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Frederic Kerrest
Executive Vice Chairman & Co-Founder at Okta (NASDAQ: OKTA); Author, Zero to IPO (On Sabbatical)
Frederic Kerrest is a prominent entrepreneur and business leader in the technology industry. He is the co-founder and Vice Chairman of Okta, a leading identity and access management platform.13 Kerrest served as Okta's Chief Operating Officer from 2009 to November 2023, playing a crucial role in the company's growth from a startup to a publicly traded company valued at over $15 billion.15
As of March 2024, Kerrest has launched a new venture called Kerrest & Company, a boutique investment and advisory firm focused on helping businesses.2 He is currently on sabbatical, as indicated by his LinkedIn profile.3
Kerrest is also an author, having written the Wall Street Journal bestselling book "Zero to IPO," which provides guidance for building startups based on his own experiences and those of other successful entrepreneurs.13 He hosts a podcast of the same name, featuring insights from Silicon Valley founders, investors, and entrepreneurs.1
In addition to his business endeavors, Kerrest is involved in advisory roles and mentorship. He serves on the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship Executive Advisory Board and advises early-stage software companies.6 Kerrest is also passionate about ice hockey and supports the San Jose Sharks.4
Kerrest holds a B.S. in Computer Science from Stanford University and an M.B.A. in Entrepreneurship & Innovation from the MIT Sloan School of Management, where he received the 2008 MIT Patrick J. McGovern, Jr. Entrepreneurship Award.14
Highlights
I'm excited to announce the launch of my new business Kerrest & Company, a boutique investment and advisory firm focused on helping technology company CEOs and Founders scale their businesses.
There’s a big opportunity to help the next generation of outstanding entrepreneurs with some of the executive and operational skills that I’ve developed over the years:
- founding and building Okta (NASDAQ-listed) and Herophilus (acquired by Genentech Roche),
- working with hundreds of startup founders via 515 Ventures and The Operator Network angel investment group,
- writing the WSJ Bestseller Zero to IPO Book, and publishing the award-winning Zero to IPO Podcast.
I am essentially formalizing what I've been doing for the last few years and putting in place a team to operationalize the work that I do with founders.
I will be working much more closely with a few select companies as a “non-board member board member” with a focus on:
- helping them grow their business from $10M+ of early GTM/Founder sales to $100M+ of scalable motion, and
- guidance around key facets of growth including executive leadership and development, GTM organizational maturation, financings and capital allocation, board dynamics and management, and culture implementation.
And, I'd like to warmly welcome my close friend and amazing operator Jake Randall as the first Partner at Kerrest & Company. I've been fortunate to know Jake for over a dozen years now - he joined Okta as our first Finance Manager back in 2011 and went on to run everything from Business Operations to Enterprise Sales Field Territories to Product Lines. He was also the COO of a high-growth early-stage tech company so he has seen it all. Super smart and thoughtful, energetic and enthusiastic, but also pragmatic and loves to get his hands dirty in business models and GTM approaches. Entrepreneurs love him and so do I. Welcome Jake.
We’re in the first phases of getting Kerrest & Company operations off the ground and I’m looking forward to helping the next generation of outstanding entrepreneurs scale their businesses. The future is bright, lets go!
