>> Welcome to the Special Cube conversation. We're here in Palo Alto, California Cube headquarters. I'm John for a host of the Cube were Mohit parents, founder and CEO of Cohesive Serial entrepreneur. Successful Distribute computing, phD, computer science. Welcome to the Cube. Thanks for having me here. So thanks for coming. You guys been very successful. You found the couple in twenty thirteen. Great traction. Great success, Great technology. What's the vision of Cohee City? >> Let me first start by describing the problem. And then I'll go under describing the vision. The problem in a nutshell, is ah what we call mass data fragmentation. It refers to the fact that everything sets in silos, whether it's the sender or whether it's the cloud All our data sets in silos in appliances. Just expect all across the whole universe. And our vision is to basically consolidate that onto one platform I The easiest way to understand our vision is to look at it. What a smartphone that in the consumer space before the smartphone came the all used to carry multiple devices, right? Phone, music, player, camera, and so on. So forth. Uh, the smartphone came. It put all of those on one platform gave us a single U I to manage it all, um, gave us the notion ofthe marketplace from where we could download maps and run on this platform and gave us machine learning. Our vision is something very similar for the world of leader in the world. That data is the most valuable resource today in the world, much more so than oil. And he had the infrastructure. Where we put that data is very fragmented. Let's look at the ladies under backups is one silo probably bought from different renders test. And there was another side of analytics is another one five chairs and object storage is another one. Our vision is is to put all of that on one platform, make it very simple. Make that platform span the data center and the cloud manager using one us bring machine learning concepts to it and at a market place from where people >> could, you know, the smart phones. A good analogy. I like that because you had a market where they made devices to make phone calls and then text messaging. Beak was like killer half of the time. But having the computer enable the whole new class of services functionality, usability and capability and that that iPhone was a seminal moment There. You see, the same thing in Tech right now with Cloud Cloud has changed again. Seeing cloud be successful. Scale is a huge thing. So functionality, new kinds of functionality and large scales with cloud computing has proven. And APS have come around that. So I gotta ask you, you know, backup has been in category that has been dominated. Public offerings dated domain, but the list is endless of great companies built great backup solutions or a K phones. And I think that's what you're getting at the phones is the backup. You guys are building new functions. I want to explain the reels, um, capabilities that's going to come out of the data because if you have data being backed up, you're touching the data. So if you built a platform for scale, it seems that you guys have talked about that product. What is the unique thinking behind it? How did you come to it? And what are some of the examples? >> Yeah, so let's start one step at a time. So, uh, even though it's a platform that can do multiple things just like the smartphone had to be a great phone to begin with. This is a great backup product to begin with. And once we've solved the back a problem for the customer, then we encouraged them to do more on this may be to file shares, baby to object storage. Maybe start using the clouds and sunset. The next thing you'LL say that. Imagine you will work on that data. So you've ingested some data using backups and you want to get some insights from that data today? What you're forced to do is you probably have to copy that data out into another side of creating one more fragment. One more copy of the data. Why not move APS to the data? But other than dated adapts. So our whole concept is that take this platform and take whatever happened. You wanted to run outside off this just running on this platform and thereby you're moving APS to the data. Not the dinner, perhaps moving their eyes. Heart. It is. Ah, is big moving abscess. Easy. So and that's what the hell is this about On That's the platform. That's the capability of the platform. It's a distributed platform. Let's you're on APS close to where that it is. That's the underlying a lot of >> people say I remember we're going back a couple years now talking about Cloud or once I want to be like Google. I want to be like Amazon because they were offering at large scale using open source software. You can. You were lead engineer on Google file system, so you know a lot about scale. But a lot of people wanted the scale and functionality of Google, but they wanted the ease of use of Apple. And I've heard you mentioned that when were before we came on. So this is actually an interesting dynamic. But not everyone's like, Oh, but they have now data scaling similar challenges that Google has one song or another's large scale. Talk about that dynamic because you're changing the game on backup did since you touching the data, you're going to make that more valuable beyond just backing up. And this the concept of moving absolute data talkabout this dynamic of scale, functionality and ease of use because if you're doing all the work with the data, why not extend that out? This is essentially what you're doing. Can you explain that? >> Yeah. I think about the problems that Google would have if they were dealing with lots and lots of fragments of data. If everything was studying in a different appliance, Uh, with the volume of data that day deal that they'LL just be going knots pulling their hair all day long, right? So they built a web scale system that was sort of like a single platform. I was fortunate to be part ofthe some of