You come up with a new idea for a startup in your dorm room. You quit school and go to Sand Hill Road, where VCs give you money. Your company is growing fast. You go public with a valuation of over $1 billion, and you get a lot of attention.
What if there was another way? If you could grow a $1 billion company with no outside investment, crazy sales and marketing spend, and the pressure to grow fast, what would it be like?
A company that has a broad set of front- and back-end business software has been successful. Last year, revenue exceeded $1 billion, but it didn't give an exact number. It has never taken so much money from the outside.
By developing the company on its own terms, Zoho has been able to build a strong internal culture steeped in R&D and product development without having to worry about investor interference.
Everything from a traditional office suite to business intelligence, finance, sales and marketing, customer service and too many other software categories can be found in the catalog. Despite being in a harsh competitive landscape, it has found a way to thrive despite using a freemium model.
I spoke to founder and CEO Sridhar Vembu, along with some industry experts, to get a better sense of how Zoho has grown on its own terms.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
