Who says office friendships are just for gossiping and grabbing coffee? Some of the world’s most successful CEOs owe their fortunes to the friendships they made early in their careers.
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A significant proportion of today’s businesses wouldn’t exist without the help of loyal friends, including big names like Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Holdings Inc., Alphabet Inc.'s Google and Airbnb Inc.
One entrepreneur who knows the value of a strong friendship network is Evan Goldberg, founder of cloud software company NetSuite Inc. If it weren’t for a quick call with his former boss (and now close friend) Larry Ellison, co-founder of Oracle Corp., Goldberg’s multibillion-dollar empire might never have seen the light of day.
Goldberg first met Ellison in 1987 when he interviewed for an engineering role at Oracle. He got the job and developed a relationship with Ellison thanks to the company’s small footprint and startup culture. After eight years at Oracle, Goldberg moved on to found his own venture mBed Software, but the two stayed in touch.
On one catch-up call, Goldberg shared that his first startup wasn’t working out, but he wanted to build software for businesses. Ellison liked the idea but suggested the service run on the internet because founders were tired of managing various software on their computers. Within five minutes, the entire business model was dreamed up, and a year later, NetSuite was a reality. In 2016, NetSuite joined the Oracle empire in a $9.3 billion acquisition deal.
Goldberg’s advice for befriending your boss?
“You have to be proactive,” he said, cautioning that these relationships cannot be forced. Finding opportunities to connect with senior staff members and shining through your work is key. But it’s also important to remember that C-suite is invested in nurturing relationships with future talent. As Goldberg puts it, “It’s a two-way street.”
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He admits had he joined Oracle today, he would have been one of its 170,000-strong workforce making it much harder to have a conversation, let alone become friendly, with the big boss.
"Oracle, back in the day, had a great culture," Goldberg said. "When people are working very hard in a startup environment, you better have some degree of friendship, because you’ve been together so much under pressure cooker conditions."
So, next time you’re grabbing coffee with your boss, remember that it could be the start of a fruitful partnership. Who knows? Maybe your business could be the next multibillion-dollar success story.
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