Photo by Jakub Mosur Carlye Adler is an award-winning journalist whose articles have appeared in BusinessWeek, Departures, Fast Company, Fortune, Forbes, Portfolio, Wired, and Time She cowrote, with Marc Benioff, The Business of Changing the World She lives in New York City For more information, please visit www.salesforce.com/behindthecloud and www.facebook.com/behindthecloud “Reading this book, I laughed out loud many times as Marc told his story, a story of great ideas, thunder-stealing pranks, and a world consciousness that is at the heart of salesforce.com.” —Neil Young “Reading, but also afterwards, practicing the 111 plays described by Marc Benioff opens the door for entrepreneurial success much better than any MBA program.” —Klaus Schwab, founder, World Economic Forum, and cofounder, Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship “Cisco and salesforce.com share a vision of how the network is the platform to transform business In his book, Benioff outlines how salesforce.com has used cloud computing to disrupt and reshape the enterprise software space It is clear that we are just beginning to understand the potential of networked business and the future benefits and productivity gains of the next phase of the Internet.” —John Chambers, chairman and CEO, Cisco “Behind the Cloud demonstrates what happens when companies act as good citizens Everyone—from employees to shareholders to the community—wins Get ready to be inspired and make a difference.” —Charles Moore, executive director, Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy LEADERSHIP US $27.95 | CAN $33.95 the salesforce.com playbook Marc R Benioff is the chairman and CEO of salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM), which he cofounded in 1999 Under Benioff’s direction, salesforce.com has grown from a groundbreaking idea into a publicly traded company that is the market and technology leader in enterprise cloud computing Salesforce.com has received a Wall Street Journal Technology Innovation Award, been lauded as one of BusinessWeek’s Top 100 Most Innovative Companies, been named No on the Wired 40, was selected for the past two years as a Top Ten Disrupter by Forbes, and been voted one of the world’s most ethical companies by Business Ethics Magazine Benioff is the recipient of many awards for pioneering innovation, including the 2007 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year In 2000, Benioff launched the Salesforce.com Foundation—now a multimillion-dollar global organization He lives in San Francisco “In Behind the Cloud, Marc Benioff takes us through the ups and downs of building one of the most extraordinary businesses of our time and reveals the tactics that gave salesforce.com its amazing edge This book will show you how to focus your vision, think differently, align your organization—and transform your business and your life.” —Anthony Robbins, author, Awaken the Giant Within and Unlimited Power Behind the Cloud “Salesforce.com and Google share a vision for how the cloud will revolutionize computing Behind the Cloud gives us a rare glimpse at the development of one of the most important trends in business today.” —Eric Schmidt, CEO, Google Benioff Praise for Behind the Cloud “A great guide for any aspiring entrepreneur or CEO navigating the landscape of the future It’s the playbook for Enterprise 2.0.” —From the Foreword by MICHAEL DELL Behind the Cloud the untold story of how salesforce.com went from idea to billion-dollar company— and revolutionized an industry Marc Benioff Chairman & CEO of salesforce.com and Carlye Adler www.josseybass.com the salesforce.com playbook How did salesforce.com grow from a start-up in a rented apartment into the world’s fastest growing software company in less than a decade? For the first time, Marc Benioff, the visionary founder, chairman, and CEO of salesforce.com, tells how he and his team created and used new business, technology, and philanthropic models tailored to this time of extraordinary change Showing how salesforce.com not only survived the dot-com implosion of 2001, but also went on to define itself as the leader of the cloud computing revolution and spark a 46 billion-dollar industry, Benioff ’s story will help business leaders and entrepreneurs stand out, innovate better, and grow faster in any economic climate In Behind the Cloud, Benioff shares the strategies that have inspired employees, turned customers into evangelists, leveraged an ecosystem of partners, and allowed innovation to flourish Benioff shows how salesforce.com pioneered a simple idea (delivering business applications as a service over the Internet) to change the way all businesses use software applications and, ultimately, change the way the software industry works With Marc Benioff ’s candid, unconventional advice and unusual call-out lessons from the Salesforce.com Playbook—including Benioff’s proprietary management tool, V2MOM— any business can go against the grain, rapidly change the game, and learn how to achieve lasting success Behind the Cloud the untold story of how salesforce.com went from idea to billion-dollar company— and revolutionized an industry Marc R Benioff Chairman & CEO of salesforce.com Carlye Adler Copyright © 2009 by Marc R Benioff All rights reserved Published by Jossey-Bass A Wiley Imprint 989 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94103-1741—www.josseybass.com No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400, fax 978-646-8600, or on the Web at www.copyright.com Requests to the publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, 201-748-6011, fax 201-748-6008, or online at www.wiley.com/go/permissions Readers should be aware that Internet Web sites offered as citations and/or sources for further information may have changed or disappeared between the time this was written and when it is read Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation You should consult with a professional where appropriate Neither the publisher nor author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages Jossey-Bass books and products are available through most bookstores To contact Jossey-Bass directly call our Customer Care Department within the U.S at 800-956-7739, outside the U.S at 317-572-3986, or fax 317-572-4002 Jossey-Bass also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books Salesforce.com and the ‘‘No Software’’ logo are registered trademarks of salesforce.com, inc Other names may be marks of their respective holders Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Benioff, Marc R., 1964Behind the cloud : the untold story of how Salesforce.com went from idea to billion-dollar company—and revolutionized an industry / Marc R Benioff, Carlye Adler –1st ed p