A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials. - Seneca
There is no denying that 2020 presented a seemingly endless barrage of challenges that were fraught with frustration, stress, and hardship for so many. While adapting to the “new normal” (definitely one of the most widely-used phrases of the year), many of us at Auth0 were flanked by homeschooling kids, caring for family members, and/or just trying to adhere to the rigors of quarantined life. And very sadly, some faced untimely and terrible losses.
This constant friction, while incredibly stressful, presented us with many opportunities to learn and grow. No one was fully prepared for what 2020 threw at us, but the obstacles we had to overcome made us stronger as individuals, managers, and as a company. Our society also learned, arguably the hard way, about new possibilities and new opportunities.
I am so proud of how we adapted and supported each other, how we supported our customers through their own struggles and ambitions, whether they were ready or not, and our dedication to making a larger, longer-term impact. I have tremendous hope for the year ahead and beyond and would be remiss in not recognizing key milestones from 2020, which are instrumental in how we approach this new year.
Auth0 Grew in Many Ways
Despite the economic climate of 2020, we are very grateful for our continued growth, which really underscores identity management as a critical technology for digital transformation initiatives. We anticipate these transformation efforts will continue to accelerate in 2021, and thanks to the support of our investors with a $120M round of funding, we are even more poised to support all current and future customers around the world.
Of course, this growth would not have been possible without the tireless work of the entire 800+ person Auth0 team, 213 of whom joined us in 2020. It is the dedication and commitment to excellence of every single employee that will help propel the company even further this year.
In 2021, we will continue to focus on growing our business in existing markets and expanding our presence in new markets. We will continue to be a resource for millions of developers worldwide who have supported us throughout the years, welcome all new developers, and educate the industry on how our identity management solution is different and ready for tomorrow’s requirements.
Auth0 Supported its Team
Speaking of employees, our “One Team. One Score” and “Give a Shit” company values could not have been more apparent than in 2020. We were lucky to have been 60% remote prior to the pandemic, which made it much easier to transition to a fully 100% remote workforce. Beyond that, we supported each other in ways that make me proud to be CEO—whether simply covering for each other, offering more flexible working schedules, or designating the U.S. Thanksgiving week as a company holiday for rest and recovery.
We rose to the challenge and acted as one team. We supported our leaders and employees through the stresses of balancing work and caregiving, and in place of the annual in-person offsite (a heralded Auth0 tradition), our incredible People team organized and managed a two-week long virtual extravaganza of collaboration, learning, external speakers, and fun experiences for the entire company.
In 2021, we will continue to invest in every team member. We will give all employees the resources, flexibility, tools, and support needed to be successful at Auth0, so we can collectively serve our customers in the best ways possible.
Auth0 Supported its Customers
Auth0’s customers cover the globe and are representative of every industry, all reliant on Auth0 to improve the security and seamlessness of logging into their services. We sit at the front door to millions of consumer experiences every day and are grateful to be part of their digital journeys. A customer like BioReference Laboratories, in particular, used Auth0 to scale to accommodate a 25x increase of users who needed a secure and easy way to monitor their COVID-19 test results. This is significant for obvious reasons. This example, along with customer success stories from Jersey Mike’s, Siemens, Signify, Babylon Health, Toast, Blackboard, Dunelm, and THE ICONIC, is just a sampling of how diverse and far-reaching identity management is and the impact it makes in everyday life.
We were also very excited to launch Auth0 Marketplace in 2020, a trusted partner integrations catalog that enables customers to extend our platform for multiple identity and access management needs. Auth0 Marketplace will be an integral hub for customers as their identity needs become more complex.
In 2021, we will continue to work on being a highly trusted partner to our customers. We will welcome new customers of all sizes, from all industries. We will listen to our customers’ needs, continue to improve our platform functionality, be a valuable technology expert, and help provide our customers’ end-users with a secure and seamless digital experience.
Auth0 Gave Back
We have always prioritized giving back as a primary pillar of Auth0 but took it to another level in 2020 with the launch of Auth0.org, a social impact program committed to secure, inclusive access for all. We helped fund Auth0.org by joining the Pledge 1% initiative and committing to contribute 1% of the company’s equity over the next 10 years to help pursue philanthropic initiatives. Balancing profit and purpose is something that I am especially passionate about. Auth0 for Startups and Tech for Black Founders are other programs we launched to pay it forward and use technology for good.
In 2021, we will go deeper with Auth0.org and identify organizations that we want to partner with. We will continue to volunteer our time, resources and commit to being a force for positive change.
Auth0 Looks Ahead
While 2020 has officially ended, tomorrow we will wake up in the same world and encounter seemingly the same challenges. There will be no “back to normal” because “normal” evolves continuously, even without a global pandemic.
But tomorrow, we will also wake up with the same super-power endowed to us. The super-power to adapt, learn, build, create, and improve everything around us. The super-power to turn ideas and thoughts that only exist in our imagination into action and reality. The power to change ourselves and our lenses on the world around us. We have the privilege of being front-row witnesses of this super-power in action every day as we build Auth0.
We have lofty goals for another successful year of high growth and will continue to focus on investing in our team, technology, operations, customer base, and global reach. (Stay tuned for more details on new office openings...) I have the highest level of confidence in my leadership team and staff and will continue to rely greatly on the counsel of Auth0’s amazing Board of Directors, into which we recently welcomed three SaaS superstars: Sue Barsamian, Sameer Dholakia, and Simon Parmett.
For these opportunities, and for a promise of a new year that we can create for ourselves, I am grateful and renewed with the will to continue this journey, however challenging it might be.
2020 presented us with relentless friction and was a year we had to work even harder for every milestone and achievement. But it is from these challenges that our greatest gems emerged, and I am looking forward to a brilliant year ahead.