????怎樣打造一家10億美元級企業呢？這是一個非線性過程。我在Salesforce.com剛開始工作時，辦公室里只有10個人。在成功之路上，我們絕大部分時間都在緩慢攀升，而且中途幾次轉向。

????我喜歡“轉向”這種說法，因為由此可以看出，要進入新的成長階段，公司就必須從本質上改頭換面。在這個階段幫助你取得成功的因素到了下一個階段就有可能成為你邁向成功的障礙。因此，進入新階段后必須愿意改弦更張，放棄之前的那些金科玉律。

????2007年我創立了軟件公司Zuora。這些年來，我認識到了打造10億美元級企業要付出哪些代價。以下是我在各個成長階段學到的一些最重要的東西。

????驗證思路：從零到100萬美元

????有了正確的思路，種子輪融資一般能讓你獲得100萬美元資金。你不必把公司的所有希望都寄托在A輪投資上。以Zuora為例，我們的想法是，基于訂購的公司必須自行建立計費系統的原因不應該只是電信公司的系統太貴，或者是普通的ERP軟件沒有自己所需的功能。因此，我們先做出原型系統，隨后與50多位潛在客戶進行了交流。通過Salesforce.com，我們把屏幕截圖放到了網上，邀請人們參與beta測試，并向所有感興趣的人做了演示，然后詢問他們有何想法。我們正式啟動時，已經有200名客戶等在那里了。

????驗證產品：從100萬到300萬美元

????客戶到底需要什么樣的產品？你可能得過濾一下自己的想法，然后決定首先做什么，哪些東西可以放到以后幾年再做。或者，你也可能必須反其道而行之。最初我們覺得一個簡單的計費系統就已足夠。隨后我們意識到，自己需要一個非常寬的平臺，包括應用程序界面、付費系統、商業平臺和稅務引擎。

????在這個階段你仍然處于學習狀態，但你必須走完這個過程。在下一階段，你將無暇對自己的產品進行重大調整，因為你將著眼于規模化。同時，你還得制定出連貫的產品路線圖。

????驗證市場：從300萬到1000萬美元

????這個階段非常激動人心。你將招聘銷售人員，把資金用于營銷，把注意力集中在執行方面。現在的核心任務是定義自己的市場。它的規模真的能達到10億美元嗎？還是有5億？或者1億美元？在種子輪或A輪融資階段，你有的只是希望和夢想。現在投資者會要求你告訴他們市場到底有多大，你需要做的是用故事和數據來證明這一點。

????創立Zuora時，許多人都覺得我們的產品完全屬于軟件即服務（SaaS）行業。我們知道，任何一家公司都有可能從我們的解決方案中受益，因此我們通過媒體、金融服務和醫療保健公司搜集了證據。我們甚至接觸了一家上市公司。別不由自主地把自己局限在某一個領域。這樣做實際上會把你困在一個較小的市場里。

????驗證業務模式：從1000萬到3000萬美元

????現在，你要把注意力轉向業務模式。客戶獲取成本有多高？你的客戶流失率是多少？研發到底花了多少錢？客戶的終身價值是多少？你的毛利潤率有多高？按合約價值計算，你的客戶留存率高于零嗎？這些指標都在向好的方向發展嗎？

????這并不是說你在早期階段可以完全忽視業務模式指標，但在1000萬美元級別，次優業務模式的成本很低。而現在，你得做出艱難抉擇，以免自己的公司在達到3000萬美元的規模后陷入虧損。你的銷售模式合理嗎？如果不合理，就更換銷售團隊。你在追逐不能帶來利潤的客戶嗎？如果是這樣，就讓他們變得有利可圖，或者停止這樣做。你的定價水平能帶來很高的毛利潤率嗎？如果不能，就想辦法提高單個客戶的收入貢獻。記住，在這個階段，“四面出擊”是公司陷入停滯的首要原因之一。

????驗證眼光：從3000萬到1億美元

????如果打算吸收公眾資金或規模更大的投資，新投資者就得確認你是安全的投資對象，而且能長期經營下去。他們不是那些早就知道部分投資會打水漂的風險投資人。他們希望盡量降低風險。他們想要的是合適的管理團隊和董事會，可預期的執行和正現金流，至少是實現正現金流的明確路徑。他們還需要看到市場規模沒有水分，而你作為負責人能拿出一套合適的產品、人員以及合作伙伴，從而獲得可持續的競爭優勢。

????驗證行業：從1億到3億美元

????在這個節點，你的公司已經完成規模化。小公司開始圍攏過來，就像行星圍著太陽運轉。他們看上了你的客戶群體和營銷，看上了你的大批銷售人員，并且希望通過這些銷售人員來擴展他們的業務范圍。

????現在就可以建立生態系統了。它無法一蹴而就，但做到3億美元時，你就必須能說得出，作為成長型行業的核心成員，你的公司將如何繼續同行業一道發展。建立平臺，并讓它擁有生機勃勃的生態系統，這實際上就相當于向人們展示你的企業將如何達到10億美元級別。

????驗證企業：從3億到10億美元

????對于成為10億美元級企業，你已經萬事俱備。現在要關注的是執行。絕不要自滿，絕不要無視行業以及競爭對手的發展情況，特別是那些可能擁有顛覆性新思路的初創企業。

