Look Who it Was Random video

Fireside chat with John Chambers, chairman and former CEO @Cisco

560 views · Published 7 November 2018 · 45:49 · Indexed 23 October 2026

Channel: Startupfood · 2018 · Science & Technology

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With John Chambers (https://twitter.com/JohnTChambers)
Moderated by Nicolas Colin, Co-founder at The Family (https://twitter.com/Nicolas_Colin)

Our special guest was John Chambers, former CEO of Cisco who spent 20 years running the networking giant before stepping down in 2015. He is now turning his attention to venture capital with JC2 Ventures, where he applies his learning from his time at the helm of Cisco to mentor startups.

As CEO and chairman of Cisco, John guided the company through the dot-com bubble and bust as well as the recession. Thanks to John's leadership, Cisco became one of the world’s biggest and most profitable companies during the Internet’s early days.

A big part of Cisco's success comes from company acquisitions, which represent more than 50% of their business activities. It's one of John's favorite topics: the relationship between big companies and startups, and how to do business together without the startup being "killed with love".

In 2015, John had a big crush with the French ecosystem and became one of its fiercest ambassadors in the US.

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