"Your only KPI is be awesome. Like, just be awesome." This wasn't corporate fluff—it was the directive that launched Troy Malone into the most explosive growth phase of his career, when his team was adding 120,000 new users every single day.
Troy Malone has built his career in the eye of startup hurricanes, navigating companies through hyper-growth phases that most executives only dream of. From launching venture funds to scaling Evernote across Asia during its meteoric rise, he's learned to thrive in the chaos that comes with building something significant from scratch.
In this raw conversation, Troy breaks down the counterintuitive lessons from hyper-growth environments: why ignoring competition can be your biggest advantage, how losing everything can clarify your path forward, and why the scariest moments often produce the most breakthrough results.
Watch the full interview now on EO's YouTube channel! Below is the complete transcription of the interview. Minor edits have been made for clarity and readability.
Key Highlights:
"At the high point of growth, we were adding 120,000 new users every day, which is crazy, even think about it."
"I asked my boss what my KPI should be, and he said, your only KPI is be awesome, like just be awesome."
"When you tell someone to be awesome, it gives them license to be creative and go do crazy things. Not everything will work, but some things will, and that will change everything."
"We never talked about competition. Even if people asked us about competition, we would never talk about competition because if you just ignore the competition and build the best product that you have the vision for, that's usually the best answer."
"My house actually burned down, so I lost my house and everything in it. If you lose literally everything that you own, it gives you an opportunity to think in a different way."
"I asked my boss what my KPI should be, and he said, your only KPI is be awesome, like just be awesome."
"When you tell someone to be awesome, it gives them license to be creative and go do crazy things. Not everything will work, but some things will, and that will change everything."
"We never talked about competition. Even if people asked us about competition, we would never talk about competition because if you just ignore the competition and build the best product that you have the vision for, that's usually the best answer."
"My house actually burned down, so I lost my house and everything in it. If you lose literally everything that you own, it gives you an opportunity to think in a different way."
From Investor to Builder: The Pivot That Changed Everything
You started in venture capital before becoming an operator. What drove that transition from investor to builder?
Troy: I'll start when I was in business school. I wanted to create a company. This was the very beginning of the internet and I saw a lot of potential, especially software companies we could create on the internet. I created a business plan, I started pitching it to investors. They gave me a term sheet. I turned them down because I didn't like the terms.
After I turned them down, the head of the firm came to me and said, 'Troy, let me talk to you about maybe another option.' He pitched to me creating a venture fund that would focus on investing in internet companies, so I chose to team up with them and we started a small venture capital fund.
We made an acquisition of a software company and I got pulled into that to help with the operations, and it was that transition of going from investor to builder. I fell in love with the building part. Investment is fun, but to me it got a little boring, so I had ambition always to start a company, but I started first by investing and learning and then moving on to building.
After I turned them down, the head of the firm came to me and said, 'Troy, let me talk to you about maybe another option.' He pitched to me creating a venture fund that would focus on investing in internet companies, so I chose to team up with them and we started a small venture capital fund.
We made an acquisition of a software company and I got pulled into that to help with the operations, and it was that transition of going from investor to builder. I fell in love with the building part. Investment is fun, but to me it got a little boring, so I had ambition always to start a company, but I started first by investing and learning and then moving on to building.
The 2008 Crash: When Survival Teaches You Everything
Tell us about your first company and what the 2008 financial crisis taught you about building businesses.
Troy: In 2008, I started a company with a co-founder. I was running a production team. We were doing video production at conferences. A big problem that we had was staying synchronized in our communication. Is the equipment gonna be at the right place at the right time, all of these logistical issues, so we started a project management type of software.
You could do messaging, you could share files, and we had companies like Warner Brothers, one of the big movie studios, was using us and really liked it. It was a fun thing to build, but really my motivation was just to solve an existing problem that I have. That's usually a good entrepreneurial direction is to solve a problem that means something to yourself.
What happened was, in 2008, the financial crisis hit. We couldn't raise more money. We immediately cut back and made it profitable. In making it profitable, we took away all of our growth. The market is so dynamic, it's always changing. A couple of months later, that can all change, and you can't raise any money. Raise money when you can.
I would have raised a little more money initially and gave more equity away in order to have a little more runway so that we could get through any potential storms or difficulties. I learned a lot about product and product management, when to listen to customers and when not to listen to customers. Many times customers think they know what they need, but they don't really. You need to be able to understand the differences between those product dynamics.
I would call my other business, we didn't accomplish what we wanted to, so it was a failure, but it led me, it helped me build the skills I needed to be able to land at Evernote and see success.
