Biggest Disruptor: AI
Chambers views the biggest disruptor of the future to be AI. He has made bets in the consumer experience space like India’s Uniphore, a world leader in conversational AI that is poised to radically transform the booming call center market. Another JC2 Ventures’ portfolio company is Cloudleaf, which is aimed at transforming supply chain into a data-driven strategic asset that could be instrumental in the distribution of the Covid-19 vaccine. Companies like Cloudleaf have an ability to revolutionize the broken supply chain. Chambers sees AI as the technology to go all-in on.
Silicon Valley is in Trouble
Chambers believes that the number one issue businesses face
in California is regulation. From privacy to the tax environment, businesses
face a wide array of challenges in California’s regulatory environment.
Chambers cites the departure of Hewlett Packard (Silicon Valley’s original
garage startup) and Charles Schwab (the original financial startup for new
ideas) from California as a major sign that the state is losing business
talent. Chambers cites the example of portfolio company ASAPP AI (an AI
platform radically increasing CX productivity), whose CEO lives in Montana and
gets monthly calls from the governor to ensure that the innovative founder is
happy in his state.
China v. U.S.
China is our top digitization competitor, says Chambers who
has long experience in the country having orchestrated the first high-tech VC
move in China when he was at Wang Laboratories. He notes that China’s five-year
plan to break away from the U.S. has goals of tech leadership and standard of
living improvements. Chambers believes that China will soon be the top economy
in the world, and that the U.S. and China would benefit more from working
together rather than continued conflict.
What Makes a Successful CEO
1. + There is a market transition going on in their
industry, enabled by new technology
2. + The founder is a world class leader and wants to
be coached, and matches Chambers’ values
3. + Communication skills
4. + Value of culture
Chambers believes that culture is the first thing to go when
a company is rapidly growing. From overseeing 180 acquisitions while CEO of
Cisco, to his 20 investments at JC2 Ventures (with four unicorns), he knows how
important culture is to a successful company. He uses his track record of
strong relationships and trust to ensure that he is working with the best of
the best. Out of the 20 investments of JC2 Ventures, Chambers wants 10-12 to be
unicorns.
France - Europe’s New Tech Hub
Chambers got to know France’s President Macron dating back to his days as Economic Minister. Macron grasped the importance of a startup attitude for job creation and that France had not innovated enough. Chambers has even taught MBA classes with Macron, and firmly believes in the President’s vision that has helped France increase the number of startups fivefold in the last five years. Chambers views France as the new innovation gateway to Europe, even though he previously believed this title would belong to the likes of the UK or Germany.
India – The New Growth Engine of Asia
Chambers also has a strong relationship with India’s Prime
Minister Modi. He notes that India, with a population of 1.3 billion, needs to
create 1.2 million jobs a month just to maintain its economy. Chambers views India’s
strong IT university system that graduates 600,000 engineers a year as a major
asset to execute Prime Minister Modi’s vision for a digital India. Modi made Chambers
the chairman of the U.S. India Strategic Partnership Forum, and Chambers was
able to leverage his expertise and experience to turn the forum from a trade
organization into a major strategic partnership between the two countries. Chambers
made sure that along with his strong belief in India’s future success, he also
has personal investment to understand the intricacies of India’s startup
environment. Two of JC2’s 20 portfolio companies are from India.
Hyperloop in West Virginia
Richard Branson’s Virgin Hyperloop plans to open a
certification center and a testing track in West Virginia for its
transformative transport technology. Chambers was instrumental in bringing
together leaders of the state to mobilize and make attracting the Virgin testing
site a top priority. West Virginia competed with 17 other states and beat out
the likes of Texas and California to win the contract. It is estimated that the
new Hyperloop track will create 13,000 jobs in West Virginia. This adds to the
long list of contributions Chambers has made to his home state of West Virginia.
He remains a strong believer that his home state will emerge as a tech leader
in the US.
Bio:
John Chambers is the founder and CEO of JC2 Ventures, a Palo
Alto-based firm helping disruptive startups from around the world build and
scale. Chambers invests in companies across categories and geographies that are
leading market transitions, helping them to act before their market shifts, tap
customers for strategy, partner for growth, build teams, and create disruptive
innovations.
Prior to founding JC2 Ventures, Chambers served as CEO,
Chairman, and Executive Chairman at Cisco Systems. During his 25+ years at
Cisco, he helped grow the company from $70 million in revenue when he joined in
1991, to $1.2 billion when he became CEO in 1995, to $47 billion when he
stepped down as CEO in 2015. Cisco went from 400 to 75,000 employees during Chambers’
tenure and created 10,000 millionaires among its employees. As Executive
Chairman, a position Chambers held until December 2017, he led the Board of
Directors. His book, Connecting the Dots, shares his management,
leadership, and business principles that led to this success.
Chambers has provided industry expertise to government
leaders from around the world, including nine U.S. Secretaries of State and
Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. He is the Chairman of the US-India
Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) and Global Ambassador of French Tech for
President Macron. He is widely recognized for his leadership in philanthropy
and corporate social responsibility.
He holds a Bachelor of Science/Bachelor of Arts degree in
business and a law degree from West Virginia University, as well as an MBA in
finance and management from Indiana University.
