Todd McKinnon co-founded independent identity provider Okta in 2009, just as the world was starting to get its bearings after the financial crisis, and just after his wife had the couple’s first child. It wasn’t the easiest sell to his partner, so he did what any high-achiever does in a similar situation: he made a PowerPoint presentation.
As the Chief Executive Officer recalled in a 2020 interview, “The title of it was, ‘Why I'm Not Crazy: My plan to quit my job and start a company.’ I still have it. I look at it every once in a while.” In the pitch, he noted that many major tech companies, including Microsoft and Oracle, were founded during recessions, making the environment easier for new entrants. “I don't know if I really believed that at the time,” he remembered. “but it was something I read somewhere, and I said it like it would help convince my wife.”
Whatever the reason, she assented, and the rest is history. Inspired by the entrepreneur Steve Blank, he and Co-Founder Frederic Kerrest read his book Four Steps to Epiphany and began doing consumer interviews based on Blank’s principles as they tried to find their market niche. They quickly realized that they wanted to switch away from their initial plan to offer systems management and focus instead on identity and login management for cloud computing operations. Slowly and surely, Okta began to make its mark on the expanding industry.
“I think that there just had to be enough infrastructure in the cloud so people wouldn't think doing your security in the cloud was crazy,” he recalled of the early days. “It's good, and it's a little bit more painful to go through. It's great because when you come out the other side, assuming you survive…you own it.”
Now, Okta owns it, and the Brigham Young University graduate continues to pound the pavement spreading the gospel of cloud computing security. A common sight on CNBC, particularly opposite Jim Cramer, McKinnon is constantly re-evaluating how to help his customers; in 2024, he introduced the Interoperability Profile for Secure Identity in the Enterprise (IPSIE), which he said would help the industry enter its next phase of growth. “We recognize that standards don’t get adopted overnight,” he wrote. “But this is where Okta shines.” You might even call it a power point.