????達到10億美元級別的公司不多，但把這個過程劃分為幾個階段后，它就變得更容易理解，而且也不再那么讓人望而生畏。關鍵在于意識到每個階段都各不相同，你要驗證的東西也不一樣。對變化敞開懷抱。對轉向欣然接受。只有經歷了這一切，你才能理解約翰·D·洛克菲勒的那句話——“別怕為了最好的東西而放棄好的東西”。（財富中文網）

????本文作者左霆軒是Zuora首席執行官，該公司為企業設計SaaS產品，并通過訂購模式進行銷售。

????譯者：Charile

????校對：詹妮

????How do you build a billion-dollar business? It’s not a linear process. When I started at Salesforce.com CRM -1.79% , we were 10 guys in a room. Our path to success was much more of a slow climb, with lots of switchbacks along the way.

????I like the switchback metaphor because it represents how companies entering a new growth stage must essentially become a new organization. The things that made it successful during one stage may actually prevent it from succeeding during the next. So at each stage, it must be willing to change the rules and toss the sacred cows.

????I started Zuora in 2007. And over the years, I have learned what it takes to build a $1 billion company. These are some of the biggest lessons I learned, at each stage of growth:

????Prove the idea: $0 to $1 million

????With the right idea, you can generally raise $1 million with a seed round. You don’t have to bet the whole company on an A round. At Zuora, for example, our idea was that subscription-based companies shouldn’t have to build their own billing systems just because telco billing systems were too expensive and regular enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems didn’t provide the required features. So we built a prototype and spoke with over 50 potential customers. Through Salesforce.com, we put screen shots on a website, invited people to participate in a beta, showed a demo to everyone interested, and asked what they thought. We had 200 customers lined up when we launched.

????Prove the product: $1 million to $3 million

????What product do your customers really need? You may have to cull your ideas and decide what to build first and what can be pushed out to later years. Or you may have to do the opposite. We initially thought a simple billing system was sufficient. Then we realized we needed a very broad platform, including application program interfaces (APIs), payment systems, commerce platforms, and tax engines.

????You’re still learning at this stage, but you have to complete the process now. You won’t have time to dramatically re-engineer your product during the next stage because you’ll be looking to scale. You’ll also need a coherent product roadmap in place.

????Prove the market: $3 million to $10 million

????This stage is very exciting. You’re hiring salespeople, spending money on marketing, and focusing on execution. Defining your market is now essential. Is it truly a billion dollar market? $500 million? $100 million? For your seed or A round, it was all about hopes and dreams. Now investors will demand to know how big this market really is, and you’ll need the story and statistics to prove it.

????When we started Zuora, many assumed our product was strictly for the software as a service (SaaS) industry. We knew any company could benefit from our solution, so we gathered the proof points by going to media, financial services, and healthcare companies. We even went to a public company. Don’t automatically limit yourself to focusing on a single vertical. It can actually box you into a smaller market.

????Prove the business model: $10 million to $30 million

????Now it’s time to focus on your business model. What is your customer acquisition cost? Your churn rate? How much does your R&D really cost? What is your customer lifetime value? Your gross margins? Do you have a positive net dollar retention? Are the trends getting better?

????I’m not suggesting you completely ignore business model metrics during earlier stages, but the cost of a sub-optimal business model at $10 million is small. But now you need to make the tough choices so you don’t find yourself at a $30 million run rate with a money-losing business. Do you have the right sales model? If not, swap out the sales team. Are you chasing unprofitable customers? If so, make them profitable or stop doing it. Do your price points allow for strong gross margins? If not, figure out how to increase revenues per customer. Keep in mind that at this stage “chasing anything that moves” is one of the top reasons companies stall.

????Prove the vision: $30 million to $100 million

????If you’re going to take public money or larger investments, your new investors need to know you’re a safe bet and will be around for the long haul. They aren’t venture investors that expect some of their bets to fail. They want minimal risk. They want the right management team and board. They want predictable execution and positive cash flow, or at least a clear path to achieving it. They also need to see that the market size is real and that you’re a leader with the right set of products, people, and partners to create a sustainable competitive advantage.

????Prove the industry: $100 million to $300 million

????At this point, your company has scale. Smaller companies are starting to surround you, like planets circling a sun. They like your customer base and marketing. They like how many salespeople you have and hope to use those salespeople to increase their reach.

????Now is the time to build an ecosystem. It won’t happen overnight, but by the time you reach $300 million, you need to be able to explain how, as the center of an expanding industry, you will continue to grow with it. By creating a ‘platform’ with a burgeoning ecosystem, you are actually demonstrating how you will become a billion dollar business.

????Prove the company: $300 million to $1 billion

????You have everything in place to reach a billion. Now it comes down to execution. Never get complacent. Never lose sight of how the industry and competitors are evolving, especially start-ups with new and potentially disruptive ideas.

????Few companies make it to a billion, but by breaking the journey into stages, the process becomes more comprehensible and less forbidding. Just recognize that each stage is different and what you are trying to prove is different. Embrace change. Embrace the switchback. For only when you round the turns can you begin to understand John D. Rockefeller’s phrase, “Don’t be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.”

????Tien Tzuo is the CEO of Zuora, a software company that designs and sells SaaS applications for companies with a subscription business model.