Scott Farquhar

Co-Founder & Board Member, Atlassian · 1 appearance on the record.

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founderexecutiveinvestor@scottfarkas ↗LinkedIn ↗atlassian.com ↗Wikipedia ↗

Scott Farquhar co-founded the enterprise collaboration software company Atlassian with Mike Cannon-Brookes in 2002 and served as its co-CEO until 2024. He is also a co-founder of the private investment firm Skip Capital and serves as Board Chair of Pledge 1%.

6statements → 2claims → 0claims resolved → 3.83/5average certainty → 1.67/5average debate potential → ≈4.5/5argument clarity, estimated → 1said about them ↓

2 not checkable as stated how the 2 claims stand · each chip opens the sources

2 assertions · 1 opinion · 2 disclosures · 1 what if · every statement was checked. The predictions and assertions are the 2 claims: statements the public record can support or contradict. 0 are resolved, and 2 name 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 Scott argues and how the claims held up. Everything they said, and everything said about them, is in the tabs below.

How they sound: not measured why? →

We measure speaking style by listening to the audio itself, and a fair number needs at least 2,000 words from one person on tape we have measured. There is too little of Scott Farquhar on measured tape to publish a rate. This says nothing about how they speak.

What they said6 What others said1 Episodes1

Everything Scott Farquhar said on How I Built This that made the record, most notable first. Filter by type, assessment or year in the ledger →

What-if

Farquhar says raising Silicon Valley capital would have made Atlassian less disruptive

“I really think if we had grown up in Silicon Valley and had venture capital around us, that we would have built a very different company that wouldn't have been as disruptive as ours has been because we didn't have venture capital.”

Scott Farquhar Feb 8, 2021 ▶ 30:28 Atlassian: Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar

Opinion

Farquhar claims starting in Australia is the only reason Atlassian became successful

“Starting Alassian in Australia is the only reason we're successful.”

Scott Farquhar Feb 8, 2021 ▶ 1:04:42 Atlassian: Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar

Disclosure

Farquhar and Cannon-Brookes originally just wanted a $48,500 salary without wearing suits

“The thesis was if we can earn 48,500 dollars and not have to wear a suit to work and a tie to work and work with, you know, kind of average people, then, you know, we've won.”

Scott Farquhar Feb 8, 2021 ▶ 19:31 Atlassian: Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar

Assertion Not checkable as stated

Atlassian's first shareholder agreement designated rock-paper-scissors to resolve founder disputes

“And we put in Rochambeau or rock, paper, scissors into our shareholders agreement. And so it's changed now. We're a public company. We can't solve problems like that anymore. But you know, for the first few years, if we disagreed it would have ended up at rock…”

Scott Farquhar Feb 8, 2021 ▶ 24:38 Atlassian: Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar

Disclosure

Atlassian co-founders paid themselves just $300 weekly for their first two years

“We didn't pay ourselves for a long time, and even after that, I think we paid ourselves 300 dollars a week for the first two years, so we were relatively inexpensive.”

Scott Farquhar Feb 8, 2021 ▶ 32:56 Atlassian: Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar

Assertion Not checkable as stated

Farquhar notes Atlassian bought early Google AdWords for 10 to 20 cents

“Things that would now cost you 10 or 20 dollars for a click would cost us 10 or 20 cents, and I always wish we had more money to spend on that.”

Scott Farquhar Feb 8, 2021 ▶ 38:20 Atlassian: Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar

The other half of the tape: Scott Farquhar's own voice is left out of every number here. 1 statement on the record names them. every mention, with the transcript →

Statements about Scott Farquhar, by other people (1)

Disclosure

Cannon-Brookes says Atlassian remained completely founder-owned with zero funding after eight years

“We had taken no, no, no capital, no investment. we still owned a hundred percent of the company.”

Mike Cannon-Brookes Feb 8, 2021 ▶ 58:39 Atlassian: Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar

Appearances (1)

Episode	Date	Speaking time
Atlassian: Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar	Feb 8, 2021	20m

Scott Farquhar

The record, in short

How they sound: not measured why? →

Statements about Scott Farquhar, by other people (1)

Appearances (1)

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