Cisco vs Verkada: Founders, CEOs and History
Cisco was founded in 1984 by Leonard Bosack, Sandy Lerner and is led by Chuck Robbins. Verkada was founded in 2016 by Filip Kaliszan, Hans Robertson, Benjamin Bercovitz and is led by Filip Kaliszan.
Company facts
Founders
Cisco
Leonard Bosack
Cisco Systems possesses one of the most famous, romanticized, and ultimately contentious founding stories in the history of Silicon Valley. The company was founded in 1984 by a husband-and-wife team, Leonard Bosack and Sandy Lerner.
Sandy Lerner
Sandy Lerner co-founded Cisco Systems in December 1984 with her then-husband Leonard Bosack, driven by the practical need to connect Stanford University's incompatible computer networks.
Verkada
Filip Kaliszan
Filip Kaliszan co-founded Verkada in 2016 and has been its CEO since. Before Verkada he co-founded CourseRank, a Stanford course-review site later acquired by Chegg, with Benjamin Bercovitz and James Ren.
Hans Robertson
Hans Robertson co-founded Meraki, which Cisco acquired in 2012, and joined the three Stanford founders in starting Verkada in 2016, bringing experience in selling cloud-managed hardware to enterprise IT buyers.
Benjamin Bercovitz
Benjamin Bercovitz is one of the three Stanford graduates who founded Verkada in 2016, after earlier working with Filip Kaliszan and James Ren on CourseRank.
James Ren
James Ren co-founded Verkada in 2016 with Filip Kaliszan and Benjamin Bercovitz, his collaborators from Stanford and CourseRank, and Hans Robertson.
CEOs and their tenures
Cisco
- John Morgridge1988–1995
Former CEO and Chairman
Morgridge was Cisco's first professional CEO, recruited in 1988 by Sequoia Capital investor Don Valentine to professionalize a company still run by its engineering founders.
Source - John Chambers1995–2015
Former Chairman and CEO
Chambers led Cisco for 20 years and transformed it through over 180 acquisitions into the dominant force in enterprise networking infrastructure.
Source - Chuck Robbins2015–present
Chairman and CEO
Robbins has led Cisco's fundamental shift from hardware networking products toward recurring software and subscription revenue. The 28 billion dollar Splunk acquisition in 2024 positioned Cisco as a leading security and observability platform vendor.
Source
Verkada
- Filip Kaliszan2016–present
Co-founder & CEO
Stanford computer science graduate and CourseRank co-founder who has led Verkada since its founding.
Source - Hans Robertson2016–present
Co-Founder
Meraki co-founder who joined the Stanford founders in starting Verkada, bringing experience with cloud-managed hardware sold to enterprise IT.
Source
Timeline: Cisco and Verkada side by side
1984Cisco
Company Founded at Stanford University
Leonard Bosack and Sandy Lerner incorporate Cisco Systems in December 1984, commercializing multi-protocol router technology developed to connect Stanford's campus networks.
1986Cisco
First Commercial Router Shipped
Cisco ships its first commercial multi-protocol router, the AGS (Advanced Gateway Server), generating $1.5 million in first-year revenue as the internet begins its transition from research network to commercial infrastructure.
1990Cisco
Initial Public Offering on NASDAQ
Cisco goes public at a valuation of approximately $224 million, raising capital that would fuel its aggressive acquisition strategy. The IPO also precipitated the departure of both founders.
1995Cisco
John Chambers Becomes CEO
John Chambers takes over as CEO from John Morgridge, beginning a 20-year tenure that would see Cisco grow from $2 billion to over $47 billion in annual revenue through more than 180 acquisitions.
2000Cisco
Briefly Becomes World's Most Valuable Company
Cisco's market capitalization exceeds $500 billion in March 2000, briefly surpassing Microsoft and GE as the world's most valuable company before the dot-com crash erased over $400 billion in shareholder value.
2003Cisco
Acquisition of Linksys
Cisco acquires consumer networking company Linksys for $500 million, marking its entry into the home networking market and establishing a consumer brand that would later be divested to Belkin in 2013.
