Newsletter
GET NEW EPISODES DIRECTLY IN YOUR INBOX.
Bringing the world of software into the world of physical networks with Jacob Smith Co-Founder of Packet
In this interview, Jacob discusses the founding of Packet and the vision for bringing the world of software into the world of physical networks, cloud infrastructure as a craft, what he sees as the next stages of edge computing, and much more.
Listen Now On
My professional experience involves internet marketing, arts management and classical music performance.
A love of entrepreneurship inspired ten years in internet marketing as well as my current venture, Packet, which I co-founded in 2014. Packet has since been acquired by Equinix (in 2020) where I now lead bare metal strategy and marketing.
Packet specializes in automating fundamental cloud infrastructure. While I’ve done a bit of everything to help the company over the years (including product, sales and even engineering) my focus is now on all aspects of marketing, outreach, developer ecosystems, sales enablement and partner enablement.
A professional bassoonist by training, I played with the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia and served as principal bassoonist with the Academy of Vocal Arts Opera Orchestra, Opera Philadelphia, and others. From 2007 until 2016 I also served in development and marketing roles at the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society and Marlboro Music Festival.
Specialties: Marketing strategy, developer outreach, project management, fundraising/sales, relationship building, and playing the bassoon!
Episode Notes:
Today’s episode features an interview between Matt Trifiro and Jacob Smith. Jacob is a co-founder at Packet and currently serves as Vice President of bare metal strategy and marketing.
Jacob co-founded Packet in 2014 with the goal of democratizing hyperscale infrastructure capabilities. Since then Packet has been one of the early leaders in edge computing for business, and earlier this year was acquired by Equinix.
In this interview, Jacob discusses the founding of Packet and the vision for bringing the world of software into the world of physical networks, cloud infrastructure as a craft, what he sees as the next stages of edge computing, and much more.
Key Quotes:
“We’re inviting more people in, and especially with the edge, it’s a huge opportunity to bring the world of software into the world of physical networks that currently power the internet.”
“The idea of the buyer being different, software getting way big, infrastructure getting more specialized– this all led us to think, ‘How do we get out of the way? How do we focus on delivery model? How do we focus on fundamental things?’ And that’s really what we set out to do. That’s what led us to the edge.”
“My prediction is that it’ll look a lot more like other kinds of dynamic markets where inventory is limited and varies all the time. Because if there’s one thing that’s really obvious about the edge versus the core, it’s that there’s just a lot less room.”
“I’ll bet on software anytime. I think that properly served up access, innovation will occur. There are a lot of innovation minded people touching internet infrastructure.”
“Instead of guessing the use cases, I think it’s better to look at how to be more open. Look at what the clouds have done super well– they’ve created ecosystems. I think we can create the same mindset– this diverse, totally Wild West, weird, special world called the edge.”
Sponsors
Over the Edge is brought to you by the generous sponsorship of Catchpoint, NetFoundry, Ori Industries, Packet, Seagate, Vapor IO, and Zenlayer.
The featured sponsor of this episode of Over the Edge is Packet, an Equinix company. Packet is the leader in bare metal automation. They are on a mission to protect, connect, and power the digital world with developer-friendly physical infrastructure and a neutral, interconnected ecosystem that spans over 55 global markets. Learn more at packet.com.
Links
Find Matt on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mtrifiro
Find Jacob on Twitter: https://twitter.com/packethost
Packet: https://www.packet.com/
