The Cloud of Disruption Hovering over the Tech Sector

Josh Geballe YC ’97, ’02, visiting campus on April 28, told Yale SOM students that there are “massive opportunities” in the technology sector. Thanks to the rise of cloud computing, he said, the software industry is ripe for disruption. Cloud-based startups are nimbly outpacing the established tech giants, who are mired in legacy issues as they try to take their business software into the cloud.

Geballe is the CEO of Core Informatics, a cloud-based, software-as-service (SAS) company that analyzes and manages biotech data, so that scientists can more easily access it. The Connecticut-based firm has 29 employees worldwide and over $4 million in annual revenue.

"I really encourage people to think like entrepreneurs in their careers,” Geballe said, speaking as part of the Colloquium on Business and Society. “There’s so much opportunity to do fast and innovative things and to use the skills and intelligence you’ve acquired to try to solve problems—and not just legacy problems. I wanted to go somewhere where the work we were doing was meaningful…where the fruits of our labor really have positive impact on the world."