今天下åˆï¼ŒCiscoçš„å‰CEO,John Morgridge來幫我們上關於Ciscoæˆé•·çš„æ•…事。我下課時,感覺有點憤怒。
Cisco這間公å¸ï¼Œæ˜¯åœ¨å²ä¸¹ä½›å¤§å¸æˆç«‹çš„。它的創始人,是å°å¤«å©¦ï¼Œç•¶æ™‚都在å²ä¸¹ä½›å·¥ä½œï¼›ä¸€ä½æ˜¯è³‡è¨Šç³»çš„MIS,å¦ä¸€ä½æ˜¯å•†å¸é™¢çš„MIS。當åˆï¼Œä»–們為了解決兩個部門間網路連çµçš„å•題,開發出了Cisco的第一代產å“。
他們當åˆå‘Sequoia募了ä¸å°‘錢,Sequoia是矽谷創投大è€ï¼Œæ˜¯Sand Hill Road上最大的創投æ¥è€…。Sequoia的創始人,Don Valentine,去年曾來我們商å¸é™¢æ¼”è¬›ï¼Œä»–ä¹Ÿåœ¨å¾ˆå¤šå…¬å…±å ´åˆéƒ½è¡¨ç¤ºï¼šä»–æŠ•è³‡çš„æ™‚å€™ï¼Œé€šå¸¸æ˜¯å…ˆé¸æ“‡å¿«é€Ÿæˆé•·çš„å¸‚å ´ï¼Œå†é¸æ“‡é€™å€‹å¸‚å ´ä¸çš„è´å®¶ã€‚他說,他å¯ä»¥æ›æŽ‰ä¸€å®¶å…¬å¸çš„管ç†åœ˜éšŠï¼Œä½†æ˜¯ä»–æ›ä¸äº†ä¸€å€‹å¸‚å ´ã€‚
Ciscoå‘Sequoia募來的錢,跟著來的,就是Don Valentine。雖然他沒有Cisco大部分的股票,Don Valentineå在Cisco的董事會上,並控制了多一å¸çš„æŠ•票權。他並引進了John Morgridge。
John Morgridge進來後,在çŸçŸçš„一年內,把創æ¥åœ˜éšŠè£¡é¢å››å€‹äººé©è·ï¼Œæ›ä¸Šæœ‰ç¶“驗的專æ¥ç¶“ç†äººã€‚在兩年後,創立Cisco的夫婦都被趕出Cisco。(值得欣慰的是,Cisco股票已經上市,他們兩人也一共拿了一億七åƒè¬ç¾Žé‡‘。)
今天,在Morgridge的演講ä¸ï¼Œæˆ‘們è½åˆ°çš„æ˜¯ï¼Œä»–覺得創æ¥åœ˜éšŠä¸å¤ å°ˆæ¥ã€‚但是,我們也感覺到他的言下之æ„:一個新來的管ç†äººï¼Œå¿…é ˆè¦æœ‰è‡ªå·±çš„團隊,æ‰èƒ½å¤ 與創始團隊制衡。他將æµè¡€æµæ±—的創æ¥åœ˜éšŠæ›æŽ‰ï¼Œç›®çš„ä¼¼ä¹Žæ”¿æ²»å› ç´ å¤§æ–¼å¯¦è³ªå› ç´ ã€‚
å¦‚æžœï¼Œä½ ä»Šå¤©ä»¥ä¸€å€‹å‰µæ¥å®¶çš„èº«åˆ†ï¼Œå†’è‘—å¾ˆå¤§çš„é¢¨éšªè·Ÿæ©Ÿæœƒæˆæœ¬ï¼Œæˆç«‹ä¸€å®¶å…¬å¸ï¼Œæ›ä¾†çš„æ˜¯åœ¨æˆåŠŸä¹‹å¾Œï¼Œç”±ä¸€ç¾¤ã€Œå°ˆæ¥ç¶“ç†äººã€ï¼Œç‚ºäº†ã€ŒæŽ§åˆ¶æ¬Šã€ï¼ŒæŠŠä½ 趕出公å¸ï¼Œä½ 會怎麼想呢?今天MorgridgeæˆåŠŸå¸¶é ˜CiscoèŒå£¯ï¼Œä½†æ˜¯æˆ‘以å¯ä»¥æƒ³åƒé€™æ¨£å玩的專æ¥ç¶“ç†äººæŠŠå…¬å¸çŽ©åž®å¾Œèµ°äººã€‚å¦‚æžœä½ æ˜¯å‰µæ¥å®¶ï¼Œä½ 願æ„ç‚ºä½ çš„å…¬å¸ï¼Œå†’這樣的風險嗎?
Why did you feel pissed off after the class? because what he said to replace the startup team with his own?
Many entrepreneurs break their backs trying to start a company. They make sacrifices that people who join later cannot empathize or imagine.
One of the sacrifices they make, is to give up part of the company in exchange for money from investors. This is all good. However, some investors feel that they need to “control” the company in order for it to reach its fullest potential.
While this may be true, but their ruthlessness is startling. In yesterday’s speech, the speaker did not even show one bit of intention to even “grow” the original team. He just came in, and replaced the original founding team. That was mainly what I was angry about.
I would feel the same as you did….investors, particularly the active ones like Carl Icahn, think they rescue all the businesses, big or small, young or old, regardless. Gotta deal with them in a delicate way…
As an entrepreneur, i kinda know why you feel angry. But the other side of the story is that the VCs bring in so call “professionals” is because most VCs think the success rate for “professionals” are higher than entrepreneurs without experiences in managing companies, espeically when startups growing larger. So the last question you asked in your blog is not the right question. By default, it’s about probability.
I think there are two questions we need to think about: 1) how we can protect our companies from being controlled by others; 2) how we can grow fast enough to comfort those VCs that we are the right people to manage the company, and maxmize their investments. The company is growing, so are the entrepreneurs.
Live case, i did heard investors preferred companies still managing by founders, instead of professional CEOs. And indeed, they don’t trust those CEO, CFO, and CXOs. In my small talks with a Hedge Fund manager, we were talking about the case of MF Global, the CEO was braging about how good the broker house was, like few weeks before it went bankrupted. But, that’s in different market and for different audience. If you are CEOs or Chairmen for a listed company, you should already have grew at least at the same pace as your company.
Cyyzephyr, you are right in that VCs introduce management whom they think will grow the company better than the founders. However, it is a concern to me how lightly they make this decision.
In our class, our professors from TA Associates mentioned a joke, “when should you replace a founder/CEO?” The answer was, “the first time it crosses your mind.”
We also need to keep in mind that the incentives for the founders, VCs, and the professional managers are not aligned. A VC is concerned about an exit, a professional manger is concerned about his bonus, and a founder/CEO is often more concerned about the longevity of his business. Under this dynamics, I think it’s easier to see who has the right “intentions” for the business.