cm Includes bibliographical references and index ISBN 978-0-470-52116-8 (cloth) Salesforce.com (Firm) Customer relations—Management Sales management I Adler, Carlye II Title HF5415.5.B443 2010 658.8–dc22 2009021671 Printed in the United States of America FIRST EDITION HB Printing 10 Contents Foreword by Michael Dell, Chairman and CEO of Dell Introduction Part The Start-Up Playbook How to Turn a Simple Idea into a High-Growth Company Play #1: Allow Yourself Time to Recharge Play #2: Have a Big Dream Play #3: Believe in Yourself Play #4: Trust a Select Few with Your Idea and Listen to Their Advice Play #5: Pursue Top Talent as If Your Success Depended on It Play #6: Sell Your Idea to Skeptics and Respond Calmly to Critics Play #7: Define Your Values and Culture Up Front Play #8: Work Only on What Is Important Play #9: Listen to Your Prospective Customers Play #10: Defy Convention Play #11: Have—and Listen to—a Trusted Mentor Play #12: Hire the Best Players You Know Play #13: Be Willing to Take a Risk—No Hedging Play #14: Think Bigger xi xvii 1 11 12 13 14 14 15 18 20 iii CONTENTS Part The Marketing Playbook How to Cut Through the Noise and Pitch the Bigger Picture Play #15: Position Yourself Play #16: Party with a Purpose Play #17: Create a Persona Play #18: Differentiate, Differentiate, Differentiate Play #19: Make Every Employee a Key Player on the Marketing Team, and Ensure Everyone Is On Message Play #20: Always, Always Go After Goliath Play #21: Tactics Dictate Strategy Play #22: Engage the Market Leader Play #23: Reporters Are Writers; Tell Them a Story Play #24: Cultivate Relationships with Select Journalists Play #25: Make Your Own Metaphors Play #26: No Sacred Cows Part The Events Playbook How to Use Events to Build Buzz and Drive Business Play #27: Feed the Word-of-Mouth Phenomenon Play #28: Build Street Teams and Leverage Testimony Play #29: Sell to the End User Play #30: The Event Is the Message Play #31: Reduce Costs and Increase Impact Play #32: Always Stay in the Forefront Play #33: The Truth About Competition (It Is Good for Everyone) iv 23 23 25 27 28 33 34 37 39 40 41 44 44 47 47 49 52 54 57 60 60 Contents Play #34: Be Prepared for Every Scenario and Have Fun Play #35: Seize Unlikely Opportunities to Stay Relevant Play #36: Stay Scrappy but Not Too Scrappy Part The Sales Playbook How to Energize Your Customers into a Million-Member Sales Team Play #37: Give It Away Play #38: Win First Customers by Treating Them Like Partners Play #39: Let Your Web Site Be a Sales Rep Play #40: Make Every Customer a Member of Your Sales Team Play #41: Telesales Works (Even Though Everyone Thinks It Doesn’t) Play #42: Don’t Dis Your First Product with a Discount Play #43: Sales Is a Numbers Game Play #44: Segment the Markets Play #45: Leverage Times of Change Play #46: Your Seeds Are Sown, so Grow, Grow, Grow Play #47: Land and Expand Play #48: Abandon Strategies That No Longer Serve You Play #49: Old Customers Need Love Play #50: Add It On and Add It Up Play #51: Success Is the Number One Selling Feature 61 63 65 67 67 69 72 73 76 78 79 80 82 86 95 96 97 98 100 v CONTENTS Part The Technology Playbook How to Develop Products Users Love Play #52: Have the Courage to Pursue Your Innovation—Before It Is Obvious to the Market Play #53: Invest in the Long Term with a Prototype That Sets a Strong Foundation Play #54: Follow the Lead of Companies That Are Loved by Their Customers Play #55: Don’t Do It All Yourself; Reuse, Don’t Rebuild Play #56: Embrace Transparency and Build Trust Play #57: Let Your Customers Drive Innovation Play #58: Make It Easy for Customers to Adopt Play #59: Transcend Technical Paradigms Play #60: Provide a Marketplace for Solutions Play #61: Harness Customers’ Ideas Play #62: Develop Communities of Collaboration (aka Love Everybody) Play #63: Evolve by Intelligent Reaction vi 103 103 106 107 109 110 115 119 120 125 127 131 132 Part The Corporate Philanthropy Playbook How to Make Your Company About More Than Just the Bottom Line 135 Play #64: The Business of Business Is More Than Business Play #65: Integrate Philanthropy from the Beginning 135 139 Contents Play #66: Make Your Foundation Part of Your Business Model Play #67: Choose a Cause That Makes Sense and Get Experts on Board Play #68: Share the Model Play #69: Build a Great Program by Listening to the Constituents Play #70: Create a Self-Sustaining Model Play #71: Share Your Most Valuable Resources— Your Product and Your People Play #72: Involve Your Partners, Your Vendors, Your Network Play #73: Let Employees Inspire the Foundation Play #74: Have Your Foundation Mimic Your Business 159 161 166 Part The Global Playbook How to Launch Your Product and Introduce Your Model to New Markets 169 Play #75: Build Global Capabilities into Your Product Play #76: Inject Local Leaders with Your Corporate DNA Play #77: Choose Your Headquarters and Territories Wisely Play #78: Box Above Your Weight Play #79: Scale Without Overspending Play #80: Understand Sequential Growth Play #81: Uphold a One-Company Attitude Across Borders Play #82: Follow Strategy, Not Opportunity 140 144 146 148 153 156 169 170 172 175 176 177 178 179 vii CONTENTS Play #83: Going Far? Take a Partner Going Fast? Go Alone Play #84: Fine-Tune Your International Strategy Play #85: Send Missionaries to Build New Markets Play #86: Handle Global Disputes with Diplomacy (aka Light and Love) Play #87: Edit an Overarching Outlook Play #88: Bring Old Tricks to New Regions Play #89: Don’t Use a ‘‘Seagull Approach’’; the Secret to Global Success Is Commitment 198 Part The Finance Playbook How to Raise Capital, Create a Return, and Never Sell Your Soul 201 Play #90: Don’t Underestimate Your Financial Needs Play #91: Consider Fundraising Strategies Other Than Venture Capital Play #92: Use Internet Models to Reduce Start-Up Costs Play #93: Set Yourself Up Properly from the Beginning, Then Allow Your Financial Model to Evolve Play #94: Measure a Fast-Growing Company on Revenue, Not Profitability Play #95: Build a First-Class Financial Team Play #96: Be Innovative and Edgy in Everything You Do—Except When It Comes to Your Finances viii 180 182 186 188 192 196 201 203 206 207 208 209 210 Acknowledgments It’s no secret that I like to think big Still, the success of salesforce.com has even surpassed my wildest expectations This has been the most exciting decade of my life, in every way, and there have been many people who have given everything to join me on this adventure I have many people to thank I am immensely grateful to three talented developers— Parker Harris, Frank Dominguez, and Dave Moellenhoff—who in 1999 took a risk on a ‘‘crackpot idea,’’ and then built something spectacular To all the people from the earliest days who left stability