Careers at Mesosphere

Mission

Mesosphere develops operating architecture for distributed data systems comprising app servers, databases and caches that can be run across a network of data centres or in the cloud. It helps businesses manage its data infrastructure more efficiently.

History

Mesosphere was founded in 2013 by Florian Leibert (“Leibert”), Tobias Knaup (“Knaup”) and Benjamin Hindman (“Hindman”), with a view to simplifying and streamlining the process of installing software at data centres. Their aim was to make installing software across a data network as easy installing an app on a mobile phone, with no technical expertise required. The three founders had identified the difficulty presented in managing software across large data networks during respective time at tech giants Airbnb and Twitter, where data centre utilisation could run as low as 5%.

Mesosphere’s technology has its roots in a PhD research project co-created by Hindman during his time at Berkeley University. His Apache Mesos software – which has since been implemented by large companies including Apple and Yelp – enabled users to manage large clusters of servers. Hindman went on to work at Twitter where he further developed the platform. In 2013 Hindman connected with Knaup who had been experiencing similar difficulties in software deployment at Airbnb. The pair decided that the platform could be pursued commercially and could ultimately become the foundation for a new type of operating system for data networks.

An early preview edition of the Mesosphere software attracted 3,800 enterprise registrants. The Company received $2.5 million in seed funding in 2013, before completing two rounds of investor funding in 2014, raising a combined $46.5 million. The Company’s Series C funding round, using a company valuation of $600 million, raised a further 73.5 million in 2016, taking its total investment to over $122 million. Reports have suggested that large tech companies, including Microsoft, have shown an interest in acquiring Mesosphere.

Benefits at Mesosphere

Health insurance Dental insurance Vision insurance Life insurance Disability insurance Mental health care 401k Plan Employee stock purchase plan Stock options Maternity & Paternity leave Reduced or flexible hours Family medical leave Work from home Vacation & Paid time off Paid holidays Paid sick days Volunteer Time Off Bereavement leave Employee discount Employee assistance program Company social events Legal assistance Free lunch or snacks Gym membership

Business model of Mesosphere

Customer Segments

Mesosphere primarily serves large companies that manage large data networks of servers and data centres, and require regular updates and installation of software. This primarily comprises large, multinational companies operating in the technology space, both in the US worldwide.

The Company in particular serves clients that wish to reduce their spending on data management. Some reports state that Mesosphere was utilised by one of its early customers, marketing software company Hubspot, to reduce its monthly Amazon cloud hosting bills by around 65%.

Among the Company’s other customers seeking similar savings are tech giants Microsoft, Twitter, Cisco, as well as Samsung, Yelp, Verizon and Autodesk.

Value Propositions

Mesosphere’s key value is that it provides a platform where companies can manage their data centre networks efficiently, reliably and securely. The platform combats failures in data centre networks by switching the workload of dead servers to another active server automatically.

The Company offers negotiable prices and services tailored to the individual needs of each customer.

The Mesosphere platform is more cost-effective than alternative providers, with several reports stating that companies have cut their web services bills almost in half by using the Company’s data centre operating system products.

Channels

Mesosphere’s paid-for products are available via direct discussion with members of the Company’s sales team, which can be reached either through the Company’s website at www.mesosphere.com or over the phone.

Once registered, users can access the platform form their desktop.

Mesosphere products are also available through third-party integrated platforms, community applications and base services – including Apache Mesos, Chronos and Marathon – which can be downloaded from the Mesosphere website.

Customer Relationships

In order to access Mesosphere’s paid-for offering users must interact directly with the Company’s sales team in order to be quoted a price tailored to their individual needs. The Company provides extensive support to its customers through tutorials, troubleshooting guides and technical FAQs hosted on its website.

It also hosts a community support forum where users can interact and collaborate on issues and directly raise questions with the Company. Mesosphere also lists all the events which it plans to attend so that customers can interact with Mesosphere representatives in person, and keeps users updated with developments via its Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts, as well as its blog.

Key Activities

Mesosphere develops and maintains a data centre operating system that provides a single platform for running containers, big data, and distributed apps in production across data centre or cloud networks.