You could do messaging, you could share files, and we had companies like Warner Brothers, one of the big movie studios, was using us and really liked it. It was a fun thing to build, but really my motivation was just to solve an existing problem that I have. That's usually a good entrepreneurial direction is to solve a problem that means something to yourself.
What happened was, in 2008, the financial crisis hit. We couldn't raise more money. We immediately cut back and made it profitable. In making it profitable, we took away all of our growth. The market is so dynamic, it's always changing. A couple of months later, that can all change, and you can't raise any money. Raise money when you can.
I would have raised a little more money initially and gave more equity away in order to have a little more runway so that we could get through any potential storms or difficulties. I learned a lot about product and product management, when to listen to customers and when not to listen to customers. Many times customers think they know what they need, but they don't really. You need to be able to understand the differences between those product dynamics.
I would call my other business, we didn't accomplish what we wanted to, so it was a failure, but it led me, it helped me build the skills I needed to be able to land at Evernote and see success.
120,000 Users a Day: The Evernote Rocket Ship
How did you end up at Evernote, and what was it like joining during such explosive growth?
Troy: At the same time, Evernote was one of the few companies in 2008 that was able to raise money because their business had such great metrics and user growth. I was lucky in some ways, timing wise, to meet Phil and to talk with him about Evernote to take Evernote into Asia, specifically.
When I joined Evernote, I think we had around 59 employees. We were growing very quickly, we had just hit 10 million users. We were adding 120,000 new users every day, which is crazy to even think about. I would go to bed at night and think all around the world people are signing up and coming onto this app, 120,000 people a day.
I remember when I first started, I asked my boss what my KPI should be, what my goals should be, but he also said something to me that I think made a big difference and motivated me very much and he said, 'Troy, your only KPI is be awesome, like just be awesome.'
He didn't have direction to give me. I'm trusting you to go out and figure out how we enhance this growth pattern and really bring people on.
When I joined Evernote, I think we had around 59 employees. We were growing very quickly, we had just hit 10 million users. We were adding 120,000 new users every day, which is crazy to even think about. I would go to bed at night and think all around the world people are signing up and coming onto this app, 120,000 people a day.
I remember when I first started, I asked my boss what my KPI should be, what my goals should be, but he also said something to me that I think made a big difference and motivated me very much and he said, 'Troy, your only KPI is be awesome, like just be awesome.'
He didn't have direction to give me. I'm trusting you to go out and figure out how we enhance this growth pattern and really bring people on.
That's an unusual directive from a boss. How did 'be awesome' translate into actual results?
Troy: When we released our public API at Evernote, we didn't know if anyone was gonna build on us as a platform. We were kind of nervous, wondering if anyone was gonna use Evernote as a platform. So what I did, I said, 'Hey, I wanna do a hackathon.'
I remember our CTO at the time said, 'Troy, you can't do a hackathon. No one's going to want to develop on Evernote. We're too early,' and I said just let me try. So I sent an email to the top IT professors at Yonsei University, Seoul National University, to all these professors, and I said, 'I want to do a hackathon with you.' And I got one professor from Yonsei.
We organized the date and everything, and we did a hackathon at Yonsei University. I had Phil come over, he was blown away. He was like, 'Oh my gosh, this is so cool.' After that, we started doing hackathons everywhere, globally, because now we knew we could do it. We didn't think it was possible, but yet we did it.
So when you tell someone to be awesome, it gives them license to be creative and go do crazy things. Not everything will work, but some things will, and that will change everything.
I remember our CTO at the time said, 'Troy, you can't do a hackathon. No one's going to want to develop on Evernote. We're too early,' and I said just let me try. So I sent an email to the top IT professors at Yonsei University, Seoul National University, to all these professors, and I said, 'I want to do a hackathon with you.' And I got one professor from Yonsei.
We organized the date and everything, and we did a hackathon at Yonsei University. I had Phil come over, he was blown away. He was like, 'Oh my gosh, this is so cool.' After that, we started doing hackathons everywhere, globally, because now we knew we could do it. We didn't think it was possible, but yet we did it.
So when you tell someone to be awesome, it gives them license to be creative and go do crazy things. Not everything will work, but some things will, and that will change everything.
Never Talk About Competition: The Counterintuitive Strategy
What were the key lessons you took away from the Evernote experience, especially around competition and monetization?
Troy: Lessons that I took away: Understand monetization early on, what your plans are to monetize. Uber, Airbnb, their revenue started to go way high, and I think it took a little longer than we expected to build the revenue base that we needed to justify the valuation that we had.