and took a chance with me, especially John Appleby, Jim Burleigh, Steve Cakebread, Nancy Connery, Shelly Davenport, John Dillon, Jim Emerich, Andy Hyde, Fergus Gloster, Diane Mark, Caryn Marooney, Paul Nakada, Tien Tzou, and Mitch Wallace Salesforce.com is a different company today than it was ten years ago, and I’m appreciative of the people who have helped 265 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS us become better and who continue to push us to evolve: Tom Addis, Joe Allanson, Krista Anderson, Lindsey Armstrong, Tom Berson, Bruce Campbell, Jim Cavalieri, Linda Crawford, Dan Dal Degan, Alexandre Dayon, David Dempsey, Steve Fisher, Erin Flynn, Steve Garnett, Sue Goble, Parker Harris, George Hu, Kenneth Juster, Hilarie Koplow-McAdams, Steve Lucas, Brian Millham, Allen Miner, Martin Moran, Brett Queener, David Rudnitsky, Carl Schachter, David Schellhase, Graham Smith, Clarence So, Jim Steele, Susan St Ledger, Polly Sumner, John Taschek, Eiji Uda, Frank van Veenendaal, Craig Weissman, and Kirsten Wolberg Additionally, salesforce.com is fortunate to have an amazing board of directors: Craig Conway, Alan Hassenfeld, Craig Ramsey, Sanford Robertson, Stratton Sclavos, Larry Tomlinson, Maynard Webb, and Shirley Young I set out to write this book to help and inspire entrepreneurs My story and this book would never have been realized without the many individuals who instructed and inspired me I’m lucky to have so many true mentors who offered wisdom and support and then generously encouraged me to pursue my vision in my own way: Larry Ellison, Charlie Moore, Colin Powell, Chikara Sano, Tony Robbins, and Ammachi Thank you Michael Dell, a legendary entrepreneur, technologist, and philanthropist, who has contributed an inspiring foreword and who continually helps us see a better future Thank you as well to Andy Lark, who was available and insightful no matter where he was in the world, and no matter what else he had happening A most special thank you to Tim Lynn, my college roommate and now our chief of staff, and to the talented and 266 Acknowledgments patient Laura Pavlovich, who handles everything and does it all flawlessly Hundreds of people have had a hand in recalling their memories, editing pages, and the making of this book I am grateful to each and every one Many went above and beyond the call of duty and deserve special recognition: Rob Acker, Dana Booth, Bruce Cleveland, Bruce Francis, Jane Hynes, Suzanne DiBianca, John Durocher, Doug Farber, Chris Fry, Jamie Grenney, Anne Kveta Haack, Aaron Katz, Isabel Kelly, Charles Nikiel, Elizabeth Pinkham, Joseph Schmidt, Rich Sheridan, Julie Trell, and Mayuwa Yamakawa I am most grateful to my extraordinary friends who supported salesforce.com and me from the very beginning and who continue to amaze me with their wise counsel and generous spirit: Adam Bosworth, Gigi Brisson, Katrina and Terry Garnett, Evan Goldberg, Mark Goldstein, Arjun Gupta, Steve McAdams, Halsey Minor, Eric Schmidt, Klaus Schwab, Igor Sill, Robert Thurman, David Vaskevitch, Bobby Yazdani, and Magdalena Yesil I’m grateful to Lance Secretan and Neil Young, newer friends who have been tremendously supportive of salesforce.com, this book, and all endeavors The following special people had influences far greater than they likely ever knew Each one is deeply missed: Chris Bonacore, Jim Gray, Osamu Igarashi, Eirik Prosser, and Karen Southwick Thank you Rick Cohen and Tanya Viner at Buchalter Nemer and Aaron Alter and Boris Feldman at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, true professionals who provide solid counsel that helps me sleep better and who have proven to moonlight as fine editors as well 267 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I’ve been lucky enough to meet some of the best people in the world of publishing By dedicating two years of her life and spirit, Carlye Adler made this book a reality I’m thankful for super agent Jim Levine and his team at Levine Greenberg A heartfelt and indebted thank-you to the very gifted Karen Murphy, development editor extraordinaire Erin Moore, production guru Mark Karmendy, copy editor Michele Jones, and the entire team at Jossey-Bass who brought this book to life Our success would not have been possible without our hundreds of business partners, thousands of employees, and more than a million customers Thank you for becoming a part of our family and for your support A special thank you to Andy Brown, Gary Butler, Cris Conde, John Chambers, Guy Chiarello, Greg Case, Gene Hall, Rick Justice, Hermann Lamberti, Harry McMahon, Haruo Murase, Bob Ridout, Keiji Torii, Steve Schuckenbrock, James Sheppard, Kazuhiko Yoshimoto, and Monte Zweben My family—my grandmother, my parents, my sisters—has supported me and shared invaluable lessons in life, business, and altruism that have guided me always and still today And Leia, who reminds me every day about what’s most important Finally, thank you Lynne, for everything Mahalo Nui Loa, Marc 268 About the Authors Marc Benioff is chairman and CEO of salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM), which he founded in 1999 Under Benioff’s direction, salesforce.com has grown from a groundbreaking idea to the leader in enterprise cloud computing For its revolutionary approach, salesforce.com has received a Wall Street Journal Technology Innovation Award, been lauded as one of BusinessWeek’s Top 100 Most Innovative Companies, named No on The Wired 40, and selected in 2007 and 2008 as a Top Ten Disrupter by Forbes Benioff has been widely recognized for pioneering innovation with honors such as the 2007 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year and the SDForum Visionary Award, and has been ranked on the Top 100 Most Influential People in IT survey by eWeek and the Top 10 Greatest IT Chief Executives by VNU He was appointed by President George W Bush as the co-chairman of the President’s Information Technology Advisory Committee and served from 2003–2005, overseeing the publishing of critical reports on health care information technology, cybersecurity, and computational sciences 269 ABOUT THE AUTHORS In 2000, Benioff launched the Salesforce.com Foundation—now a multimillion-dollar global organization— establishing the ‘‘1-1-1 model,’’ whereby the company contributes one percent of profits, one percent of equity, and one percent of employee hours back to the communities it serves The World Economic Forum named Benioff as one of its Young Global Leaders, and in 2007 the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy presented Benioff with the coveted Excellence in Corporate Philanthropy Award Salesforce.com has been voted one of the world’s most ethical companies by Business Ethics Magazine, one of the