2012Cisco
Meraki Acquisition Launches Cloud-Managed Networking
Cisco acquires cloud-managed networking startup Meraki for $1.2 billion, gaining the platform that would become central to its small-and-medium business strategy and its broader shift toward subscription-based management.
2015Cisco
Chuck Robbins Appointed CEO
Chuck Robbins succeeds John Chambers as CEO, inheriting a mandate to transform Cisco from a hardware company into a software-and-subscription platform business capable of competing in the cloud era.
2016Verkada
Filip Kaliszan, Hans Robertson, Benjamin Bercovitz and James Ren found Verkada in San Mateo, California.
2017Cisco
AppDynamics Acquisition for $3.7 Billion
Cisco acquires application performance monitoring company AppDynamics for $3.7 billion just days before its planned IPO, signaling Cisco's strategic commitment to the observability and application intelligence market.
2018Verkada
Raises a $15 million Series A led by Next47, the Siemens-backed venture fund, with First Round Capital participating.
2019Verkada
Raises a $40 million Series B co-led by Meritech and Sequoia at a $540 million post-money valuation.
2020Cisco
Webex Usage Surges During COVID-19 Pandemic
Webex usage explodes to over 600 million meeting participants per month during the pandemic, temporarily positioning Cisco's collaboration platform as a critical piece of global remote work infrastructure.
2020Verkada
Raises an $80 million Series C at a $1.6 billion valuation led by Felicis Ventures and announces entry into access control.
2021Verkada
Attackers use credentials for an internal support tool to view live feeds from customer cameras.
2022Verkada
Raises a $205 million Series D led by Linse Capital at a $3.2 billion valuation.
2024Cisco
$28 Billion Splunk Acquisition Completed
Cisco completes its largest-ever acquisition, purchasing cybersecurity and observability company Splunk for $28 billion in cash, pushing subscription revenue past 51% of total sales and establishing Cisco as a major force in security operations.
2024Verkada
Agrees to an FTC/DOJ settlement including a $2.95 million CAN-SPAM civil penalty and a mandated information security program.
2025Cisco
AI Infrastructure Orders Exceed $2 Billion
Cisco's AI infrastructure orders from hyperscale customers surpass $2 billion in FY2025, more than doubling management's original target and validating the company's investment in Silicon One-based networking platforms for GPU cluster interconnection.
2025Verkada
Raises a $200 million Series E led by General Catalyst at a $4.5 billion valuation (February); CapitalG leads an investment at $5.8 billion (December).
2026Verkada
Reports 31,000+ customers and 30% fiscal-year revenue growth and opens four US offices and a Dubai hub (March); NVIDIA invests and signs a technical partnership (July).
Acquisitions
Verkada
No verified acquisitions are listed.
Questions about Cisco vs Verkada
Who is the CEO of Cisco Systems, Inc. and Verkada?
Cisco Systems, Inc. is led by Chuck Robbins and Verkada is led by Filip Kaliszan. Both serve as the top executive responsible for the company's strategy, operations, and financial performance.
When was Cisco Systems, Inc. founded vs Verkada?
Cisco Systems, Inc. was founded in 1984 — 32 years before Verkada, which was founded in 2016. Cisco Systems, Inc.'s longer operating history gives it a deeper track record but also potentially more institutional inertia compared to the younger Verkada.
How many employees does Cisco Systems, Inc. have compared to Verkada?
Cisco Systems, Inc. employs approximately 82,400 people. A verified employee count for Verkada is not currently available.
Where are Cisco Systems, Inc. and Verkada headquartered?
Both Cisco Systems, Inc. and Verkada are headquartered in United States, meaning they operate under the same primary regulatory and tax environment.
Who founded Cisco Systems, Inc. and Verkada?
Cisco Systems, Inc. was founded by Leonard Bosack, Sandy Lerner. Verkada was founded by Filip Kaliszan, Hans Robertson, Benjamin Bercovitz, James Ren.
Which company has a longer operating history — Cisco Systems, Inc. or Verkada?
Cisco Systems, Inc. has been operating for approximately 42 years, making it the more established of the two companies. Verkada has been in operation for around 10 years. A longer operating history often signals greater institutional resilience and brand recognition, though it can also mean slower adaptation to new market conditions.
Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the Cisco vs Verkada overview