Jay Simons

General Partner, BOND · 1 appearance on the record.

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investorexecutiveoperator@jaysimons ↗LinkedIn ↗bondcap.com ↗

Jay Simons served for 12 years at Atlassian, including nine years as President, scaling the company through its 2015 IPO. He is currently a General Partner at BOND, where he invests in growth-stage software and technology companies.

17statements → 7claims → 6claims resolved → 83%fully supported → 3.76/5average certainty → 1.71/5average debate potential → ≈4.5/5argument clarity, estimated → 19said about them ↓

5 supported 0 partly supported 1 contradicted 1 not checkable as stated how the 7 claims stand · each chip opens the sources

7 assertions · 1 opinion · 6 insights · 1 disclosure · 2 what ifs · every statement was checked. The predictions and assertions are the 7 claims: statements the public record can support or contradict. 6 are resolved, and 1 names no date, number or outcome precise enough to check. Everything else (opinions, insights, what ifs, disclosures) can never be settled by the record, so it carries no assessment.

The record, in short

What the tape says about how Jay argues and how the claims held up. Everything they said, and everything said about them, is in the tabs below.

Their most notable supported claim

Assertion Supported

Simons: Atlassian never followed the 'triple, triple, double, double' growth model

“And, you know, Atlassian, you know, was never a triple, triple, double, double, double company. It was this kind of methodical, reasonable grower.”

Jay Simons Jun 10, 2021 ▶ 31:05 20VC: Why and How The Best Companies Build Economies Around Themselves, When, Why and How To Build Effective Partner/Channel Networks & The Power of Compounding Growth in SaaS with Jay Simons, General Partner @ Bond

Their most notable contradicted claim

Assertion Contradicted

Simons: Atlassian grew 40% to 50% annually for 15 straight years

“Atlassian grew between 40 and 50% for more than 15 straight years.”

Jay Simons Jun 10, 2021 ▶ 20:59 20VC: Why and How The Best Companies Build Economies Around Themselves, When, Why and How To Build Effective Partner/Channel Networks & The Power of Compounding Growth in SaaS with Jay Simons, General Partner @ Bond

Expressed certainty vs assessment result

none yet certainty 1

none yet certainty 2

100% certainty 3

67% certainty 4

100% certainty 5

weighted support: a fully supported claim counts one, a partly supported claim counts half. Each filled bar is clickable and opens exactly those claims; "none yet" means nothing said at that certainty level has resolved yet

How they sound: speaking style how? →

245 words/min while actually speaking · 0.2 um and uh per 1k words

No argument clarity score for Jay Simons: no usable question→answer exchanges on raw tape (a fair score needs 8+). We do not score a sample that small. Roundtable and news formats yield far fewer direct exchanges than interviews. Their coarse estimate from 28 exchanges on the produced feed is ≈4.5/5, shown at half point precision because the sample is small and produced tape scores higher.

Measured by listening to 5,881 words across 1 episode, but every recording we have of Jay Simons is the aired feed, and an editor cleaned that audio before release. Some of the hesitation was cut before we ever heard it, so read these as floors: the true rates are at least this high. These are measurements of speaking style, not scores. How it's measured →

How the interview went all their pushback → series average →

Across 1 rated episode:

host pushback ▾ 2/10

pushed back at the host 1/10

setup questions received 85%

host pushback: the hardest questions Harry asked, tap to play ▶ 13:32“When's the right time to build that Partner Network, because for me, I don't think it's day one. I think you have to reach a certain height. Am I right, or am I missing this?” ▶ 17:16“How do you feel about the importance of partner networks, channel networks, and those providers in a world of much more kind of democratized product-led growth?” ▶ 24:25“Is it harder than you thought?”

What they said17 What others said19 Episodes1

Everything Jay Simons said on 20VC that made the record, most notable first. Filter by type, assessment or year in the ledger →

Assertion Supported

Simons: Atlassian never followed the 'triple, triple, double, double' growth model

“And, you know, Atlassian, you know, was never a triple, triple, double, double, double company. It was this kind of methodical, reasonable grower.”