best companies to work for by Fortune, and in 2008, Benioff was awarded CEO of the Year Award by CRO Magazine Benioff is also the author of The Business of Changing the World and Compassionate Capitalism Prior to launching salesforce.com, Benioff spent thirteen years at Oracle Corporation He founded his first company, Liberty Software, when he was fifteen years old He lives in San Francisco, California Carlye Adler is an award-winning journalist whose articles have appeared in BusinessWeek, Cond´e Nast Portfolio, Fast Company, Fortune, Time, Wired, and many other publications She co-wrote, with salesforce.com chairman and CEO Marc Benioff, The Business of Changing the World: Twenty Great Leaders on Strategic Corporate Philanthropy She has been twice named one of the most influential business journalists under the age of 30 by The Journalist & Financial Reporting (TJFR) Group Her story on the hefty price of investing in a Krispy Kreme franchise was selected for inclusion in The Best Business Stories of the Year, 2003 Edition She lives in New York City 270 Index A Accenture, 99 Acker, Rob, 80–81, 234 ADP, 94, 95 Advertising: developing marketing model for, 44–45; differentiating company, 28–31; using branding in, 31–32 Advice, 7–8 After-school technology centers, 144–146, 148–152 Alexander, Pam, 24 Allanson, Joe, 211, 213 Amar, Sue, 161–162, 163 Amazon.com, 2, 103, 183, 256 American Medical Response, 86 America’s Promise, 136, 144 Ammachi (Mata Amritananadamayi), 2–3, 136 Analog Devices, 86 Angel investments, 206–207 AOL, 145 AppExchange, 125–126, 196–197 Appirio, 109–110, 127–128, 131–132 Apple, 11, 126 Appleby, John, 170 Applications See AppExchange; PaaS; SaaS Ariba Corporation, 89 Art of War, The (Tzu), 10–11, 38 Asante, Edmond, 156 Ashoka, 157 Asia-Pacific business strategies, 192–196, 198–199 Astadia, 160, 242 Australia business strategies, 189–191 Autodesk, 209, 211 Automatic Data Processing (ADP), 213 B B-52s, 26 Ben & Jerry’s, 143 Bennett, Rick, 30–31, 39 Berridge, Eric, 99, 159 Bifurcated business model, 177 Big Switch, The (Carr), 43 Bike to Work grant, 162 BizAcademy, 153–156 BlackBerry, 114 Bloomberg.com, 123 Blue Martini Software, 69, 70 Bluewolf Group, 99, 159–160, 252 Bosworth, Adam, 132 Branding: advertising with, 31–32; corporate consistency and, 244; corporate philanthropy and, 147; establishing End of Software as, 28–32; expanding globally, 188–192; using, 32 Breakfast at Tiffany’s, 245–246 Bridges, Steve, 63 Brilliant, Dr Larry, 161 Brin, Sergey, 160–161 Brisson, Gigi, 205 Brown, Rafe, 220 Bruzzo, Chris, 129 Bugforce, 70 Bureau of Labor Statistics, 164 Bus 24, 150 Business Today, 156 271 INDEX BusinessWeek, 41, 80, 125, 129, 130, 170–171 Butler, Gary, 92–93 C Cakebread, Steve, 209–210, 215 California Mentor Initiative, 16 Campbell, Bruce, 28, 31, 32, 244 Canon, 184–185 Career development, 19, 250–252 Carr, Nicholas, 4, 43 Case, Steve, 145 Cavalieri, Jim, 16 Center for Venture Research, 206 Certification programs, 253 Chambers, John, 196 Changes: after IPOs, 218–223; envisioning, 1–3; leveraging with customers, 82–85; making career, 19 Checks and balances in hiring, 235 Children’s Aid Society Carrera Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention, 158 Christensen, Clayton M., 43, 255 Cisco, 13, 91, 100, 140, 145, 203, 220, 258 City Tours, 49–51, 54, 57–58, 62 Clark, Don, 23, 72 Clean Air-Cool Planet, 162 Cleveland, Bruce, 64 Closing, 93 Coca-Cola, 86 CODA, 125 Collaboration: developing communities of, 131–132, 145; philanthropic, 159–161 Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy (CECP), 218 Companies: collaborating with, 131–132; incorporating philanthropic models in existing, 135–139 Competition: going after market leaders, 34, 36–38; leveraging, 60–61; relationships with, 39–40; surprising, 38 Conde, Cris, 89–91 Confidence, 16 Connery, Nancy, 15, 16, 233–234, 248 Conservation International, 162 Contra Costa Times, 31 Contracts: annual service, 207–208; converting subscriptions to, 82–85, 207–208; writing with light and love, 188–192 Cooperative sales efforts, 92 Corporate philanthropy: choosing cause for, 144–146; creating self-sustaining model for, 153–156; employee-inspired foundations, 161–165; foundations in business model, 140–144; giving back to communities, 191; Google’s commitment to, 160–161; Hasbro’s, 141–142; in-kind product donations, 156–158, 166; incorporating in existing company, 135–139; integrating with organization, 139–140; involving new hires in, 243–244; 272 listening to constituents, 148–152; partner and network involvement in, 159–161; reasons for, 147–148; sharing financial successes, 217–218; sharing philanthropic models, 146–147; success of 1–1–1 Model, 256; supporting employee sabbaticals, 1–3; sustaining foundations, 166–168 Corporate sales teams: developing, 88–89; international, 172–173; selling corporate services, 98–100; in sequential growth strategies, 177–178 Costs: event, 57–59; managing while expanding, 176–177; reducing start-up company, 206–207 Council on Foundations, 148 Critical Metrics, 250 Criticism, 9–11 CRM (customer relationship management): developing international divisions for, 169–170, 173; Microsoft’s venture into, 42; origins of salesforce.com, 11–12; positioning End of Software mission, 24–25; potential sales via telephone, 77–78; potentials for SaaS online products, 6; scalability challenge for, 8–9; Siebel goes public, CRM Fusion, 160 CRM ticker symbol, 213 Crowdsourcing (Howe), 129 Culture: aligning employees to, 242–244; beginning of salesforce.com, 12; defining company, 11–12; recruiting new talent into, 15, 16, 17, 19, 233–239; transferring globally, 178–179, 192, 195–196, 197 Customer relationship management See CRM Customers: accessibility and satisfied, 98–99; being involved in dialogues of, 130; building trust with, 110–113; contacting personally, 114; contract for, 219–220; contracts for, 207–208; developing network of, 53–54; ease of product adoption by, 119; enlisting for sales, 73–76; harnessing ideas of, 127–130; influencing products, 115–118; introducing prospects to happy, 100–101; leveraging change with, 82–85; listening to, 13–14, 85–86; special support for professional, 98–100; supporting existing, 97–98; testimony of, 47–52; treating as partners, 69–71; visiting, 93 CustomerStat, 52 Customization features, 115–118 D Dalai Lama, His Holiness, 2, 11 Dell, 100, 128–129, 172 Dell, Michael, 128, 129, 130, 151, 196 Deloitte, 99, 148 Dempsey, David, 170 DiBianca, Suzanne, 140, 146 Digg, 127 Disaster relief, 163–164 Discounts, 78–79, 83–84 Disney, Walt, 103, 203 Dominguez, Frank, 11, 20, 106–107, 139–140 Dot-com crash, 27 Index Draper, Tim, 153 Dreamforce, 61–63, 65 DuPont, 99 E E*TRADE, 100, 203 E-Rate, 144 Earth Council, 163 EBay, 108, 114, 