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The BBC's weekly The Boss series profiles different business leaders from around the world. This week we speak to Jeff Lawson, co-founder and chief executive of US technology company Twilio. Jeff Lawson Jeff Lawson was all set to secure investment in his new start-up Twilio when suddenly people thought the world might be collapsing. Back on Monday, 15 September 2008, Jeff and his two co-founders walked into a meeting with potential investors in Silicon Valley. Getting the funding was supposed to be "almost a formality", remembers Jeff, who was 31 at the time. Unfortunately, US investment bank Lehman Brothers had collapsed on the Sunday night, one of the most shocking moments of the then global financial crisis. "We walk in, and it's like chequebooks closed," says Jeff. "People were wondering: 'Is the world melting?!' "My co-founders and I looked at each other and thought: 'Maybe this is a dumb idea. Maybe you know, ma