Jack Dangermond on Esri's success and AI

View profile for Alex Konrad

Founder and Editor of Upstarts Media

Tech legend Jack Dangermond founded Esri in 1969. Now 80 years young and with a net worth of $10B+, he's still "all in." Upstarts Media spent an hour with Jack this week for one of our best interviews yet, full of lessons on startup-building and life. "Keep it simple. Don't overthink it," Jack told me. So many gems in this one, including: -The story of Esri's success -Why Esri shunned outside capital, with one high-stakes exception -The first account of its near-sale in the 1980s -How Esri is approaching AI -Jack's "trick" for self-motivation I hope you enjoy it as much as I did in working on it. https://lnkd.in/efRbVQh8

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Sridhar Seshadri

Director Delivery Energy and Utilities

1mo

Jack Truly deserves Nobel Prize for helping environment through technology.

John Gannon

Founder (Venture5 Media & V5 Summit, GoingVC) + Investor (Angel, LP, Syndicate Lead)

1mo

Alex Konrad great to see you talking about Esri, since it doesn't have and doesn't need VC backing it doesn't get as much press as it probably should.

Lew Nelson

Chief of Police (Retired), Redlands Police Department, CA & Director (Retired), Industry Solutions, Esri

1mo

Jack is the hardest worker (let alone CEO/owner) I ever had the pleasure of working for. Esri is full of people who care doing things that matter.

Thank you for helping to tell Esri's story of sustainable growth and customer focus, a strong example for today's founders and entrepreneurs.

Divya Lohiya

Mindful CEO | Sustainable Luxury | Gourmet Dry Fruits | Mental Health in Business

1mo

Jack Dangermond’s story is such a powerful reminder that building something legendary isn’t about speed or hype, it’s about staying all in on the work you love, decade after decade. Esri’s journey shows what happens when conviction, patience, and purpose outweigh short-term noise.

David Bergvinson - BeSustainable_io

Helping food system leaders integrate AI to scale regenerative agriculture practices and digital innovation in service of profitable and resilient food systems

1mo

Jack is a systems thinker in business, technology and conservation. The new “The Power of WHERE” by Esri Press illustrates these super powers of Jack and his team at Esri.

Sridhar Seshadri

Director Delivery Energy and Utilities

1mo

Jack, happy to share with you I am back with Cyient a great partner for ESRI. Thanks Jack. Cheers Sri

Kristina Seyer Smith

Owner, Mapping Spaces: GIS & Design

1mo

You need to Prototype while Designing GIS. Sometimes it takes "throwing it all together" just a little bit, so you can test and see if the plan will work. Then you build it. It does not mean you won't make changes along the way, because the world and technology is constantly changing. At this moment in time, we need to ask, how would our GIS work?

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Dorman Chimhamhiwa PhD

Chief Operations Officer at the Centre for Affordable Housing Finance in Africa (CAHF) | Data & Analytics Lead | Senior Technical Specialist

1mo

Amazing work. Jack has transformed and scaled GIS usage to levels that could not be imagined 20 years ago. One cant mention GIS without linking it to ESRI.

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Alonso Ortiz

Senior GIS Consultant | Software Architect | Geospatial Solutions Expert | 25+ Years of Experience

1mo

One of the mens that has already changed the world

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