Eric Olden, CEO and Founder of Strata Identity: $42 Million Raised to Build the Identity Orchestration Category

Welcome to another episode of Category Visionaries — the show that explores GTM stories from tech's most innovative B2B founders. In today's episode, we're talking with Eric Olden, CEO and Founder of Strata Identity, an identity orchestration platform that has successfully raised over $42 Million in funding.

Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:

• The Genesis at Berkeley: Eric reflects on starting his entrepreneurial journey in 1995, amidst the burgeoning internet era, identifying security as the web's most critical missing ingredient.
• The Dot-com Bubble: Eric provides an insider's view of Silicon Valley during the dot-com bubble, highlighting the rapid rise and fall of many startups, including his own brush with an IPO before the market crash.
• Creating Categories: Eric talks about his experience in creating new market categories, emphasizing the importance of solving substantial problems and distinguishing between category creation and product innovation.
• The Importance of Analyst Relations: Eric underlines the role of analyst and media relations in building and defining new categories, stressing the necessity for founders to invest time and resources in this area.
• Identity Orchestration: Eric explains how Strata Identity is pioneering the category of identity orchestration, addressing the challenges of managing identity across multiple cloud environments.
• Content and Thought Leadership: Highlighting strategies for building authority and generating interest in a new category, Eric shares insights into producing valuable content and engaging with thought leaders to amplify their market presence.