Insight

Simons: Founders should plan ecosystem economies from company formation

“I think in the earliest days of the company, in the formation of the company, you know, as you're building the product, I think you should be thinking, What are the economies, the extensions of our business that we can invest in that will have transitive prope…”

Jay Simons Jun 10, 2021 ▶ 8:22 20VC: Why and How The Best Companies Build Economies Around Themselves, When, Why and How To Build Effective Partner/Channel Networks & The Power of Compounding Growth in SaaS with Jay Simons, General Partner @ Bond

Assertion Not checkable as stated

Simons: Partner ecosystems and certifications made Microsoft a generational business

“I think if you look back on time before they had the brand and direct reach that they have today, they had reached through this incredibly durable partner ecosystem and the customer economy built around getting Microsoft certified and having that sort of crede…”

Jay Simons Jun 10, 2021 ▶ 10:18 20VC: Why and How The Best Companies Build Economies Around Themselves, When, Why and How To Build Effective Partner/Channel Networks & The Power of Compounding Growth in SaaS with Jay Simons, General Partner @ Bond

Assertion Supported

Simons: Atlassian built a partner network instead of direct enterprise sales

“We invested at Atlassian, we invested early on, we had built this self-service online e-commerce flywheel for customers to buy the product. And as we moved into the enterprise, we had an opportunity to either invest directly in building an enterprise sales org…”

Jay Simons Jun 10, 2021 ▶ 11:17 20VC: Why and How The Best Companies Build Economies Around Themselves, When, Why and How To Build Effective Partner/Channel Networks & The Power of Compounding Growth in SaaS with Jay Simons, General Partner @ Bond

Insight

Simons: Software firms need established market demand before building partner networks

“You need market there. I mean, you need market for the partners to be able to grow their businesses, and then I think you need alignment around what they do, and what you do, and where you work together, and where some of the rubs will be.”

Jay Simons Jun 10, 2021 ▶ 13:41 20VC: Why and How The Best Companies Build Economies Around Themselves, When, Why and How To Build Effective Partner/Channel Networks & The Power of Compounding Growth in SaaS with Jay Simons, General Partner @ Bond

Insight

Simons: Ecosystem extensions drive higher core SaaS product retention

“If they do get access to that and it does solve a problem, it means that both the core product is more valuable to them. And the core product from a retention perspective is even stickier because you've got JIRA and then you have three or four things that are …”

Jay Simons Jun 10, 2021 ▶ 18:38 20VC: Why and How The Best Companies Build Economies Around Themselves, When, Why and How To Build Effective Partner/Channel Networks & The Power of Compounding Growth in SaaS with Jay Simons, General Partner @ Bond

What-if

Simons: Atlassian wouldn't be the same company without an early second product

“We added a second products really early in the company's life cycle. That was a very unconventional and risky choice. But I think if I look back, had we not done that, we probably would be a very different company. Who knows? Like if we were just the Jira comp…”

Jay Simons Jun 10, 2021 ▶ 19:57 20VC: Why and How The Best Companies Build Economies Around Themselves, When, Why and How To Build Effective Partner/Channel Networks & The Power of Compounding Growth in SaaS with Jay Simons, General Partner @ Bond

Assertion Contradicted

Simons: Atlassian grew 40% to 50% annually for 15 straight years

“Atlassian grew between 40 and 50% for more than 15 straight years.”

Insight

Simons: Startups more commonly fail by waiting too long for second products

“I think it's more common, a more common mistake is companies probably wait too long. Versus doing it too early. I think history is littered with examples of great companies that didn't invest in, you know, a durable second act, and they're putting all their en…”

Jay Simons Jun 10, 2021 ▶ 22:07 20VC: Why and How The Best Companies Build Economies Around Themselves, When, Why and How To Build Effective Partner/Channel Networks & The Power of Compounding Growth in SaaS with Jay Simons, General Partner @ Bond

Insight

Simons: Generational companies require multi-product portfolios built organically and via M&A

“If you're going to be a big generational company, you actually have to have more than one thing, and you probably have to have the ability to build them organically and acquire them.”

