“The Dumbest Idea I’ve Ever Heard” — How Own Became a $2B Salesforce Acquisition
Published: February 3, 2026
Duration: 1:42
A SaaStr AI deep dive with Sam Gutmann, CEO of Own, on building a billion-dollar backup company by saying “no” to almost everything. He joined Harpinder Singh (Partner, Innovation Endeavors) to share the whole story — and his top mistakes.
And come hear 200+ stories like this at SaaStr AI Annual May 12-14 in SF Bay!!
Top 5 Takeaways
1. The CEO who dismissed “Backup for Salesforce” as “the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard” went on to build the category leader.
Sam literally stopped a board meeting to call out how stupid he thought the idea was. Si...