What Is Jeetu Patel's Rule of Thirds?
Jeetu Patel's rule of thirds is how he staffs his team at Cisco. One third are operators who know how to navigate Cisco. One third come from the industry and think in systems about the markets Cisco is in. The last third are startup CEOs, brought in to break glass with the other two and work in founder mode.
He has personally made about 28 acquisitions. 27 of them worked out, and one did not. DJ Sampath ran Armor Blocks, a 20-person company. Cisco killed that product and that brand, and Sampath now runs AI and the platform across Cisco. The promise is that a few years at Cisco makes that founder a better operator, and a better CEO if they leave.
