Back at HBS: Michelle Zatlyn Tells the Story Behind a Silicon Valley Unicorn

Back at HBS: Michelle Zatlyn Tells the Story Behind a Silicon Valley Unicorn

From The Founder Mindset with Reza Satchu by Harvard Business School

August 26, 2026 · 46 min · Episode 9

About this episode

Michelle Zatlyn shares her journey of co-founding Cloudflare and becoming a self-made tech billionaire.

What does it take to be a founder? Michelle Zatlyn co-founded Cloudflare as an MBA student on a simple, unfashionable bet: give the product away, and make the internet safer for everyone. Today, Cloudflare protects millions of websites and carries roughly a fifth of all internet traffic. Along the way, Michelle became one of the world’s rare self-made female tech billionaires. This is The Founder Mindset with Reza Satchu. -- Foundry is Harvard Business School’s new AI-native platform that gives high-potential founders everywhere the tools, expertise, and guidance to build ventures that succeed. Accepting HBS Foundry Bootcamp applications now. An 8-week, virtual bootcamp to take your idea to a funding-ready pitch. Apply here: https://hbsfoundry.org/apply-now *Open to founders based in the U.S. for now. Top participants are invited to Foundry Catalyst with the opportunity to later compete for up to $100K in funding.  All podcast episodes and more info can also be found on Harvard Business School’s official site:  https://www.hbs.edu/foundry

People in this episode

Host: Reza Satchu

Guest: Michelle Zatlyn

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Cloudflare, Harvard Business School, Foundry, HBS Foundry Bootcamp, Foundry Catalyst

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