Adam Miller had already founded a multibillion-dollar company when he turned his attention to Instil, a purpose-built tech platform aimed at helping nonprofit organizations maximize impact.
In 1999 Miller, who previously worked as an investment banker, and his two cofounders launched Cornerstone OnDemand, a cloud-based talent-development software provider and online learning platform. While CEO—Miller ran Cornerstone from 1999 to 2020, the year before it was acquired by private equity firm Clearlake Capital—he also worked with nonprofits that ranged from local charities to international disaster relief organization Team Rubicon.
In launching Instil, Miller aims to modernize the nonprofit landscape by merging his two passions: tech and social impact.
What was the “aha moment” that led to Instil?
Over the last 15 years, I’ve helped several nonprofits scale at the local, national, and international level. During this time, I was amazed at how much better software was getting for corporations. At the same time, the solutions available to nonprofits became more and more outdated. When we decided to sell Cornerstone, I realized there was an opportunity to solve the nonprofit problem by creating a modern, holistic solution to transform the sector.
What are your biggest challenges?
Like any startup intending to disrupt a market with a legacy incumbent, we have to prove our effectiveness with enterprise accounts to really scale.
What’s a fact about you that people may not know?
In addition to being a public company CEO for 10 years, I have started, scaled, and been a major donor for over a dozen nonprofits in the last decade.
The Fortune Founders Forum is a community of entrepreneurs chosen by Fortune’s editorial team to participate at the annual Brainstorm Tech conference, which took place in Deer Valley, Utah, in July. Our inaugural cohort was selected based on a variety of factors, including the potential impact of their companies, and reflected a diversity of geographies, sectors, and demographics.