140–141, 183 Ebersole, Scott and Wendi, 247 Editorials, 47 80/20 rule, 12–13, 174 Einstein, Albert, 11 Einstein, David, 24 Ellison, Larry, 14–15, 16–17, 30, 31, 136, 137, 138, 204, 226 Employees: being on-message, 55; career paths for, 250–252; corporate philanthropy and, 147; employee-inspired foundations, 161–165; empowering as volunteers, 141–142, 161–162, 163–164; engaging and growing, 247–248; feedback from, 249–252; finding innovative, 240; firing, 249; fostering loyal, 246–247; incentives for, 245–246; listening to, 81; measuring success of, 251; moving to satellite offices, 193–196; as part of marketing team, 33–34, 35; retaining, 242–244; sabbaticals for, 1–3; training, 252, 253–254 Employees See also Hiring employees End of Software mission: branding for, 28–32; creating story with, 40–41; mock protests, 36–37, 65, 197–198; on-demand model vs hosted choices, 105–106; positioning, 24–25; success of, 256 Enron, 212 Enterprise sales, 177–178 Entrepreneurs: belief in self, 5–6; defining values and culture, 11–12; defying convention, 14; developing vision, 3–4, 198; focusing work, 12–13; getting good advice, 7–8; handling global disputes, 188–192; having mentors, 14–15; hiring best players, 15–17; listening to customers, 13–14, 85–86; making changes, 19; reducing start-up costs, 206–207; responding to criticism, 9–11; sabbaticals for, 1–3; taking risks, 18–20; thinking bigger, 20–21; working with top talent, 7–9, 15–17 Environmental responsibility, 161–163 Ernst & Young, 213 Escalate Retail, 69 European Technology Roundtable Exhibition (ETRE), 24 Evans, Matt, 53 Events: changing strategies for, 65–66; developing strategies for, 37–38; establish market relevance, 60, 63–64; having fun with, 61–63, 65–66; hosting, 54–56; inexpensive, effective, 57–59; planning, 59–60; seizing unlikely opportunities, 63–64; selling to end users, 52–54; staging mock protests, 36–37, 65, 197–198; Street Team concept for, 49–52; tips for great, 55–56; using word-of-mouth phenomenon, 47–49 Expanding: brand globally, 188–192; managing costs and, 176–177; sales, 95, 184–185 F Farber, Doug, 177–178, 189, 190, 199 Feedback loops, 71 Field sales teams, 89 Financing: angel investments, 206–207; building financial team, 209–210; estimating need for, 201–203; evolving models of, 207–208; fundraising strategies for, 203–205; growing into public corporation, 218–220; preparing and filing IPO, 210–215; revenue vs profitability, 208–209; SEC compliance and, 215–218 Financing See also IPOs Firing employees, 249 Fisher, Steve, 121 Fleischer, Corinne, 158 Flynn, Erin, 238 Focusing, 12–13 Forbes, 24 Forbes, Michelle Pohndorf, 13 Forbes, Steve, 156 Force.com, 122–123 Fortune, 24, 39 Foundations: employee-inspired, 161–165; including in business model, 140–144; integrating in company, 139–140; mimicking business, 166–168; 1–1–1 Model and, 142–143, 159–161; Oracle’s development of, 137–139; sustaining endowments of, 166–168 Foundations See also 1–1–1 Model Francis, Bruce, 111, 113 Free trial subscriptions, 67–68, 96–97 Fun: corporate philanthropy as, 148; with events, 61–63, 65–66 Fun facts, 94 G Gabriel, Peter, 151 Garnett, Katrina and Terry, Garnett, Steve, 178, 246–247 Gartner, 6, 257 Gateway, 145 GE, 258 GenevaGroup, 205 Girl Scouts, 167 Global leaders, 188 Global strategies: communicating corporate vision, 178–179, 195–196; cultural sensitivity and, 192, 197; cultural sensitivity in marketing, 196–198; demonstrating local commitment, 198–199; developing global product capacities, 169–170; expanding without overspending, 176–177; 273 INDEX guidelines for, 174–175; handling global disputes, 188–192; international partnerships supporting, 179–182; planning, 182–186; selecting global leadership, 186–188; soliciting development advice as, 13; starting Asia-Pacific business, 192–196 Gloster, Fergus, 170, 171–172 Goals: aligning organization to, 225–230; matching marketing to intended, 223 Goldberg, Evan, 136 Google, 108, 119, 127–128, 160–161, 183, 217 Google Foundation, 158 Gore, Al, 151, 162 Graham, Reverend Billy, 50 Gratitude, 244–246 Gray, Jim, 17 Great Plains, 43 Greeting new hires, 243 Grenney, Jamie, 127, 128 Gretzky, Wayne, 17 Growth: employing sequential strategies for, 177–178; engaging employees for, 247–248; preparing for sales, 86–91; seed-and-grow strategy, 86–91, 100, 237; thinking big, 91–92 Gupta, Arjun, 2, 3, 205 Guynn, Jessica, 31 H Habitat for Humanity, 166 Hambrecht & Quist, 205 Hammer, MC, 49 Harris, Parker, 8–9, 11, 18, 20, 24, 104, 106–107, 110–113, 117, 122, 139–140, 227 Harvard Business Review, Hasbro, 141–142 Hassenfeld, Alan, 141 HBV Enterprise, 156 Hewlett-Packard, 140, 145 Hiring employees: building recruiting culture, 15, 16, 17, 19, 233–239; checks and balances in, 235; finding best players, 7–9, 15–17; finding innovative employees, 240; international guidelines, 175; maintaining hiring standards, 239–242; retaining and, 242–244 Hotmail, 20, 105 Howard, Marty, 117 Howe, Jeff, 129 Hu, George, 44–45 Huang, Jessica, 155 I IDC, 257 IdeaExchange, 127, 128, 231–232 IdeaStorm, 128–129 In-kind product donations, 156–158, 166 Inconvenient Truth, An, 162 Infocomm Development Authority, 196 274 Innovation: announcing regularly, 60; finding innovative employees, 240; IdeaExchange and, 127–130; pursuing in product development, 103–106 Innovator’s Dilemma, The (Christensen), 43, 255 Inspiration and vision, 1–3 Intelligent reaction, 132–133 International leaders, 188 International partnerships, 179–186 Internet File System, 14–15 Interviewing candidates: checks and balances in, 234–235; establishing relationships, 235, 241; scheduling regularly, 238 Introductory parties, 25–27 Investors: angel, 206–207; finding friends and family, 203–205; mentors as, 15 IPod, 126 IPOs: evolving to public corporation, 218–220; filing, 213–215; formalities after, 218–223; philanthropic freedom gained by, 153–156; preparing for, 210–215; SEC compliance and, 215–218 IRobot, 161 ISyndicate, 70 J Japan Post, 123, 185 Jobs, Steve, 14 Journalists, 40–44 Juster, Ken, 221–222 Justice, Rick, 91 K Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), 170 Kirkpatrick, David, 24 Kitamura, Akira, 182 Koa, 12, 171 KPMG, 99, 218 L Lam, Cristina, 155, 156 Landmark Training, 156 Lane, Ray, 136 Leadership: building recruiting culture, 15, 16, 17, 233–239; firing employees, 249; focusing and aligning, 225–233; fostering loyalty, 246–247; instilling gratitude, 244–246; international versus global, 188; local, 187–188; looking for top employees, 238–239; maintaining hiring standards, 239–242; motivating employees, 247–248; soliciting employee feedback, 249–252; vision and, 16–17 Leads, 74–76 Left Coast Software, 7–8, Legal teams, 221–222 Index Leveraging: business partnerships, 59; competition, 60–61; internal/external