Building for the Enterprise(and why it’s not as bad as you think)

27MM+ Users

240K+ Businesses

99% Fortune 500

How did we get here?

THE INTERNET: 2004

THE INTERNET: 2004

In 2004 it was really hard to share files

Cost of storage dropping dramatically

More powerful browsers and networks

More locations and people to share with

We identified rapidly changing factors:

We put together a quick version of Box and launched it!

Soon we were getting 100,000’s of signups every month

But…

Over-serving consumersand

Under-serving businesses

We had to make a choice

Consumer Enterprise

MOBILE APPS$35 BILLION

DIGITAL ADVERTISING$135 BILLION

GLOBAL IT$3.7 TRILLION

The problem was, enterprise software was really unsexy

Slow, Expensive, Complex, and… Sales

I’m Chuck!

“You’ll never make it in the enterprise”

- Every investor, ever (in 2007)

My co-founder

We would only do enterprise if it could be done differently…

Everything has changed

CLOUD

CHEAP

STANDARDIZED

EVERY BUSINESS

GLOBAL

USER-LED

ON-PREMISE COMPUTING

EXPENSIVE COMPUTING

CUSTOMIZED SOFTWARE

LARGE ENTERPRISES

REGIONAL

IT-LED

1.75 BILLION SMART PHONES

2.9 BILLION PEOPLE ONLINE

EVERY INDUSTRYIS CHANGING

AdvertisingEducation Hi-TechM&EHealthcareRetail

Construction PackagedGoods

Energy Government ManufacturingLegal

Accelerate multi-platform commerce

Enable more personalized healthcare

Global media creation & distribution

Every company in the world needs better technology to work smarter, faster, more securely

How do you get started?

SPOT DISRUPTIONSLook for new enabling technologies that create a

wide gap between how things have been done and how they can be done.

SPOT DISRUPTIONS

INTENTIONALLY START SMALLStart with something simple and small, then

expand over time. If people call it a “toy” you’re definitely onto something.

INTENTIONALLY START SMALL

FIND ASYMMETRIESDo things that incumbents can’t or won’t do

because it’s economically or technically infeasible.

FIND ASYMMETRIES

FIND THE ALMOST-CRAZY OUTLIERSGo after the customers that are working in the future, but that haven’t totally lost their minds.

FIND THE ALMOST-CRAZY OUTLIERS

LISTEN TO CUSTOMERSBut don’t always build exactly what they want.

Build what they need.

LISTEN TO CUSTOMERS

MODULARIZE, DON’T CUSTOMIZEEvery customer will want something a little bit

different. Don’t make the product suffer for this.

MODULARIZE, DON’T CUSTOMIZE

FOCUS ON THE USERKeep “consumer” DNA at the core of your

enterprise product. This will always pay dividends.

FOCUS ON THE USER

YOUR PRODUCT SHOULD SELL ITSELFSales should be used to navigate customers and

close deals, not be a substitute for great product.

YOUR PRODUCT SHOULD SELL ITSELF

This is an amazing time to start an enterprise software company

But if you don’t, we’re hiring.jobs@box.com