In this episode of Tank Talks, we’re joined by Michelle Zatlyn, Co-founder, Co-chair, and President of Cloudflare, a company protecting and powering a major part of global internet traffic. Cloudflare helps businesses stay online, load faster, and block threats before they reach the door.

Michelle explains how growing up in Saskatchewan shaped her views on leadership and teamwork, and how that experience still guides her as Cloudflare scales. She shares how a hallway conversation at Harvard became the starting point for the business, how they raised their first round of funding without a product, and why they moved to Silicon Valley during a downturn with no connections.

She talks through the pressure of going public, the spike in traffic when COVID hit, and how the team responded when customers suddenly needed help keeping their services running. She also walks through Cloudflare’s new AI crawler model, how it gives content owners more control, and why a new business model for the web is overdue.

From managing billions of attacks a day to helping publishers keep their content protected, Cloudflare shows what it means to stay reliable when the stakes are high, and Michelle makes it clear that good infrastructure only works if people trust it.

We explore:

* How do you raise money with no product, no revenue, and no connections?

* What happens when a hallway idea becomes core infrastructure for the internet?

* What changes when your company goes public six months before a global crisis?

* Can creators control how AI models use their content?

* What can founders do to make their teams more inclusive without making it performative?

* Why $100M-to-$1B is more fun than $0-to-$100M

The Canadian Roots and Early Values of a Tech Founder (00:02:36)

* Growing up in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan

* How cold winters and community spirit shaped her leadership

* From science nerd to Silicon Valley co-founder

Why She Left Medicine for Business (00:06:49)

* How a summer research job made her rethink med school

* Falling into tech through work in Toronto

* Applying to Harvard without knowing how to pay for it

* The support from Canadian alumni that made it possible

The Hallway Conversation That Sparked Cloudflare (00:10:50)

* A casual remark turns into a business idea

* How she and Matthew Prince turned Project Honeypot into a startup

* Using their .edu emails to get early help and access

* Getting credit for the project instead of taking another class

Raising Money With No Traction (00:20:34)

* Moving to Silicon Valley in a U-Haul with no connections

* Pitching investors with nothing built

* Getting $2M on a $4M pre-money valuation

* Why the Valley still bets on early-stage founders with clear ideas

Hiring, Scaling, and Keeping a Startup Culture (00:24:52)

* Going from 20 people to over 4,500

* Why they still focus on shipping and momentum

* How ownership and trust make the difference

* Running fast without losing focus

Going Public, Then COVID Hit (00:28:00)

* Why they went public when they did

* Customers who once said no came running back

* What changed when traffic spiked overnight

* How customer demand and product pressure collided

* Working through the crisis while remote

* What Cloudflare learned under fire

Cloudflare’s AI Crawler Controls (00:40:04)

* What’s happening with AI scraping content

* Why Cloudflare built a way to block or license crawlers

* The impact on small content creators

* How this fits into wider changes to how the web works

DDoS Attacks and Online Threats (00:48:06)

* Stopping 190 billion attacks per day

* The evolution of DDoS threats in 2025

* Why using modern security tools is non-negotiable

Michelle's Vision for the Next 15 Years (00:51:18)

* Cloudflare as generational infrastructure

* Building the most trusted connectivity cloud

* Why Internet infrastructure is as vital as plumbing

Championing Women & Diversity in Tech (00:53:27)

* Leading by example

* Small asks, big impact: improving referral pipelines

* Creating space for underrepresented founders and talent

Cloudflare has grown into critical internet infrastructure, but Michelle talks about it like a work in progress. The problems are large, but they stay focused on solving them one at a time. Her view is practical: strong teams, clear goals, and ongoing effort.

About Michelle Zatlyn

Co-founder, Co-chair & President of Cloudflare

One of the most influential leaders in Internet infrastructure, Michelle is a Canadian-born tech executive known for building and scaling Cloudflare into a global powerhouse. A champion for cybersecurity, innovation, and women in tech, she brings passion and grit to every conversation.

Connect with Michelle Zatlyn on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michellezatlyn/

Visit Cloudflare Website: https://www.cloudflare.com/

Connect with Matt Cohen on LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/matt-cohen1

Visit the Ripple Ventures website: https://www.rippleventures.com/

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tanktalks.substack.com