Lessons on building a unicorn used by 84% of the Fortune 100 | Emil Eifrem (Neo4j)

In this episode of The Eric Ries Show, I’m joined by Emil Eifrem, Co-Founder and CEO of Neo4j, an open-source graph database. Neo4j enables organizations to unlock the business value of connections, influences, and relationships in data. 

In our conversation today, we talk about the following topics: 

• The origin story of Neo4j and why they chose open source

• Open source as a means of production vs. distribution

• How open source fosters trust and transparency

• The pros and cons of doing business in the US 

• Why Neo4j updated their values and changed their stance on military contracts 

• What a Leader’s Guide is and how it keeps companies tied to their mission 

• The challenges of implementing AI 

• An explanation of RAG information retrieval and how it relates to LLMs 

• And more! 

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Where to find Emil Eifrem:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emileifrem/

• X: https://x.com/emileifrem

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Where to find Eric:

• Newsletter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://ericries.carrd.co/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

• Podcast: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://ericriesshow.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

• YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@theericriesshow⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

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In This Episode We Cover:

(00:00) Intro

(01:42) How Eric and Emil got connected 

(07:35) The origin story of Neo4j

(13:38) Why Emil went with an open-source model

(20:25) The benefits of being open source as a means of distribution 

(25:07) Why Emil has no regrets about going open-source 

(26:50) How open source builds trust

(30:33) The difference in doing business in the US vs. Sweden 

(35:34) How Neo4j got to product market fit and early struggles

(38:30) Why Neo4j declined the GSA schedule and why it was a mistake 

(46:22) Emil’s thoughts on changing his position, reworking values, and recommitting 

(51:40) Eric’s advice to avoid mission drift: A leader’s guide, and a two-way review

(1:00:04) The challenge of implementing AI—and the possibility of massive opportunity 

(1:09:20) How Neo4j successfully implemented AI 

(1:11:55) An explanation of IR (information retrieval) and how it’s relevant to AI 

(1:22:44) What gives us trust in the AI system

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You can find the transcript and references at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.ericriesshow.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Eric may be an investor in the companies discussed.