Tell HN: Amplitude (YC W12) just went public – AMA

Alright, I'm back 24 hours later to finish out my responses!

RE going public- yes, there was a lot of alignment between everyone internally about the advantages of being a public company. The main downsides are 1) cost 2) distraction to the rest of the company. Huge credit to our CFO Hoang and the internal team for getting it done in record time which minimized the distraction. The main debate was whether to do a direct listing vs traditional IPO which I've covered elsewhere.

We sold about 25% in the seed, another 25% in the Series A (cumulatively 45%), 18% in the Series B, and then 10% in the Series C, D, and E, and 5% in the Series F. We also did a lot of employee grants along the way and were more generous than the median company. It adds up! It's not so much about fairness, it's about what sets up Amplitude to win. You can see the full cap table in our S-1: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0001866692/000119312...

I wouldn't have done much differently- you can see my reply in some of the other threads for mistakes in not talking to customers enough or with people.

- when did you stop coding (was it deliberate or natural as the co grew)?

- do you feel people started treating you differently as the co grew and is now publicly traded?

- what did you like to do when growing (sports, books, activities to call out)?

Btw, this has been fantastic, thanks for your time!

It's very difficult to impossible to measure the impact of PR on the company. I can say that broadly we've not been well known since we started Amplitude and it's driven me crazy as CEO. There are a lot of conversations about product data we just never end up in as a result.

We didn't have someone managing it internally until recently. We just hired some phenomenal communications people and they've done an outstanding job with PR for our public listing (incredible work Darah, Jenna, and JJ!). I'll update you on the results but hopefully we're in many more conversations!

Having a strong point of view helps a lot. You have to find your voice on it. My views on direct listing which is a new hot topic certainly helped a bunch.

We heard the pitch from a number of bankers and it was clear Morgan Stanley's expertise on the process was the best. The fact that they did Asana as well as most other direct listings helped too.

I came to wanting to do a direct listing for Amplitude through my own study of the options. The path of least resistance would have been a traditional IPO.

Your goal during the process is to minimize volatility of your stock. Jumps in the price from imbalances in supply and demand make people unhappy because it means someone is getting a raw deal and there is imperfect information (which is the biggest part of why I don't like traditional IPOs). There was definitely a bunch to learn from previous direct listings where there was higher volatility.

Yes- this is the wave we're riding at Amplitude! The revenue center in companies is changing from sales and marketing to the product organization. That's where all your customers are going and the pandemic is just accelerating this trend. As a result, we're seeing the Chief Product Officer becoming the most important role in the enterprise. We're in the very early stages of this trend and I'm excited about the long term potential.

Our SVP Product Justin is a member of the collective as well!

Is there something of a name conflict with Amplitude, the French studio who makes games like Endless Legend, Dungeons of the Endless and others?