The Unlikely Path to Building a Billion-Dollar Gov Tech Company | Zac Bookman

Video Description

Guest: Zac Bookman, CEO and Co-Founder of OpenGov Thirteen years after co-founding the government transparency startup OpenGov, Zac Bookman is still finding ways to surprise people. In 2024, Cox Enterprises bought the company for $1.8 billion — but as far as Zac is concerned, “we’re just getting started.” “I left the vast majority of my net worth in the company,” he says. “So I'm a believer. I'm all in.” The mission of powering “more effective and accountable government” has been stable since OpenGov’s earliest days, and that mission has informed everything from hiring to M&A to the decision to sell.  “These people buy and don't sell,” Zac said of Cox. “They're all in on the mission. And they're all in on taking care of employees. So I see a triple win: A win for employees, win for the investors, win for the customers, maybe a quadruple win for me and the management.” 00:00 Show Open 01:10 Introduction 02:34 OpenGov’s mission 05:28 Shrinking the product-market fit 08:35 Super misson driven 10:06 Why OpenGov almost shut down 14:41 Zac’s early career 18:17 Picking (and losing) a CTO 25:18 Growing upside-down 28:09 The SPAC backstabber 34:33 Why Zac didn’t get fired 36:46 Selling in 2024 40:41 Growth by acquisition 46:25 John Chambers and PMF 54:02 Zac’s cross-country bike ride 1:01:26 Expectations vs. reality 1:04:05 The coup attempt 1:07:27 Tiring work 1:11:41 Going to the White House 1:15:59 DOGE & disrespect 1:19:23 “We’re just getting started” 1:20:53 Who OpenGov is hiring (and where) 1:21:50 What “grit” means to Zac 1:22:11 Outro