those technologies, like the Google file system. So they built that Web scale file system to make it look like make all of that look like one platform. And now that it was one platform, they could move the APP store. And we're basically trying tow do something similar to the realm ofthe second reader naps. Because we have lots and lots of data here today. It sets and silos be the backups or passed on diver filers, Object storage. We're gonna build one big platform that scales out in a Google like fashion which can be managed very simply, using one you Iike an apple like manageability. And with this concept, we become very similar to those hyper skill er's, and we bring some of the same innovations to people out there. I >> want to share a common e we were talking about before we came on camera. You were just preferred something. You said I'd like to solve one problem at a time and then move on. But what's interesting here? Competitive strategy wise, you're solving the backup problem. But why you got your hands on the data? You're actually going to re imagine the usability of that data. So you're essentially adding value to a basic function back up, putting a platform around and extending that out, perhaps to come to it. And it's kind >> of a >> land grab that's working. This is a unique It's a different way to think about, Is that right? >> So I like to say that we like the master's off one trade at a time, nor Jack of all trades, uh, and that first trade for us that we would be masters off his backups once we're happy there. Then we can go on and focus on, you know, maybe filers or object storage. And this is how we build the platform right eye. I always say that when you architect a system, you have to think about all this from day one. You can't incrementally at patches and expect the system to grow right. I sometimes draw an analogy between why Google won the war against Yahoo. Google, Tara, Phil are all as a platform there. Thought about all the use cases they'd be, you know, putting on the platform. Yeah, who just build something that was good for search. Didn't think beyond that. That's why they you know about a bunch of naps. And >> that's where they saw it and thought of >> the Google file system and then YouTube on top and Gmail on top and blah, blah, blah. No. So I was the same approach. We've talked about the problem and the problem off. The problem We want to address mastered a recommendation up front, and our system has bean architected to solve that. Even if we start by being masters of backups first, the system has been architected tto do way more than that. >> So it be safe to say that cohesive from a software core competency standpoint is distributed computing core competence or disputed systems large scale from a computer science, you know standpoint and then data. So expertise are those two is intact. >> Yes. Oh, distributed computing and distributed file systems. Those would be there to core competencies. But then again, depending on like whether it's backups or its testing, that their competences of within those domains. >> So I want to get into the private tech. First of all, thanks for saying you have responded to that. The product text. Phenomenal. You have platform can do multiple things. I want to talk about span F S on Spann Os. You have some news. You've got something share on overview of what that is and what the new news is. >> So when you're trying to control on manage of lots and lots of data, you better have a distributed file system. So we built one, and we call it Spanish Fast. The name comes from the fact that it's supposed to span nodes in the very center that's supposed to span multiple kinds of storage in the data center. It's supposed to span the data center and your multi cloud environment, their hands the names pan a fast, But since we were building it like a platform, that's not just there for your data. It also runs apse on top off this platform. Uh, the span of fast is not enough. It becomes full scale us, if you may want to call it. What? So where's it has a file system and it has the ability to run laps on the file system, and the same ability was built here. And the name's patter well, so we can store data, but we can also naps close to that >> and with multi cloud on the horizon are actually president today. A lot of people use multiple clouds, and certainly Salesforce's considered cloud you got Amazon. So especially this moment clouds of existing today in the Enterprise, the coordinated all but hybrid and and these things they're going on. Premise. It's cloud operations. This becomes an important part of the distributed environments that need to be managed. Talk about the impact of multi cloud in today's world because it's a systems thinking. You gotta think about it from day one, which is kind of today. I got on premise. I got multiple clouds out there, and some clouds or great, depending on the workload, picked the cloud for the workload. I'm a big believer in that. Your thoughts, though, on as people tried to get their arms around this and make it, you know, one environment with a lot of decoupled elements that are highly cohesive. Talk about that dynamic. >> Yeah. So Cloud is a very, um, nice entrant into the infrastructure world. It provides a lot ofthe functionality, but it doesn't quite solve that problem off massive fragmentation. When you put your dinner in the cloud, it's still fragmented. And when you're dealing with, often our customers are big. Customers are dealing with multiple clouds and the data centers, and they have dedicated people trying to move data and applications between them. That's the problem that Cohee City can actually solve very well, because we're building a platform that spans all this. Um, all of that becomes underlying infrastructure that we use. And now through us, they can easily move APS. They could easily move data. They can access the data anywhere. That's the value we been to them. We have