The Company provides reliable and efficient infrastructure that enables businesses to deploy applications, services, and big data infrastructure on shared resources in a scalable format.

In addition to its flagship Mesosphere DCOS and Mesosphere Infinity products, the Company also provides architectural and consulting services, on-site training, custom installations, and architectural review services.

Key Partners

Mesosphere primarily partners with development and software companies, with which it collaborates to provide an efficient and reliable service to its customers. It aims to develop integration with a number of third-party tech companies to provide greater access to its platform and greater audience reach.

Mesosphere provides developer support and certification services to its partners, with partners able to submit designs and services for verification. VIP partners also receive 24/7 production support from Mesosphere data centre operating system experts.

On its website, Mesosphere lists its featured partners, which includes software companies Cisco, Typesafe, Concord, Datastax and Confluent.

Key Resources

Mesosphere’s key resources are its personnel, its technology and software, and its IT infrastructure. Despite the importance of its proprietary technology, searches of records held by the US patent and Trademark Office identified no patent applications registered in Mesosphere’s name.

The Company’s sales and development teams are key. Its technical support staff are also key, playing an important role in the ongoing efficiency and reliability of the platform.

Mesosphere’s platform is supported by the Company’s own network of data centres and servers which play an equally important role.

Cost Structure

Mesosphere accrues costs in relation to the development and maintenance of its technology, the operation of its IT infrastructure network – including the rental of server space and data centres, and the retention of its personnel, in particular its sales and support staff.

The Company also incurs fixed costs relating to the operation of its three offices in San Francisco, New York and Hamburg.

Revenue Streams

Mesosphere operates under a freemium business model. It provides a free, public, cloud-only community edition of its data centre operating system products, which launched in mid-2015, alongside paid-for enterprise solutions.

The Company generates revenue through the sale of licences to enterprises that authorise these enterprises to use the Mesosphere platform.

The Company does not list prices on its website. Instead prices are tailored to suit individual clients following discussion with members of the Mesosphere sales team. Mesosphere has not disclosed revenue data to the public, however, reports suggest that, with the Company still in its infancy, revenue remains relatively low.

Our team

Florian Leibert,
Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer

info: Florian has served as Mesosphere’s Chief Executive Officer since co-founding the Company in 2013. In addition to his role at Mesosphere, Leibert is an active investor, having invested in tech start-ups Cockroach Labs, Driftt and Taptalk, and is an equity partner at Data Collective, which invests in and advises early-stage companies operating in the big data space. Since co-founding web development company Knaup Multimedia at the age of 15 alongside his current Mesosphere partner, Leibert has held a number of engineering roles. He interned at Arvato Mobile in 2006, before joining research body GridEcon later that same year. After serving for a year as a researcher Leibert joined software company HeadCase as a staff engineer. In 2008 he began working as a senior software engineer at digital advertising tech company Adkowledge, again leaving after a year to become a platform engineer at social media tech firm Ning Mode Multimedia. Leibert went on to serve as technical lead at both Twitter and Airbnb before co-founding Mesosphere in 2013.

Tobias Knaup,
Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer

info: Tobias has been the Chief Technology Officer at Mesosphere since 2013. Prior to co-founding Mesosphere, Knaup held several technical roles within the technology sector., starting with his role as co-founder of Knaup Multimedia. During the early and mid-2000s Knaup completed internships at the University of Wuerzburg and at collaborative software company Pingsta, as well as spending a brief spell as a teaching assistant at the Munich University of Technology. In 2009 he was named Pingsta’s Lead Software Architect, a role he held for a year before joining Airbnb as a technical lead, a role he left in 2013.

Benjamin Hindman,
Co-Founder and Chief Architect

info: Benjamin has served as Mesosphere’s Chief Architect since 2013. Prior to co-founding Mesosphere, Hindman worked at three of the technology sector’s largest companies. He began work as a research intern at Microsoft in 2006. This internship ended after less than a year, after which Hindman joined Google as an intern. He left this position after six months to focus on his studies at Berkeley, where he co-created open-source cluster management platform Apache Mesos – on which Mesosphere is largely based – as part of a research project. In 2010 Hindman joined Twitter as a member of its technical staff, leaving after three years to focus on the development of Mesopshere.