One thing I did learn also from Phil, I did a lot of press engagement, so I would talk with reporters and we never talked about competition. Even if people asked us about competition, we would never talk about competition because sometimes companies feel they need to answer the question about competition, but if you just ignore the competition and build the best product that you have the vision for, that's usually the best answer.
That's true in an Evernote context, but in different markets that are hypercompetitive, that is not as true.
One thing I did learn also from Phil, I did a lot of press engagement, so I would talk with reporters and we never talked about competition. Even if people asked us about competition, we would never talk about competition because sometimes companies feel they need to answer the question about competition, but if you just ignore the competition and build the best product that you have the vision for, that's usually the best answer.
That's true in an Evernote context, but in different markets that are hypercompetitive, that is not as true.
When Competition Gets Brutal: The Weebly Wars
You moved from Evernote to Weebly, which sounds like a very different competitive environment. How did you adapt your strategy?
Troy: After Evernote, I went to Weebly, which is a website creation platform. I headed up the international expansion into Europe and Latin America. Weebly was kind of a different experience in that it wasn't really growing as quickly as Evernote. There was intense competition. Evernote, we didn't have that problem. We didn't advertise one penny at Evernote.
One year I remember with Weebly, three of our competitors had Super Bowl ads, which are the most expensive advertising here in the US. That's when I knew, wow, this is serious, we don't have that kind of budget, we hadn't raised as much money.
When it comes to hypercompetitive environment, it becomes easy to do feature by feature kind of competition. You can lose sight of the grander vision if you're just fast following other companies. What we tried to do is to pull back from looking at all the features that our competition was adding and really create a product roadmap that we thought was what the customer truly needed.
So it was more of a challenge to figure out how to compete in the face of big money advertising. We were able to grow in the international markets nicely because it was a little more quiet on the international side. We got acquired by Square. It was a good exercise on hypercompetitive environment and how to operate in that with a lower budget.
One year I remember with Weebly, three of our competitors had Super Bowl ads, which are the most expensive advertising here in the US. That's when I knew, wow, this is serious, we don't have that kind of budget, we hadn't raised as much money.
When it comes to hypercompetitive environment, it becomes easy to do feature by feature kind of competition. You can lose sight of the grander vision if you're just fast following other companies. What we tried to do is to pull back from looking at all the features that our competition was adding and really create a product roadmap that we thought was what the customer truly needed.
So it was more of a challenge to figure out how to compete in the face of big money advertising. We were able to grow in the international markets nicely because it was a little more quiet on the international side. We got acquired by Square. It was a good exercise on hypercompetitive environment and how to operate in that with a lower budget.
When Everything Burns Down: Finding Clarity in Crisis
You mentioned a major life event that changed your perspective. Can you tell us about that?
Troy: The great thing about Silicon Valley is there were a lot of great people there, a lot of great people to work with. But quality of life for me was going down because I was commuting into the city, so I was spending 2.5, 3 hours a day just getting there. I was thinking, why am I doing this? This is not fun.
I actually had a bad experience. My house actually burned down, so I lost my house and everything in it. And after that happened, it gave me a new perspective. I started thinking differently. If you lose literally everything that you own, it gives you an opportunity to think in a different way.
So I started thinking, why are we here? Why am I in Silicon Valley? Do I want to be here? It gave me an opportunity to think, where else could I live and be successful. So I decided to move to Utah about 4.5 years ago.
The difference here in Utah for me, in the morning I can go hike in the mountains for 45 minutes and come back and start work. I get to be in nature and work hard. But also, the only reason that I was comfortable coming to Utah is because the tech scene in Utah has become really big, because a lot of technical talent has come to Utah.
I actually had a bad experience. My house actually burned down, so I lost my house and everything in it. And after that happened, it gave me a new perspective. I started thinking differently. If you lose literally everything that you own, it gives you an opportunity to think in a different way.
So I started thinking, why are we here? Why am I in Silicon Valley? Do I want to be here? It gave me an opportunity to think, where else could I live and be successful. So I decided to move to Utah about 4.5 years ago.
The difference here in Utah for me, in the morning I can go hike in the mountains for 45 minutes and come back and start work. I get to be in nature and work hard. But also, the only reason that I was comfortable coming to Utah is because the tech scene in Utah has become really big, because a lot of technical talent has come to Utah.
Do Things: The Career Advice That Actually Works
What advice do you give to people earlier in their careers about how to differentiate themselves?