a customer here in California, and that was spending, uh, hundred twenty thousand dollars per month. It's a new company, uh, one hundred one hundred twenty thousand dollars per month on the eight of us both after they consolidated that stuff threw us in the cloud, their ability used to seventeen thousand dollars per month. That's the kind of value we can bring. The customers >> well, the Amazon Dana. It's interesting cause you got storage and you got E C two of the compute you need compute to manage towards so against. Not just storage. That's the cost. It's it's data is driving the economics. That's where you're getting it. >> Yeah, So I think data and storage and compute go together as I'm a big fan off hyper convergence, which me, along with the rest of my team Edna tonics. And Monday it's gonna doing multiple things on the side I'm back from. And you can't do that without storage and compute both working in tandem >> so consolidating with cohesive because I'll be using cohesive, he allows the better management lower costs on Amazon. >> That's right. That's right, because we store the data efficiently on Amazon, cutting the costs, and then you can run your raps on top. You don't have to copy out the data toe, run your wraps, you can actually land on the platform and all that saves costs. >> That's a great tidbit. Notes no to the audience out there. Great to tip their pro tip. Talk about the announcement you have now have APS coming out. You got three native cohesively absence. My word. I don't know. You guys call it Think Caps is going to the Alps and then for third party application developers. So again, this kind of teases out there beyond backup story, which is platform. What of the apse, Where this come from? What? Some of the reasons why they're being built. Can you share specifics on that news? >> This goes back to our analogy to a smartphone on one of the innovations the smartphone, brother. The world was the notion of a marketplace. You could go to the marketplace and down wrap. Some of the gaps are from the vendor who built the smartphone. Some of them are from third parties. So we are. And when the first iphone came out that I had basically five straight and then now there are millions of them. So what we have seeded the system with is we have, ah, a couple ofthe third party apse for in particular one a splunk that runs on the platform with in a container. One is from a company called Menace. One is actually two laps are anti virus absent. One vendor is scented. One when is clam? Maybe, um though that third party APS But then we've built some, um, APs from cohesively itself when his app called spotlight on the security app. One is an app called Insight searches through the data when his app called Easy Scripts allows our customers to upload scraps on drawing them from Go easy. So these are the apse that I'd be exceeded the system where were also announcing an SD came in just like your smartphone has a nasty cave. The world out there can go and use that and build ups on top if he would like people out there in the world. Third parties are partners to build ups and run on this bathroom >> so moment, what's their motivation behind the app system or functionality? As the demand grows, functionalities needed. So I'll see platforms should be enabling, so I get why APS could build on platforms. But what was the motivation that around the apse now just l of evolution capabilities? What's the thoughts >> It goes back to our philosophy that if you need to do something, you shouldn't buy one more silo to do it. You should be able to extend your existing platform and then do stuff. That's what your smartphone does. Uh, basically, even you, by your smartphone, it can be a phone, and I'm number for the things. But then you extended the functionality of that by downloading maps. It's the same motivation, you know, extend the abilities of this platform. Just download maps and then extended right. >> Give the value proposition pitch for the developers out there. Why would they want to develop on? Complicity is it is a certain kind of developer. What's the makeup of the target audience? Who would build on obesity? >> So all kinds of people we expect to build on this platform. So the value for our customers, for instance, now rather than, uh, copying the data out of this platform onto one more silo and that's very expensive, they can actually build a nap that runs on this platform so that they don't have to move the data around, and it's very, very simple. That's the value for our customers. For the developers out there. Uh, it's the same value that they get when they build an app on a smart phone. Uh, they building up some cash, but out there can download that app and the APP and then pay that developer some money so they don't have to build the whole company or the whole thing. Now they can build a nap that runs on cohesive. It's really simple for them. They get a cut of whatever the customer pays, so there's value all around. It's a ven ven for everyone >> it's not. And it's good business model, too good community going to get an ecosystem developing its a classic growth growth opportunity for you guys. Congratulate. So what a business you guys have talked about a couple quarters ago Publicly, about two million to million dollars run rate. Give us the update on the business in terms of growth. Employee headcount. Key milestones. Can you share? Seok was empty, >> so you know the momentum is phenomenal. We're very flattered by the fact that despite the fact that we're a young company we've been selling for more than three years, of seventy percent of our customers are enterprise customers. The big guys with lots and lots of data. Uh, some of the biggest banks in the world now use us. Some of the biggest credit card companies in the world use us. Uh, a lot of the secret of federal agencies. You, us? Um, uh, some of the public customers I convention Hyatt uses us. Ah, big financial. Northern