如何加入“独角兽公司俱乐部”？

    本文为与《创业者》杂志的合作内容。下文最初发表于Entrepreneur.com网站。

    许多软件公司创始人都有一个孩子一样的梦想——他们想成为“独角兽”。

    在企业界，“独角兽”与在童话故事中一样罕见。牛仔风投将“独角兽公司”定义为：2003年以来在美国成立的软件公司，公募或私募市场上的估值达到10亿美元以上。

    我曾与三家“独角兽公司”的领导者谈论过他们的成功经历，以及他们对其他初创公司的建议。希望跻身“独角兽俱乐部”的创业者，以下是三大秘诀：

    寻找新的市场

    独角兽是稀有的，要不断寻找新的路线去探索。

    创新性闪存公司Pure Storage的CEO斯科特•迪茨恩正是利用这一策略，将公司打造成市值超十亿美元的独角兽公司。创建伊始，这家公司就致力于寻找一个庞大但服务不完善的市场。

    迪茨恩表示：“Pure瞄准了规模达1,000亿美元的企业数据存储市场，该市场的主导产品架构已有二十多年的历史，客户对传统产品的满意度远低于平均水平。”

    接下来，公司找到了一个能够改变市场游戏规则的破坏性因素。

    他说：“对于Pure而言，这个因素就是从机械磁盘存储转向固态闪存。”

    下一个步骤是创建一套成功秘诀，让其他公司拼命复制。

    他建议：“接下来，确定一个能改变市场游戏规则的破坏因素，精心制作一份破坏处方，让其他市场参与者拼命复制。”

    在线零售商Zulily的CEO达雷尔•卡文斯也认为，初创公司要想成为独角兽公司，必须打破陈规，挑战传统观念。

    他说道：“最初，有许多人认为我们要想成功，必须遵守电子商务领域的惯例。但我们并没有理睬这些否定的意见。我们预感到，肯定有另外一种开展电子商务的方式，看到客户的热情之后，我们便全力投入其中。”

    Waze是全球最大的基于社区的交通与导航应用，该公司也是采用一种新方式来解决一个传统问题，并由此跻身独角兽俱乐部。

    Waze全球通信与创意战略总监朱莉•安妮•莫斯勒表示：“Waze是传统交通分析模式强有力的挑战者，因为我们完全依靠来自社区的数据，而不是道路传感器或街头的摄像机。”

    建立与客户的奇妙联系

    要打造一家独角兽公司，客户必须掌握主动权，能够推动关键决策和产品开发，来满足他们的需求。

    迪茨恩表示：“最重要的是，你必须让客户满意。客户可以并且应该是你最强大的拥护者。他们理应会让你知道自己为他们所提供的价值。”

    卡文斯表示，听取客户的意见是Zulily成功的重要因素。

    他说道：“我们没有总体规划，但对于我们能做什么，我们始终保持开放的心态，在看到客户对我们提供的购物方式的反应后，我们会继续按照他们的需求来完善我们的业务。”

    Waze从最开始便将客户纳入到产品当中。

    莫斯勒表示：“我们充分利用每次机会和产品，让用户对产品的成功拥有既得利益——并且使他们尽可能容易地向朋友们介绍我们，进而获得更多宣传。”

    让投资者着迷

    独角兽公司不仅满足于找到投资者，他们还要找到合适的投资者。

    迪茨恩建议：“不要等到有资金需求的时候才去融资。这样才能确保你有机会对投资者进行权衡，保证寻找到的投资者最适合公司的文化和长期愿景。你应该尽量避免那些一心只想将公司卖掉变现的投资者，而是要去寻找那些愿意进行长期投资的投资者。”

    创业者找到适合自己的投资者之后，必须重视投资者的需求，并借此让他们参与到公司运营中来。

    他说道：“你必须非常善于对客户解释，为什么你的产品与公司是正确的、有投资保障的长期选择。站在客户的立场上进行考虑，尽量让自己的解释吸引到买家。”

    做好飞速增长的准备

    成为独角兽公司的道路不会随着融资完成而结束。创业者必须针对公司规模制定计划，并及时了解一家快速增长的公司有哪些需求。

    迪茨恩说道：“从进入市场到现在，我们一直保持400%的平均年增长率。要成为庞大市场的领导者，你必须快速增长。”（财富中文网）

    译者：刘进龙/汪皓

    This post is in partnership with Entrepreneur. This story originally appeared on Entrepreneur.com

    Many software entrepreneurs share a similar dream with little children — they want to be unicorns.