Jay Simons Jun 10, 2021 ▶ 23:15 20VC: Why and How The Best Companies Build Economies Around Themselves, When, Why and How To Build Effective Partner/Channel Networks & The Power of Compounding Growth in SaaS with Jay Simons, General Partner @ Bond

What-if

Simons: Atlassian wouldn't be as successful had it targeted enterprise early

“We made choices where we could have really early on invested in the enterprise segment, and instead of selling a 10,000 dollar product, chose to sell a 200,000 dollar product. And again, the counterfactual is tough to paint what Atlassian would have looked lik…”

Jay Simons Jun 10, 2021 ▶ 28:17 20VC: Why and How The Best Companies Build Economies Around Themselves, When, Why and How To Build Effective Partner/Channel Networks & The Power of Compounding Growth in SaaS with Jay Simons, General Partner @ Bond

Insight

Simons: Capital scarcity forces early-stage companies to build ROI discipline

“Capital scarcity can also benefit you. You know, we were forced to kind of fund the business from the cash register, and I think that created, you know, a discipline. It created a compelling need to really, really materially understand ROI, and so anywhere we …”

Jay Simons Jun 10, 2021 ▶ 29:12 20VC: Why and How The Best Companies Build Economies Around Themselves, When, Why and How To Build Effective Partner/Channel Networks & The Power of Compounding Growth in SaaS with Jay Simons, General Partner @ Bond

Assertion Supported

Simons: Atlassian has over 500 partner resellers and solution providers

“And, you know, when we thought about it, even sort of one of the examples that I mentioned, a partner economy of resellers and solution providers, we, I think Atlassian now probably has over 500 of those.”

Jay Simons Jun 10, 2021 ▶ 8:36 20VC: Why and How The Best Companies Build Economies Around Themselves, When, Why and How To Build Effective Partner/Channel Networks & The Power of Compounding Growth in SaaS with Jay Simons, General Partner @ Bond

Disclosure

Simons: Atlassian drew inspiration from Microsoft's platform ecosystem strategy

“We drew a lot of inspiration from Microsoft, which I think is a textbook case here.”

Jay Simons Jun 10, 2021 ▶ 10:03 20VC: Why and How The Best Companies Build Economies Around Themselves, When, Why and How To Build Effective Partner/Channel Networks & The Power of Compounding Growth in SaaS with Jay Simons, General Partner @ Bond

Assertion Supported

Simons: Atlassian enabled third-party add-on ecosystems from an early stage

“And by the way, the other dimension that I mentioned was, it was important to us is we had Extensibility in Atlassian products from a really early age. And so one thing that partners could do is they could extend them and kind of build add-ons and customizatio…”

Jay Simons Jun 10, 2021 ▶ 18:01 20VC: Why and How The Best Companies Build Economies Around Themselves, When, Why and How To Build Effective Partner/Channel Networks & The Power of Compounding Growth in SaaS with Jay Simons, General Partner @ Bond

Assertion Supported

Simons: Atlassian launched its second product Confluence in year two

“In Atlassian's case, our second product, Confluence, was created in year two of the company, which was incredibly risky, I think, to diversify focus so early. But, you know, as I mentioned earlier, I think it was foundational to the company Atlassian became.”

Jay Simons Jun 10, 2021 ▶ 22:48 20VC: Why and How The Best Companies Build Economies Around Themselves, When, Why and How To Build Effective Partner/Channel Networks & The Power of Compounding Growth in SaaS with Jay Simons, General Partner @ Bond

Opinion

Simons: Alex Risher built much of Atlassian's early operational maturity

“Alex and I were in the foxhole together in the earliest years of building Atlassian, and much of Atlassian's young operational maturity, he deserves a lot of credit for building.”

Jay Simons Jun 10, 2021 ▶ 5:36 20VC: Why and How The Best Companies Build Economies Around Themselves, When, Why and How To Build Effective Partner/Channel Networks & The Power of Compounding Growth in SaaS with Jay Simons, General Partner @ Bond

The other half of the tape: Jay Simons's own voice is left out of every number here. Other people bring the name up 19 times in 4 episodes on 20VC. every mention, with the transcript →

Who brings them up most Harry Stebbings 11 David Meyer 5 Brian Halligan 3