Trust uses us the famous. Uh uh, you know, food chain. Wendy's uses us. So those are the names I can I can mention that are actually using and benefiting from cohesive. Um, so lots of lots of great stuff. Um, we had three hundred percent year over year growth in revenue. Our head count, actually, er this week crossed one thousand people. So we spoke to our chief people. Officer. We should mention our one thousand employees in a special way. So all that great stuff is happening. >> It's like walking through the door. All the bills go office because you guys were two hundred last year. About this time >> when you get back, we are about to enter. People's a factor of five growth and about one years phenomenal had come growth. >> Well, that's massive growth. How big is this guy's a real state growing and buy more office space. >> Yeah, well, uh, they're headquartered in a building and son who's a downtown. We start, but we got it. That building about when you're back, we only had two floors were really expanded toe like five floors now and looking toe, you know, rent more. We've also expanded to other locations. Geographically, we now have an office and rally. We have ah, uh in office and cork in Ireland. We already had an office in Bangalore. We setting one up in pony. We're setting one up in Toronto, So lots and lots of expansion worldwide. Not >> really looking good as well. I mean, let's think about the economics. >> So this is the time they're being in mustard and growth. That's looking phenomenal on DH. There's a path to profitability. Um uh, it all depends on you know, our economics and what the board decides on how and when we wanna charge towards profitability, we can get there. It's looks easy, but I think it's our productive ity off our sales reps looks phenomenal. On average, productively is very high, which basically means that you know, we can get to profitability fairly quickly. If you want. >> We're going to say, very impressed with the growth and impressed that you go out on the road, talk to customers closing business. That's sign of a great CEO. Always make sure the customers are happy. >> Um, eventually, that sort of companies about a happy employees and be happy customers. Uh, and my job is to see you is to make sure what happened >> before we get in Some of the questions I have from the community. I prepare because people want knew you were coming on. I want to ask you about entrepreneurship in your journey. You've had quite the career Google image in that nutanix. And now here, >> Look at look at >> today's environment. I mean, it was a lot of talk about how entrepreneurship changed and starting a company, you know, you got a rocket ship, so you had a lot people coming on Now from the your journey you're on now. But a lot of other offers out there right now, kind of like looking transition. People say tech is bad, not good for society. Seen bad, negative press in their entrepreneurship is a great opportunity right now in tech. What's your thoughts on the current landscape and opportunities for, you know, folks out there building new things and going in solving a problem from old market and reimagining it for the new. Because a lot of new going on seeing a new sea change with cloud. And on premise, >> I would say, Um, this is probably the best time to do a company then ever in the past because technology is there to help people. Young entrepreneurs. Uh, there's plenty of money to be raised from the sea. Species are very happy to be helping. End of news a couple of pieces of caution that I wantto give to would be entrepreneurs. Uh, number one. Don't be in a hurry. Learn their hopes of doing a company first. Ah, before jumping and doing it because often I find that they burn their fingers and then they don't want to do a company again. First, go to a good company, learn the ropes of playing a company, and then do a company. That's number one number two. Uh, I would like to incorrigible and avenues to think about their ideas in the context. Off the following two thoughts one is, uh, the company needs to have a great entry point. That's how the company takes off. But then it also needs to have a bigger vision to look up to. And I often find that company's lack one or the other of these, Uh, and that's why they eventually fail or they never take off the ground. In our case, the entry point was backups, and the big vision is the consolidation off seconded and haps that I spoke about, Ah, one or the other if they're missing, it's not >> an extensive abilities key there, too. You get the beachheads real specific seconds, and then you see you point >> out of a vision. That's >> what broader beachhead without trying to take it all too fast or not knowing where to lay. That's gonna much the analogy. >> That's what I say. I beat master of one traitor, go ahead in the beachhead and then expanded the bigger >> and by the way, that's a classic proven way to do it. So, you know, just stay with what works, All right, let's get to the questions from the community. A lot of people wanted to ask your first question moment. You've a great perspective on the difference between hyper scale on enterprise worlds Is the enterprise still ten plus years behind the Giants in Tech? And how have you helped bring hyper scale thinking to the enterprise architecture? >> Um, the enterprise is, actually, surprisingly is getting closer and closer. Uh, with all the great technologies available, hyper convergence has bean. One of those technologies that has made hyper convergence combined with upscale, uh, is one of those technologies that has brought the enterprise were very close to the hyper scholars. Now they can buy products that are hyper energy that scale out in a group like fashion, and they can get some of the same benefits that the hyper scholars have enjoyed over the years, eh? So I won't say they have that far behind anymore. They're catching up, and they're catching up. Eyes >> used