Twenty months ago Aaron Levie, all of 26 years old, did something arguably foolish, undeniably gutsy and entirely counter to the prevailing mood that startups should be "lean" in the Internet age. Forty-five minutes into a routine meeting with his board at Box, Levie blithely announced: "I want to make a small adjustment. We need to raise an extra $50 million." An awkward pause followed. Box had previously raised $106 million, already a heady sum for a company with just $25 million in sales and no profits. Levie's early investor and biggest booster, Josh Stein of venture firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson, piped up: "I'm sorry, but you said $15 million, right?"
Twenty months ago Aaron Levie, all of 26 years old, did something arguably foolish, undeniably gutsy and entirely counter to the prevailing mood that startups should be "lean" in the Internet age. Forty-five minutes into a routine meeting with his board at Box, Levie blithely announced: "I want to make a small adjustment. We need to raise an extra $50 million." An awkward pause followed. Box had previously raised $106 million, already a heady sum for a company with just $25 million in sales and no profits. Levie's early investor and biggest booster, Josh Stein of venture firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson, piped up: "I'm sorry, but you said $15 million, right?"