The biggest enterprise software company to come out of Europe in the last decade didn’t come from London, Paris, Berlin or Stockholm—but Bucharest, Romania.

UiPath, founded in 2005 and originally called DeskOver, was a scrappy handful of engineers bootstrapping out of an apartment in Bucharest for about a decade, seeking in vain for product-market fit. When they stumbled upon an opportunity in the nascent enterprise software category of Robotic Process Automation, the company did a hard pivot, changed their name to UiPath, and rocketed from obscurity to the fastest-growing SaaS company ever at the time. After a successful IPO, today they are the global category leader in RPA. The unlikely rise of UiPath is an inspiration and a reminder that you can build something great from anywhere.

Host: Roelof Botha, Sequoia Capital
Featuring: Daniel Dines, Andra Ciorici-Chelmus, Brandon Deer, Luciana Lixandru

00:00 - Introduction
02:11 - The Origins of UiPath: From Coding Nights to Global Innovation
07:57 - DeskOver’s Entry into RPA
11:34 - UiPath’s Direct Approach
14:56 - UiPath’s Journey to Becoming a Top Tech Startup
18:21 - Daniel’s Vision to Outpace the Competition
20:23 - The Genghis Khan Strategy
25:18 - Navigating Explosive Growth and Financial Reality
30:03 - How ChatGPT Redefined Automation
31:11 - Adapting to the AI Revolution
31:40 - UiPath’s Evolution with Generative AI and Automation
36:21 - Daniel’s Return as CEO
38:32 - UiPath’s Journey from Eastern Europe to RPA Leadership
40:03 - The Power of Trust and Collaboration