resources, 252–254; times of change, 82–85 Levi Strauss & Co., 140, 141 Liberty Software, 121 Licensing software, Liedtke, Michael, 31 Light-and-love philosophy, 188–192 LincVolt, 229 Listening: to constituents, 148–152; to customers, 13–14, 85–86 LiveOps, 161 Local experts, 181 Local leaders: building new markets with, 187–188; injecting with corporate spirit, 170–172 LookSmart, 82 M Mahalo, 244–246 Mahowald, Robert, 257 Mark, Diane, 70 Market leaders: engaging, 39–40 Marketing: becoming market leader, 66; branding and, 32; cultural sensitivity in, 196–198; developing strategies, 37–38; differentiating company, 28–31; engaging market leaders, 39–40; establishing product relevance, 60, 63–64; going after market leaders, 34, 36–38; including employees in, 33–34, 35; introductory parties and, 25–27; making into story, 40–41; matching to intended goals, 223; metaphors for, 44; model for, 44–45; persona for, 27–28; positioning and, 23–25; product innovations and, 60, 103–106; relationships with journalists, 41–44 Marketing See also Branding Marooney, Caryn, 24 Mata Amritananadamayi (Ammachi), 2–3, 136 McGraw-Hill, 89 Measures, 227, 228 Menefee, Douglas, 123 Mentors, 14–15, 19, 31, 137 Merck & Co., 143 Merrill Lynch, 95 Metaphors for marketing, 44 Methods, 226, 228 Metrics: basing marketing on, 44–45; criticisms of, 227, 228; market segmenting and, 80–81; measuring employee success, 251; monitoring success with, 101; revenue vs profitability, 208–209 MGM, 203 Microloan Foundation, 157 Microsoft, 42, 43, 66, 172, 176, 253 Microsoft Hotmail, 20, 105 Millham, Brian, 83 Miner, Allen, 180–181 Minor, Halsey, 205 Mizuho Information Research, 185 Moellenhoff, Dave, 9–10, 11, 21, 106–107, 117–118, 139–140 Monster.com, 53 Moore, Charlie, 217–218 Morale, 245 Morgan Stanley, 123 Multiforce, 122 Murase, Haruo, 184–185 MyStarbucksIdea.com, 120, 129 N Nakada, Paul, 12, 237–238 National Geographic Society, 167 NativeEnergy, 155, 162 Negotiating sales terms, 94 Nestl´e, 167 Netscape, 89 NetSuite, 161 Networking, 56 New York Stock Exchange, 153, 210–211, 212–213, 217, 258 New York Times, 41, 215–217, 220 Newsom, Gavin, 152 Nikkei, 185 No Software logo, 28–29, 32 Nucor, 255 O OASIS (Oracle Automatic Sales and Automatic Systems), Obstacles: correcting, 233–236; recognizing strategic, 226–227, 228 1–1–1 Model: corporate structure for, 164–165; developing globally, 178; evolution of, 141–144; in-kind product donations, 156–158, 166; involving others in, 159–161; sharing publically, 146–147; success of, 256 Operation Smile, 141 Oprah Winfrey Show, 138 Oracle, 5, 14–16, 30–31, 63, 64, 104, 109, 137, 170–172, 179, 225–226, 253 Oracle’s Promise, 137, 140, 145 OutCast Communications, 24, 33 P PaaS (Platform-as-a-Service): AppExchange and, 125–126; developing applications with, 123–125; extending SaaS with, 122–123 Page, Larry, 160–161 PalmOne, 161 Panozza, Kevin, 190–191 Paperwork for sales, 94 Partnerships: collaborating with, 131–132; leveraging business, 59 Passion, 16 PayPal, 160, 172 275 INDEX Peek, Jeffrey, 93 PeopleFinder project, 163–164 PeopleSoft, 218 Performance incentives, 245–246 Philanthropic models: choosing cause for, 144–146; employee-inspired foundations, 161–165; Google’s philanthropic commitment, 160–161; in-kind product donations, 156–158, 166; including foundation in business model, 140–144; incorporating in existing company, 135–139; integrating with corporate organization, 139–140; involving business partners and networks in, 159–161; listening to constituents, 148–152; self-sustaining, 153–156, 166–168; sharing publically, 146–147 Pinkham, Elizabeth, 37 Planning: events, 59–60; global expansion, 182–186; headquarters and territories, 172–173; long-term revenue, 223; tax, 220; V2MOM for, 225–230 Planning See also V2MOM Platform-as-a-Service See Paas Playboy, 217 Positioning: developing strategies, 37–38; importance of, 23–25 Positioning (Ries and Trout), 37 Post-event responses, 56 Powell, General Colin, 136, 137, 138–139, 144, 146 Power: personal, 17 Power of Us, 146–147, 160 PowerUP, 144–145, 148 PR Week, 37 President’s Summit for America’s Future, 136–137 Pricing products, 78–79 Product development: communities of collaboration for, 131–132, 145; delivering products quickly, 107–108; ease of customer adoption, 119; encouraging customer feedback on, 13–14; finding talent for, 7–9, 15–17; harnessing customers’ ideas, 127–130; including global capabilities in, 169–170; innovative, 103–106; intelligent reaction in, 132–133; letting customers drive, 115–118; Platform-as-a-Service, 120–125; providing marketplace for solutions, 125–126; reusing infrastructure technology, 109–110; speed and simplicity in, 106–107; testing product usability, 13–14; transparency in, 110–113, 114 Product launch: choosing partners for, 179–182; cultural sensitivity for global, 192, 197; expansion without overspending, 176–177; global strategies for, 174–175; handling global disputes, 188–192; instilling corporate spirit in global leaders, 170–172; preparing for global capabilities, 169–170; projecting success for, 175–176; selecting global leadership, 186–188; sequential growth strategies, 177–178; telesales teams for, 172–173 Professional services See Corporate sales teams Project Homeless Connect, 142–143 276 Prospects: introducing to happy customers, 100–101; preparing to talk with, 88 Public relations: capitalizing on competition’s, 41–44; changes in public image, 217, 220–221; company story for, 40–41; developing cohesive message, 33–34; market positioning and, 23–25; receiving global, 185–186; regular announcements for, 60; reliability and, 114; sharing philanthropic models, 146–147 Q Quiet-period rules, 215–218 R Rainforest2Reef, 157, 160 Recharge time, 1–3 Recruiting: building culture for, 15, 16, 17, 19, 233–239; maintaining hiring standards, 239–242; retaining top talent, 242–244 Red Cross, 157 Relationships: with competition and customers, 39–40; cultivating with journalists, 41–44; establishing in candidate interviews, 235, 241; establishing with leaders, 241; fostering loyalty with, 246–247; leveraging business partnerships, 59; treating customers as partners, 69–71 Relevance: events establishing market, 60, 63–64; giving philanthropic efforts, 148–152 Reliability: public relations and, 114; service disruptions and, 110–113 Reusing infrastructure technology, 109–110 Revenue: challenges of subscription model, 218–220; long-term planning for, 223; profitability vs., 208–209 Rewarding volunteers, 165 Ridout, Bob, 99 Ries, Al, 37 Risks: developing company persona, 27–28; taking, 18–20 Robinson, Phill, 58 Rosebud Sioux Tribe, 162 Rotating assignments, 248 Rudnitsky, David, 89–95 S SaaS (Software-as-a-Service): developing regulatory environment for, 221–222; inspiration