to be a few years ago, you could look at saying old relic, you know, modern cloud >> the and and the companies that I have found it have. I'm very flattered to say that have gonna, uh, hasten that journey. Uh, happy convergence. And he's even solving this problem of massive fragmentation. The hyper skills have kind of, you know, already solved that problem. They have massive, upscale systems that don't deliver data fragmentation. It's one platform, and you're gonna bring that value to the world through cohesive, >> great, great success. Okay, second question. There's a ton of money pouring into the data protection space again, a category that's there's a card in magic water for that. But again, you start Cummings that don't have magic watches because it's new. Why is this money pouring into space? Why now? >> Number one dealer is exploding. There's lots of lots of data. Ah, bulk off the data sets in what we call second story. It comes to it through back up straight. Your your production stuff has some production data, but eventually that data. Nobody wants to believe that they would keep it in there for at least six seven years, maybe forever. All dated, it comes to backups. The opportunity that people have seen is that they can actually now doom or with that data. It's not just dumb waiter sitting there, so it's not just data protection. It becomes more of a data management and you do data management through APS. That's what cohesion is exploding. We get the data onto a platform through backups, but then we expand into arrest of the vision and Kendra naps to extract value from the dealer right? That's why the money is coming. >> Well, you just answer the next question, which is, you know, why cohesively wind now the space is crowded, a lot of competition, So I'll just move on Ransomware, what's going on there and what's unique about Kohi City and what do you bring to the table with respect to Ransomware. >> So Ransomware is, uh, uh, something that we now live in. Its every enterprise is at risk, uh, being affected by ransomware. So what we have announced recently eating a month back, we announced our ransomware support. Uh, we can offer not just the detection, but also a number for the things we can detect Ransom where we can allow our customers toe apply fixes. When When that happens, we really allow things to be recovered once ransomware happened. So it's built into our data protection environment, right? That's how customers like it. So it adds value to the data that they already have. It's not just a dumb backup. >> And with all the third party and S t k stuff happening potential extensive bility on that core, >> that's right. Now we can have apse that can detect more round somewhere by virtue of the fact that we can support running absolutes to data. Some of those APs could be Andy dancing, perhaps help protect the data, do some custom stuff. Once said handsome, it is detected. All that becomes possible >> last question from the crowd here, the community multi cloud. Everyone's going up to the space. What is multi cloud data protection really about? And why cohesive? Isn't this just really a multi cloud vendor? Khun, do it all mean a lot of people saying they're multi cloud vendors. Y you what is multi cloud data protection all about? >> So, you know, big enterprise customers probably have a foot in every cloud, and they call it a multi cloud infrastructure. And if they want to protect the data and forced me, the data is very fragmented. So they need a backup solution for one for every cloud that's roughly multi cloudy. The production. Uh, we're cool. Here's the adds value. It's building one platform that spans your multicolored environment. So one platform can now take care ofall that those backups eso it really simplifies the job off doing backups or data protection in a multicolored environment. And that's where the Queen's devalue comes in. >> Well, congratulations. Final question for this interview. How would you summarize the state of cohesive the right now? Thousand employees growth on the customer traction side and revenue business funding. Males look good economic with a platform, certainly software margins looking very good growth. What's it all about right now? Culture value, proposition don't. >> It's kind of like a rocket ship, and we're just hanging on. But it's Ah, I think that focus is, um, when you grow this fast, uh, the challenge becomes, uh, keeping your culture intact and we tryto put a lot of effort on our culture. Our core values are cultural guidelines were fanatics about that. So we want everyone to feel that they're coming in and this is home away from home, and they treat others to make them feel it's home away from home. We're trying to build a family here, so there's a lot of emphasis on that. But at the same time, you know, we all work hard and let the company >> and the new ecosystem opportunity for you is looking really good because if he zaps takeoff, certainly the cohesively APS. And now you got third party with an S t. K. This is potentially a game changer for you as a company to a CZ Wells, you have product company. Software company makes a lot of scared, but now you're gonna be bringing developers and impact there. >> The impact, the talk, leadership impact. Uh, you know, I'm personally very fun off er you know I do these companies because I want to change the world. I won't change the way the world thinks this is the way I think. And if I can help the world think in this fashion contributed something to the world. And so that's the excitement that sort of mission is. Team is excited about that. It's just >> we got a great mind phD in computer science and two ships systems entrepreneur that thinks up new things that disrupt the status quo. And the old guard certainly track record their congratulations. Know what? Thanks for coming on The Cube. This's the Cube conversation here. Palo Alto. I'm John every year. Thanks for watching. What?