I know what you're thinking. Aren't those the youthful faces of the dotcom boom? 👶 👶

And yes, you're right! Ferdi and I were both at Ariba during one of the biggest booms (and busts) in tech history.

My time at Ariba was like an MBA in a box. I got to see every facet of business from hyper-growth to rapid crash to recovery. We were valued at $40bn (on revenues of $100m and quarterly losses of $2bn 😱 ), grew our teams by 3x then had to let everyone go. I came out more resilient & tougher, taking the European business from almost zero to $100m in 3 years. What a roller coaster 😅

Every boom booms, the bubble bursts, but ultimately recovers:

✅ The internet has radically transformed our world
✅ Ariba went on to define a new SaaS category still used today (Spend Management), was acquired by SAP and is now SAP Ariba
✅ Ferdi has become a serial entrepreneur (kudos 🙌 ) and
✅ I've gone on to enjoy leadership roles at Microsoft, Adobe, VMware, LettsGroup and others.

Have I seen it all before? Maybe, maybe not. AI is disrupting our industries and our jobs, but the bubble will burst, new opportunities will be created and we'll rise like a phoenix, just as Ariba did. 🐦‍🔥