    The unicorns that exist in the dreams of companies are just as rare as those that exist in fairy tales. Cowboy Ventures defines unicorns as U.S.-based software companies founded since 2003 and valued at over $1 billion by public or private market investors.

    I spoke with leaders of three unicorns about their success and their advice for hopeful startups. Here are their tips on how to become a member of the magical and rare species:

    Find new pastures

    Unicorns are unique, and find new paths to explore.

    This was the strategy Scott Dietzen, CEO of Pure Storage, an innovative flash storage company, used to bring the company to unicorn status. The company began by finding a large, ill-served market.

    “In Pure’s case, we tackled the $100 billion enterprise data-storage market, in which the dominant product architectures are two decades old, and customer satisfaction with the legacy products is well below average,” Dietzen says.

    The company next identified a disrupting factor that changed the game for those already in the market.

    “For Pure, this was the transition from mechanical disk-based storage to solid-state flash memory,” he says.

    The next step is to create a recipe for success that others try to copy.

    Next, “identify a disruptor that changes the game on the market incumbents and craft a recipe for disruption that others will strive to copy,” he suggests.

    Darrell Cavens, CEO of Zulily, an online retailer that curates a new selection of products each day, agrees that to create a unicorn, startups must break from the pack and challenge traditional knowledge.

    “We ignored many of the naysayers who told us that we had to operate by the current conventions in ecommerce in order to be successful,” he says. “We had a hunch that there was another way that we could do ecommerce and when we saw customer passion we went all in with it.”

    Waze, the world’s largest community-based traffic and navigation app, also reached unicorn status by looking at an old problem in a new way.

    “Waze was a strong challenger of the traditional model of traffic analysis because we relied entirely on input from the community, not from road sensors or street cameras,” says Julie Anne Mossler, head of global communications and creative launch strategy at Waze.

    Create magical connections with customers

    To build a unicorn, the customer must hold the reins, driving major decisions and product development to meet their needs.

    “Most of all, you need hugely delighted customers,” Dietzen says. “Customers can and should be your strongest advocates. They should teach you about the value that you’ve delivered to them.”

    Listening to the customer was a major factor in the success of Zulily, Cavens says.

    “We didn’t have a master plan, but we had an open mind about what we could do and when we saw that our customer was responding to the type of shopping we were offering, we continued to build the business around what she wanted,” he says.

    Waze built their customers into the product from the start.

    “We optimized the opportunity and the product so that users have a vested interest in its success — and made it as easy as possible for them to spread the word to friends and recruit additional editors,” Mossler says.

    Enchant investors

    Unicorns don’t just find investors, but they find the right investors for the business.

    “Fundraise before you need the money,” Dietzen suggests. “That ensures you have the opportunity to weigh alternative investors to ensure the best fit in terms of culture and long-term aspirations. You should strive to avoid investors that will want to sell, and find the ones that are in it for the long haul.”

    Once entrepreneurs find investors that are a good match, they must focus on their needs to get them on board.

    “You also must be very, very good at explaining why your product and company are the right long-term, investment-protecting choice for those customers,” he says. “Put yourself into your customers shoes to best make the case that will appeal to your buyer.”

    Groom for growth

    The road to becoming a unicorn doesn’t end with funding. Entrepreneurs must plan for the scale of the business and keep up with the demands of a fast growing company.

    “We have been averaging 400 percent annual growth since we entered the market,” Dietzen says. “You need to grow fast in big markets if you want to lead.”