, Missouri. Under his leadership, Zapier has grown significantly, achieving a valuation of $5 billion by 2021 with only $1.3 million raised in funding.123
Education and Early Career
Foster holds a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Missouri-Columbia. Before founding Zapier, he worked as a Customer Development Lead at The Idea Works, Inc., where he managed a web application used by over 20,000 students. He also served as an Email Marketing Manager at Veterans United Home Loans, a role that greatly influenced his approach to product development and marketing strategies at Zapier.147
Leadership Philosophy
Foster is known for his unconventional management style, which emphasizes a "don't hire until it hurts" philosophy. This approach reflects his belief in maintaining a lean team and focusing on product-market fit before expanding the workforce. He advocates for a remote work culture, having established Zapier as a fully distributed company long before it became a widespread trend.236
Impact and Recognition
Zapier has become a leader in the software industry, facilitating seamless integrations between various applications and significantly enhancing productivity for businesses. Foster's innovative strategies in growth and distribution have garnered attention, making him a sought-after speaker and thought leader in the tech community.135
Highlights
This was a really fun episode to record. Eric had a huge influence on how we thought about building Zapier (and a ton of other companies at the time).
Founder mode has always felt a bit like learning to play jazz to me.
When you first start you're lucky to have a good idea or two, but mostly it's random and doesn't sound that good.
Then you start learning the rules and practicing your scales. Stuff starts to sound decent but you lack originality. You're boring.
Then you figure out how to break the rules, but do it in a way that is interesting, novel, and catches attention. This is where legends are born. This is founder mode at its best.
