From Startup to Grown-Up - The pleasures and pitfalls of scaling an industry disruptor

From Startup to Grown-Up The pleasures and pitfalls of scaling an industry disruptor Jutta Horstmann | Managing Director (COO/CTO) | eyeo GmbH Digitale Leute Summit 2021

eyeo… Who?

▪ Most popular browser extensions worldwide ▪ Technology available on all major browsers and platforms

Source: GWI, 2019

The biggest boycott in history Source: GWI, 2019

The problem User has no control Result Users see more ads Publishers earn less & have to allow more aggressive ads Advertisers don’t stand out & budgets move to more aggressive ads Content becomes less conveniently and openly accessible. 6

The solution User has control Result Users see fewer ads Diverse and valuable content remains accessible as a public resource Cap on ads makes them more valuable for publishers Incentive for advertisers to run user-friendly ads 7

Our mission Empowering a balanced and sustainable online value exchange Ad filtering technology

Our vision Any value exchange that is balanced between all sides; everyone benefits. Putting you in control of a fair and prosperous internet We aim to create solutions that give all stakeholders choice in how the internet works best for them. The healthier and stronger the ecosystem, the more enduring it will be.

Growth 250 200 150 100 50 0 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

FROM: 2 to 14 products 16M to 220M users 6 to 250 people 3 to 35 nationalities 1 to 700 partners 0 to 8 lawsuits

The startup needs to scale

Scaling Business Product Organization Culture

Focus

Alignment

Fun!

Scaling the business

Business growth strategy: Expansion and focus 1 2 3 4 5 Own products Our technology in others’ products All-in on B2B Beyond the browser Beyond ad filtering

Scaling the product

Mobile ad blocking ▪ 586M use ad blocking on mobile devices → driven by mobile browsers adopting ad blocking ▪ 257M use ad blocking on desktop devices. → decline reflects the shift from desktop to mobile © BLOCKTHROUGH | 2021 PageFair Adblock Report

Distributing ad filtering technology WebExtension SDK Android Chromium Desktop WebView SDK Mobile ▪ 42% of our users on Distribution Partners’ products (95M) ▪ 40% of our users on mobile devices (90M) iOS SDK AA-only integration in partners’ ad blocker

Diversifying our offerings - value for all stakeholders in the ecosystem ● ● ● ● Users Firefox Chrome IE/Edge Opera ● ● ● Android SDK iOS SDK Web Extensions SDK Publishers Advertisers 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

Identity crisis ▪ Who are we? ▪ Why are we here? ▪ What is our product? ▪ Who are our users?

It is easier to be proud of a product that users love than of an SDK implemented in other peoples’ products.

Scaling the organization

Scaling the organization Structure Process Goal-setting

Scaling the organization Structure

Evolution of organizational design 2017 2018 2020 2022 Project teams Functional: Product teams & departments Divisional: Business units Divisional, platform-based?

Startup

Project teams

(Reality)

Or like that, in our case

Functional / Matrix PO Dev Ops QA UX

More growth

Functional Scaling

Divisional structure Distribution Core Technology Lab Foundation Services Units Monetization Branding & Marketing Data Finance Legal IT Ops Organizational Support People Ops

Scaling Agile @ eyeo

“The first rule of organizational design is that all organizational designs are bad.” - Ben Horowitz Pla n Adapt Do Inspect

Organizational design criteria ▪ Customer focus ▪ Speed / eﬃciency ▪ Autonomy and ownership

Scaling the organization Process

The role of Process in scaling an organization Professionalization Automation Process over people?

Scaling the organization Goal-Setting

Goal-setting properties ▪ Top-down and bottom up ▪ Iterative and incremental ▪ Strategy co-creation ▪ Data-driven ▪ Focus & Alignment Cycle #1 Company strategy co-creation Cycle #2 Cycle #3 Derive 2nd level OKRs for cycle #1 1 week: Cycle switch 1 week: Cycle switch 2 weeks: Cycle switch Companylevel OKRs 10 11 12 01 2021 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 01 2022 02

Scaling culture

How to scale a culture to 250+ people? Provide clarity Tell stories Embrace diversity Break down silos

Our values - the basis for scaling our business Empathy Experimentatio n Ambition Trust Inclusivit y Balance

“Scaling people”?

Helping people to grow with the company The Old Guard Finding and keeping talent Resilience

Scaling yourself ▪ Let go ▪ Step out ▪ Empower ▪ Relax

Finding balance in an ecosystem of extremes

Balance Optimizing for publisher revenue Short-term success Remote Professionalization & standardization High Performance Control Rapid change Optimizing for user experience Long-term sustainability Co-located Creativity & innovation Sustainable pace Empowerment Iterative and participatory approach

The next 10 years

How to keep disrupting? Beware of the 4 horsemen of the apocalypse: ▪ Complacency ▪ Bureaucracy ▪ Mistrust ▪ Timidity

Next at eyeo: 1 billion users

Milestone 1 billion users Vision Putting you in control of a fair and prosperous internet. 55

Takeaways

Growth comes with pain.

Build for scale, embrace change, and allow people to grow with the company.

Enjoy the ride.

Thank you. Questions? Jutta Horstmann Managing Director (COO/CTO) j.horstmann@eyeo.com +49 176 61188960 @smphr