Draft:Frederic Kerrest
Fortune 200 co-founder and Author
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Frederic Kerrest is an American entrepreneur, investor, podcaster, and author, best known as the writer of the bestselling business book Zero to IPO: Over $1 Trillion of Actionable Advice from the World's Most Successful Entrepreneurs[1] and as the co-founder and former Chief Operating Officer of Okta, Inc.,[2] an identity and access management company.
 | Review waiting, please be patient.
This may take 3 months or more, since drafts are reviewed in no specific order. There are 4,452 pending submissions waiting for review.
Where to get help
How to improve a draft
You can also browse Wikipedia:Featured articles and Wikipedia:Good articles to find examples of Wikipedia's best writing on topics similar to your proposed article. Improving your odds of a speedy review To improve your odds of a faster review, tag your draft with relevant WikiProject tags using the button below. This will let reviewers know a new draft has been submitted in their area of interest. For instance, if you wrote about a female astronomer, you would want to add the Biography, Astronomy, and Women scientists tags. Editor resources
Reviewer tools
|
This draft lacks inline citations. Wikipedia's verifiability policy requires that all content be supported by reliable sources. We require inline citations (footnotes) to show which source supports which specific statement.
You must place an inline citation directly after:
Please edit your draft to support your statements with inline citations. Learn how to create inline citations in the:
Where to get help
How to improve a draft
You can also browse Wikipedia:Featured articles and Wikipedia:Good articles to find examples of Wikipedia's best writing on topics similar to your proposed article. Improving your odds of a speedy review To improve your odds of a faster review, tag your draft with relevant WikiProject tags using the button below. This will let reviewers know a new draft has been submitted in their area of interest. For instance, if you wrote about a female astronomer, you would want to add the Biography, Astronomy, and Women scientists tags. Editor resources
This draft has been resubmitted and is currently awaiting re-review. |  |
Career
In 2009, Kerrest co-founded Okta alongside Todd McKinnon, another former Salesforce executive.[3] The company focuses on cloud-based identity and access management (IAM) solutions.[4][5] Kerrest served as the company's Chief Operating Officer from 2009 to 2023, guiding its 2017 IPO.[6] Following his role as COO, Kerrest became Vice Chairman of the board of directors and continues to serve the company in an executive advisory role.[7]
In 2017, Kerrest founded 515 Ventures[8], an Oakland-based Venture Capital firm that also offers operating advice to its portfolio companies. Companies in its portfolio include Darktrace[9] and Carbon Health.[10]
Kerrest, along with film producer Joshua Davis, launched the Zero to IPO podcast in 2019.[11][12] The show features conversations with founders and entrepreneurs who give listeners detailed accounts of the challenges and triumphs of business creation.[13] Guests of the podcast include venture capitalists Marc Andreessen[14] and Ben Horowitz[15], Canva co-founder Melanie Perkins[16], Zoom CEO Eric Yuan[17], Slack co-founder Steward Butterfield[18], and NBA star Andre Iguodala[19].
Conversation and insights from the podcast led Kerrest to write Zero to IPO: Over $1 Trillion of Actionable Advice from the World's Most Successful Entrepreneurs.[1] Published in 2022 by McGraw Hill,[20] the book compiles advice from tech and business leaders and guides readers through the process of startup growth from initiation through maturity.[21] Upon publication, the book became a Wall Street Journal best seller.[22]
In May 2025, Kerrest was elected to serve a three-to-five year term on MIT's board of trustees.[23]
In 2026, Kerrest founded Windproof Partners, an advisory firm that guides startups through their rapid growth phase.[24]
- provide significant coverage: discuss the person in detail, not brief mentions or interviews lacking independent analysis;
- are reliable: from reputable outlets with editorial oversight;
- are independent: not connected to the person, such as interviews, press releases, the subject's own website, or sponsored content.
Please add references that meet all three of these criteria. If none exist, the subject is not yet suitable for Wikipedia.