When you’re “a serial startup guy,” you probably get used to the casual, scrappy startup culture. So what better place to work than a place called Blue Jeans Network?
That’s where Stu Aaron is chief commercial officer, responsible for marketing and business development, among other things, at the Mountain View provider of cloud-based video calling. And, yes, he was part of the team that used a billboard to chide Yahoo (YHOO) CEO Marissa Mayer after she banned telecommuting.
We interviewed Aaron via video conference, using a Web browser. The interview was edited for length and clarity.
Q: Blue Jeans recently announced a $50 million funding round led by Battery Ventures. Can you talk a little about that?
A: With this latest round, we have now brought in $100 million in funding. It’s a validation of a stellar trajectory, that we’re growing quickly. We’ve grown to a third to half of the market in 2½ years. We’re becoming disruptive to companies such as Cisco (CSCO) and Polycom, which offer MCUs (multipoint control units that bridge video conferences) that use physical routers. We moved all of that to the cloud. A recent IDC report says the MCU market has declined 20 percent in the past year, and that’s because of us and the cloud.
Q: What exactly does Blue Jeans do? And why call it Blue Jeans?
A: We make the video equivalent of an audio-conference bridge. Each subscriber gets a room in the cloud, one link to click or dial in. It doesn’t matter whether they’re using Polycom, Skype or Google (GOOG), whether they’re on their cellphone or their computer. Users of different kinds of video-conferencing tools can talk to one another. The meeting’s host pays for the call.
In audio conferencing, users are forced to decide what kind of conference they will use in advance. We want to unify the experience. We are the one tool that allows you to do it all.
The company’s founders came up with the name. Jeans are a universal fabric, they’re not elitist. They’re comfortable, which is what video conferencing should be.
Q: Who are your customers?
A: Our customers range from mom-and-pop businesses to Fortune 500 companies. Facebook is a customer. So are Stanford and (UC) Berkeley. We have more than 2,000 business customers throughout the world.
Q: Your marketing has turned some heads. Perhaps the most high-profile ad so far was the billboard that said Blue Jeans was the official sponsor of WFH (work from home), then said, “Call us, Marissa! We can help.” What was your thinking behind that and your other quirky ads?
A: After we heard the news about the ban, we wanted something that would have quick turnaround. We already had a Blue Jeans billboard on Highway 101. The billboard people wouldn’t let us mention Yahoo by name, so we decided to address Marissa.
We’re a startup, so we can take chances with creative marketing. We don’t have a lot of layers of people, so we can make quick decisions. We think video, interaction. Our biggest competitor is awareness.
Q: What will you do with the new round of financing?
A: We’re in a big growth mode. We’ll invest in sales and marketing. We just opened an office in San Francisco, and also are launching offices in Australia and Europe. We’ll also invest in technology to improve our product. We’re hiring in R&D.
Q: When did you join the company, and why do you call yourself a serial startup guy?
A: I wasn’t a co-founder, but I like to say I founded the co-founders (CEO Krish Ramakrishnan and CTO Alagu Periyannan) by introducing them to each other. I joined the company after a year. Before that, I worked at what became Blue Coat Systems, Topspin Communications, which was sold to Cisco, and Bloom Energy.
FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT STU AARON
1. He met his wife at work. She was part of the team that interviewed him for his first job out of college. Years later, he saw her evaluation. It was good.
2. His wife and three kids all use Blue Jeans for video conferences with family and friends.
3. He was an electrical engineering major whose favorite courses were marketing and communications for engineers.
4. He has driven across the U.S. six times. He’s been to every state except North Dakota.
5. His brother, also a Silicon Valley executive, once worked for him. “It was the only time I was ever able to get him to do what I want.”
STU AARON
Age: 43
City: Los Altos
Hometown: East Brunswick, N.J.
Education: Cornell University
Previous jobs: CacheFlow, Topspin Communications, Bloom Energy