for, 3–4, 135–139; on-demand model vs hosted choice, 105–106; PaaS as extension of, 122–123; potentials in CRM for online, 6; providing API, 119; public relations for, 23–25; revenue recognition position paper for, 214; selling directly to end users, 52–54; testing product usability, 13–14 SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) See also PaaS Saba, 7, 8, Sabbaticals, 1–3 Index Sales: abandoning unsuccessful strategies, 96–97; building with word-of-mouth, 47–49; call preparation for, 92–93; closing, 93; cooperative effort in, 92; corporate and enterprise models for, 177–178; directing with V2MOM, 232–233; enlisting customers for, 73–76; establishing pricing for, 78–79; facts creating credibility for, 94; free trial strategies, 67–68, 96–97; increasing number of reps for, 79–80; introducing prospects to happy customers, 100–101; landing and expanding, 95, 184–185; leveraging times of change, 82–85; metrics monitoring, 101; negotiating, 94; paperwork for, 94; performance incentives for, 245–246; preparing distribution and growth of, 86–91; pursuing game-changing, 95; recruiting as, 236–239; segmenting markets, 80–81; selling corporate services, 98–100; strategies for trial offers, 96–97; supporting existing customers, 97–98; targeting to higher education and NGOs, 166–168; telesales, 76–78; thinking big, 91–92; treating customers as partners, 69–71; visiting customers, 93; Web sites as reps for, 72–73 Sales force automation (SFA), 5–6 Sales reps: commissions motivating, 85; increasing number of, 79–80; sharing best practices with team, 94; using Web sites as, 72–73 SalesForce Australia, 189–191 Salesforce Foundation: establishment of, 140; 1–1–1 Model of, 142–143, 159–161 Salesforce.com: AppExchange and, 125–126, 196–197; beginnings of, 11–12, 14–21; branding, 28–32; collaborative spirit of, 131–132, 145; creating story about, 40–41; customer success managers at, 97–98; designing limitless system, 103–106; developing Web-based operating system, 120–125; employee-generated disaster relief at, 163–164; ensuring reliability, 110–113; environmental mission statement of, 163; evolving vision statements, 232; focusing, 12–13; free trial subscriptions, 67–68, 96; going after market leaders, 34, 36–38; harnessing customer ideas, 127–130; initial meetings about, 9–11; initiating product market, 60–61; introductory party for, 25–27; keeping on-message, 33–34, 35; listening to customers, 13–14, 85–86; listing on NYSE, 153, 210–211, 212–213; marking success with donations, 167–168; persona of, 27–28; preparing for sales growth, 86–91; product development at, 106–107, 115–118, 132–133; seed-and-grow strategy, 100; selling to end users, 52–54 Salesforce.com See also 1–1–1 Model; V2MOM Salmart, 191 San Francisco Chronicle, 42 Sano, Chikara, 174, 180 Sarbanes-Oxley filings, 220 Satellite offices, 193–196 Schachter, Carl, 83, 87–88, 186–187 Schellhase, David, 215–216 Schmidt, Meredith, 218–219 Schultz, Howard, 129 Schumacher Group, 123 Sclavos, Stratton, 205 Seagate Technology, 124 Seagull approach, 198–199 SEC quiet-period rules, 215–218 Securities Act of 1933, 217 Security and career change, 19 Seed-and-grow strategy, 86–91, 100, 237 Segmenting markets, 80–81 Seibel, 61 Sequential growth strategies, 177–178 Service disruptions, 110–113 Shankar, Sri Sri Ravi, Sharing best practices, 94 Siebel, 63, 64 Siebel, Tom, 5, 6, 7, 38, 39 Siebel User Group conference, 34, 36–37 Sill, Igor, 205 Simplicity, 106–107 Singh, Narinder, 109–110, 127, 131–132 Skoll Foundation, 161 So, Clarence, 62–63 SoftBank Commerce, 183 Software-as-a-Service See SaaS Sohl, Jeffrey, 206–207 Southwest Airlines, 258 Speed, 106–107 Stakeholders’ success, 255–260 Stanford University, 157 Starbucks, 120, 129, 203 Start-up companies: adopting formalities after IPO, 220–223; believe in yourself, 5–6; building recruiting culture, 15, 16, 17, 19, 233–239; career development in, 250–252; choosing international partners, 179–182; creating image with events, 54; defining values and culture, 11–12; defying convention, 14; demonstrating commitment, 198–199; developing vision for, 3–4, 178–179, 195–196; differentiating, 28–31; disruptive business models of, 255, 259; ensuring stakeholders’ success, 255–260; establishing product relevance, 60, 63–64; estimating financing needed, 201–203; evolving to public corporation, 218–220; expanding without overspending, 176–177; financial team for, 209–210; focusing work, 12–13; fundraising strategies for, 203–205; getting good advice, 7–8; global strategies for products, 174–175; having mentors, 14–15; hiring best players, 15–17; injecting local leaders with corporate spirit, 170–172; integrating philanthropic model in, 139–140; listening to customers, 13–14, 85–86; long-term revenue planning, 223; philanthropic foundation in business model, 140–144; planning global growth, 172–173; preparing and filing IPO, 210–215; pursuing top talent, 7–9, 15–17; recharge time when developing, 277 INDEX 1–3; reducing costs of, 206–207; responding to criticism, 9–11; revenue vs profitability in, 208–209; sequential growth strategies for, 177–178; starting satellite offices, 193–196; staying scrappy, 65–66; taking risks, 18–20; thinking bigger, 20–21; venture capital and, 205 Steele, Jim, 89 Story: developing for reporters, 40–41 Street Team concept, 49–52 Subscriptions: advantages of, 10, 90; business model based on, 76; converting to contract model, 82–85, 207–208; donating to nonprofits, 156–158, 166; free trial, 67–68, 96; licensing vs., 6; revenue challenges with, 218–220 Success: End of Software mission, 256; ensuring stakeholders’, 255–260; evaluating sales strategies, 96–97; measuring employee, 251; metrics monitoring corporate, 101; planning successful events, 55–56; projecting for product launch, 175–176; sharing financial, 217–218; supporting customers’, 97–100 Sugal, Cheri, 157 SunBridge, 181–182 SunGard, 89–91, 94 Susan G Komen for the Cure, 166 Swift River Consulting, 160 V T Waitt, Ted, 205 Wall Street Journal, 23, 31, 39, 41, 43, 72, 73 Wallace, Mitch, 16, 99 Wardrobe for Opportunity, 160 Web sites: placing event content on, 56; positioning with, 24 WITNESS, 157 Wooster, Peter, 72 Word-of-mouth phenomenon, 47–49 Wright, Steve, 149 Talent See Hiring employees Tax planning, 220 Teach First, 157 Telesales: designing teams for, 172–173; preparing for, 92–93; tips for, 78; using, 76–78 Testimony: capturing from events, 56; defined, 47; fine-tuning international, 183; fostering customer, 49–51; managing and using customer, 51–52 Testing product usability, 13–14 Theikos, 160 Thomson Reuters, 123 Trademark infringement, 189–190 Training programs, 252, 253–254 Transparency, 110–113, 114 Trell, Julie, 145, 146, 149 Trial offers, 67–68, 96–97 Tribune Media Services, 53 