Early Life and Education
Michelle Zatlyn was born in July 1979 in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, Canada. She grew up in a family where her father was a lawyer, and her mother was a teacher. She attended Carlton Comprehensive High School. Zatlyn earned a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry with a minor in management from McGill University in 2001, graduating with distinction. Initially, she considered medical school but became fascinated by business.
Rise to Success
Zatlyn's career began with a summer internship at Google. She worked as a product manager at Toshiba and then joined the founding team of Toronto-based startup I Love Rewards (later Achievers), a global employee rewards program. In 2009, Zatlyn co-founded Cloudflare with her Harvard Business School classmates Matthew Prince and Lee Holloway. Cloudflare provides content delivery network (CDN) services, cloud cybersecurity, DDoS mitigation, and ICANN-accredited domain registration.
Key Business Strategies
As co-founder, president, and COO of Cloudflare, Zatlyn has been instrumental in shaping the company's strategic direction. Her leadership has been key in scaling the company, from a startup to a publicly traded enterprise. Cloudflare went public in 2019. The company has expanded its offerings to include edge computing and AI integration. Zatlyn's approach involves a focus on innovation, security, and making the internet better. Under her leadership, Cloudflare now secures over 25 million internet properties.
Philanthropy
While specific amounts are not widely available, Zatlyn serves on the Aspen Institute's US Cybersecurity team.