6 ON THE 2015 INC. 5000
Kamakshi Sivaramakrishnan DRAWBRIDGE
Since landing on the 2015 Inc. 5000 as the fastest-growing woman-led company that year, Drawbridge, the San Mateo, California-based data-connectivity firm founded by Kamakshi Sivaramakrishnan, has closed two rounds of financing and doubled down on its core line of business-helping clients learn about customers, even across multiple devices. In 2019, Drawbridge sold itself to a partner, LinkedIn, which is owned by Microsoft, for an estimated nearly $300 million.
–AS TOLD TO CHRISTINE LAGORIO-CHAFKIN
We had been discussing a potential acquisition over the course of 2019. In spring, things kicked into overdrive. I was actually pregnant at the time. My company was my first child, and LinkedIn was conscious of that fact. We had to get the product, the business, and the strategy right. But also the human element involved.
We sat down for a six-hour-plus meeting. I was due to give birth in two days. The level of sensitivity was so impressive; every 15 or 20 minutes they were doing a health check-in on me: “Are you OK?” Then, when I went into labor, I was on the delivery table and got news that everything seemed in order. The nurse said, “Put your phone down. Let’s get going!” I
