Dropbox CEO Talks European Expansion, Brexit, Trump And IPO
IN-DEPTH: Drew Houston outlines plans for European expansion and how Dropbox will change the conversation from syncing files to syncing teams
“In Germany, some customers want to keep data in the EU. We’ll continue to use the public cloud where it makes sense.”
Of course, Brexit could change everything, but Woodside said it was far too early to speculate that any drastic changes would occur.
“We haven’t seen much of an impact,” he argued. “Regardless of what happens, the needs for business to collaborate across borders, those needs are going to remain. We’re going to continue to invest and build in our business here.
Donald Trump
A bit closer to home, Donald Trump has been named President Elect of the United States. Much of Silicon Valley (but not all) was opposed to his election and concerns about what his administration might mean for technology, especially in the areas of privacy and net neutrality persist.
“A lot of us are waiting to see what happens from a policy standpoint: what is he going to change or not change,” said Houston. “What we care about are the fundamental values of safeguarding users privacy and security and maintaining the rights and equalities on which this country was founded.
“We definitely hope that net neutrality and a lot of the foundational things stay in place. A lot of his positions haven’t been consistent. I think we’re all waiting to see what happens next.”
Potential IPO?
One area Houston is more confidently able to predict is whether Dropbox goes public at a time when tech Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) are slowing. He said such a move was on the cards but there is no timeline in place.
“We’re enjoying the flexibility in making products and keeping our customers happy but going forwards, sure,” he said. “To build a great public company, you need to make a great company [first].”
“The most important thing is the foundation. If you have a business that’s thriving you can make it public or private.”