Trout, Jack, 37 Trust, 110–113, 126 Tyco, 212 Tzu, Sun, 10–11, 38 U Uda, Eiji, 183–184, 187, 195 UN World Food Programme, 158, 160 United Way, 157 UpShot, 61 278 V2MOM: aligning officers to, 230–233; creating own, 229; evolution of, 225–226; meaning of, 226–227; Salesforce.com’s use of, 228 Values: aligning with V2MOM, 225–230; defining company, 11–12 Van Veenendaal, Frank, 85 Vargo, Angela, 130 Veeva Systems, 99 Venrock, Venture capital: angel investments vs., 206–207; estimating and finding, 201–203; start-up companies and, 205 VeriSign, 205 Vision: developing your, 1–4; establishing with V2MOM, 225–230; examples of Salesforce.com, 232; finding employees who share, 241; importance of, 16–17; selling to potential employees, 236–237; sharing with new hires, 244; statements of corporate, 232; staying true to, 198 Visualforce, 122 Volunteerforce, 121 Volunteers: empowering employee, 141–142, 161–162, 163–164; rewarding, 165 W Y Yahoo!, 105, 108 Yazdani, Bobby, 7–8 Yesil, Magdalena, 18, 82–83, 204 Yoshimoto, Kazuhiko, 185 Young, Neil, 229 Youssefnia, David, 250 Youth Media Festival, 150–152 Z Zweben, Monte, 69 Photo by Jakub Mosur Carlye Adler is an award-winning journalist whose articles have appeared in BusinessWeek, Departures, Fast Company, Fortune, Forbes, Portfolio, Wired, and Time She cowrote, with Marc Benioff, The Business of Changing the World She lives in New York City For more information, please visit www.salesforce.com/behindthecloud and www.facebook.com/behindthecloud “Reading this book, I laughed out loud many times as Marc told his story, a story of great ideas, thunder-stealing pranks, and a world consciousness that is at the heart of salesforce.com.” —Neil Young “Reading, but also afterwards, practicing the 111 plays described by Marc Benioff opens the door for entrepreneurial success much better than any MBA program.” —Klaus Schwab, founder, World Economic Forum, and cofounder, Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship “Cisco and salesforce.com share a vision of how the network is the platform to transform business In his book, Benioff outlines how salesforce.com has used cloud computing to disrupt and reshape the enterprise software space It is clear that we are just beginning to understand the potential of networked business and the future benefits and productivity gains of the next phase of the Internet.” —John Chambers, chairman and CEO, Cisco “Behind the Cloud demonstrates what happens when companies act as good citizens Everyone—from employees to shareholders to the community—wins Get ready to be inspired and make a difference.” —Charles Moore, executive director, Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy LEADERSHIP US $27.95 | CAN $33.95 the salesforce.com playbook Marc R Benioff is the chairman and CEO of salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM), which he cofounded in 1999 Under Benioff’s direction, salesforce.com has grown from a groundbreaking idea into a publicly traded company that is the market and technology leader in enterprise cloud computing Salesforce.com has received a Wall Street Journal Technology Innovation Award, been lauded as one of BusinessWeek’s Top 100 Most Innovative Companies, been named No on the Wired 40, was selected for the past two years as a Top Ten Disrupter by Forbes, and been voted one of the world’s most ethical companies by Business Ethics Magazine Benioff is the recipient of many awards for pioneering innovation, including the 2007 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year In 2000, Benioff launched the Salesforce.com Foundation—now a multimillion-dollar global organization He lives in San Francisco “In Behind the Cloud, Marc Benioff takes us through the ups and downs of building one of the most extraordinary businesses of our time and reveals the tactics that gave salesforce.com its amazing edge This book will show you how to focus your vision, think differently, align your organization—and transform your business and your life.” —Anthony Robbins, author, Awaken the Giant Within and Unlimited Power Behind the Cloud “Salesforce.com and Google share a vision for how the cloud will revolutionize computing Behind the Cloud gives us a rare glimpse at the development of one of the most important trends in business today.” —Eric Schmidt, CEO, Google Benioff Praise for Behind the Cloud “A great guide for any aspiring entrepreneur or CEO navigating the landscape of the future It’s the playbook for Enterprise 2.0.” —From the Foreword by MICHAEL DELL Behind the Cloud the untold story of how salesforce.com went from idea to billion-dollar company— and revolutionized an industry Marc Benioff Chairman & CEO of salesforce.com and Carlye Adler www.josseybass.com the salesforce.com playbook How did salesforce.com grow from a start-up in a rented apartment into the world’s fastest growing software company in less than a decade? For the first time, Marc Benioff, the visionary founder, chairman, and CEO of salesforce.com, tells how he and his team created and used new business, technology, and philanthropic models tailored to this time of extraordinary change Showing how salesforce.com not only survived the dot-com implosion of 2001, but also went on to define itself as the leader of the cloud computing revolution and spark a 46 billion-dollar industry, Benioff ’s story will help business leaders and entrepreneurs stand out, innovate better, and grow faster in any economic climate In Behind the Cloud, Benioff shares the strategies that have inspired employees, turned customers into evangelists, leveraged an ecosystem of partners, and allowed innovation to flourish Benioff shows how salesforce.com pioneered a simple idea (delivering business applications as a service over the Internet) to change the way all businesses use software applications and, ultimately, change the way the software industry works With Marc Benioff ’s candid, unconventional advice and unusual call-out lessons from the Salesforce.com Playbook—including Benioff’s proprietary management tool, V2MOM— any business can go against the grain, rapidly change the game, and learn how to achieve lasting success ... Behind the Cloud the untold story of how salesforce. com went from idea to billion- dollar company and revolutionized an industry Marc R Benioff Chairman & CEO of salesforce. com Carlye... Cataloging-in-Publication Data Benioff, Marc R., 196 4Behind the cloud : the untold story of how Salesforce. com went from idea to billion- dollar company and revolutionized an industry / Marc R Benioff,... worried Internet companies had evaporated overnight, and salesforce. com, a two-year-old company with a high proportion of dot -com customers, was ailing ‘‘I’m scared about the future of my company, ’’