Troy: I think because I went the entrepreneurial route, I didn't have a clear career path. In my earlier career was a little bit tough. I was CEO of a startup, I ran a venture fund, but later in my career, as I did Evernote and beyond, I got focused in international expansion.
As I look at people earlier in their careers, they err on the side of being too careful. 'Oh, if I do that, I might get in trouble, or if I do that, it might not be the right answer.' What has benefited me is just doing it, just trying it. It's either gonna fail or be successful. That velocity has helped me learn faster in my career.
One common question that I got wherever I was in the world: how can I differentiate myself from all these other people? I would boil it down to a saying: do things. What I look for in people and what differentiates them is someone who is doing a job but also has a project over here that they built.
Take on more responsibility at every chance you get because most people don't do that. It's easy to do nothing. It's easy to do the minimum amount of work to get a job done. What's difficult and not common is someone who is willing to take on more responsibility, is willing to help. That's how you differentiate yourself.
As I look at people earlier in their careers, they err on the side of being too careful. 'Oh, if I do that, I might get in trouble, or if I do that, it might not be the right answer.' What has benefited me is just doing it, just trying it. It's either gonna fail or be successful. That velocity has helped me learn faster in my career.
One common question that I got wherever I was in the world: how can I differentiate myself from all these other people? I would boil it down to a saying: do things. What I look for in people and what differentiates them is someone who is doing a job but also has a project over here that they built.
Take on more responsibility at every chance you get because most people don't do that. It's easy to do nothing. It's easy to do the minimum amount of work to get a job done. What's difficult and not common is someone who is willing to take on more responsibility, is willing to help. That's how you differentiate yourself.
Back in the Hurricane: Building the Next Unicorn at Drata
You recently joined Drata, which became a unicorn in just 10 months. What attracted you to this opportunity?
Troy: I've decided to make the move to Drata because Drata is at that hyper growth stage that I enjoy. Drata is a platform that helps companies become compliant in both privacy and risk frameworks. As companies have these audits and get these certifications that they are compliant with a particular framework, it builds trust with other companies so that you can do business.
The CTO of Drata is a former co-founder of mine, Daniel Marashlian. When he gave me the updates on what they were doing with Drata and where they were at, and the fact that they were seeing international traction, that's when we started talking seriously about wow, this is probably ready to go international.
What I look for in a company to be ready to go international: obviously product market fit has to be there and also seeing indications of traction in other markets. I really like B2B SaaS, but a product that is a must-have, not a nice to have. Drata meets all of those requirements and I think that's why Drata has grown so quickly.
Drata became a unicorn 10 months out of stealth, which is just amazingly fast growth, and once a company knows they have to be compliant because they want to sell into a big company, it's a must-have solution. If you have long sales cycles, you have a difficult time getting your product through the procurement process, then you probably don't have a must-have solution.
The CTO of Drata is a former co-founder of mine, Daniel Marashlian. When he gave me the updates on what they were doing with Drata and where they were at, and the fact that they were seeing international traction, that's when we started talking seriously about wow, this is probably ready to go international.
What I look for in a company to be ready to go international: obviously product market fit has to be there and also seeing indications of traction in other markets. I really like B2B SaaS, but a product that is a must-have, not a nice to have. Drata meets all of those requirements and I think that's why Drata has grown so quickly.
Drata became a unicorn 10 months out of stealth, which is just amazingly fast growth, and once a company knows they have to be compliant because they want to sell into a big company, it's a must-have solution. If you have long sales cycles, you have a difficult time getting your product through the procurement process, then you probably don't have a must-have solution.
What's keeping you up at night as you scale Drata internationally?
Troy: What I'm dealing with right now: building a great sales team globally. You can build a very predictable business model if you have a must-have product and you know how to build a sales team and a customer success team to adequately service those accounts because investors love to understand business models that if I invest this, I can expect this as profit out. That's what keeps me awake at night is building that team.
I think right now I'm kind of living the dream, building a significant company, but most importantly what I'm finding what's really fulfilling for me is watching my team grow. That to me is the most fulfilling thing of my career is to watch people come into an organization, do great things and grow and learn and be able to go on to even better things. So I would say that's my focus over the next, the rest of my career.
I think right now I'm kind of living the dream, building a significant company, but most importantly what I'm finding what's really fulfilling for me is watching my team grow. That to me is the most fulfilling thing of my career is to watch people come into an organization, do great things and grow and learn and be able to go on to even better things. So I would say that's my focus over the next, the rest of my career.
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