Behind the Cloud: The Untold Story of How Salesforce.com Went from Idea to Billion-Dollar Company-and Revolutionized an Industry 1st Edition

by Marc Benioff (Author), Carlye Adler (Author)

347 ratings

ISBN-13: 978-0470521168

ISBN-10: 9780470521168

Why is ISBN important?

Other Sellers

from

Other Sellers

See all 10 versions

Used: Very Good | Details

Sold by Chris' bargain books

Fulfilled by Amazon

Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.

Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime

FREE delivery: Wednesday, July 21 on orders over $25.00 shipped by Amazon. Details

In Stock.

Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.

Available at a lower price from other sellers that may not offer free Prime shipping.

FREE delivery: Wednesday, July 21 Details

Fastest delivery: Tuesday, July 20
Order within 5 hrs and 22 mins Details

Available at a lower price from other sellers that may not offer free Prime shipping.

How did salesforce.com grow from a start up in a rented apartment into the world's fastest growing software company in less than a decade? For the first time, Marc Benioff, the visionary founder, chairman and CEO of salesforce.com, tells how he and his team created and used new business, technology, and philanthropic models tailored to this time of extraordinary change. Showing how salesforce.com not only survived the dotcom implosion of 2001, but went on to define itself as the leader of the cloud computing revolution and spark a $46-billion dollar industry, Benioff's story will help business leaders and entrepreneurs stand out, innovate better, and grow faster in any economic climate.

In Behind the Cloud, Benioff shares the strategies that have inspired employees, turned customers into evangelists, leveraged an ecosystem of partners, and allowed innovation to flourish.

Frequently bought together

Total price:

To see our price, add these items to your cart.

Choose items to buy together.

by Marc Benioff Hardcover
$27.95
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
FREE Shipping
by Eric Ries Hardcover
$14.59
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
FREE Shipping on orders over $25.00.
by Noam Wasserman Paperback
$15.99
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
FREE Shipping on orders over $25.00.

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

Marc Benioff
769
Hardcover
153 offers from $2.42
Noam Wasserman
364
Paperback
85 offers from $3.08
Aaron Ross
800
Paperback
110 offers from $1.55
Mark Roberge
494
Hardcover
64 offers from $10.00
Nick Mehta
393
Hardcover
115 offers from $2.02
Laurence J. Peter
688
Hardcover
32 offers from $7.71

Customers who bought this item also bought

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

Marc Benioff
769
Hardcover
153 offers from $2.42
Noam Wasserman
364
Paperback
85 offers from $3.08
Mark Roberge
494
Hardcover
64 offers from $10.00
Aaron Ross
800
Paperback
110 offers from $1.55
Frank Slootman
98
Hardcover
22 offers from $10.12
Aaron Ross
114
Hardcover
28 offers from $19.00

Special offers and product promotions

Amazon Business: Make the most of your Amazon Business account with exclusive tools and savings. Login now

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Praise for Behind the Cloud

Salesforce.com and Google share a vision for how the cloud will revolutionize computing. Behind the Cloud gives us a rare glimpse at the development of one of the most important trends in business today.--Eric Schmidt, CEO, Google

In Behind the Cloud, Marc Benioff takes us through the ups and downs of building one of the most extraordinary businesses of our time and reveals the tactics that gave salesforce.com its amazing edge. This book will show you how to focus your vision, think differently, align your organization--and transform your business and your life. --Anthony Robbins, author, Awaken the Giant Within and Unlimited Power

Reading this book, I laughed out loud many times as Marc told his story, a story of great ideas, thunder-stealing pranks, and a world consciousness that is at the heart of salesforce.com.--Neil Young

Reading, but also afterwards, practicing the 111 plays described by Marc Benioff opens the door for entrepreneurial success much better than any MBA program.--Klaus Schwab, founder, World Economic Forum, and cofounder, Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship

Cisco and salesforce.com share a vision of how the network is the platform to transform business. In his book, Benioff outlines how salesforce.com has used cloud computing to disrupt and reshape the enterprise software space. It is clear that we are just beginning to understand the potential of networked business and the future benefits and productivity gains of the next phase of the Internet.--John Chambers, chairman and CEO, Cisco

Behind the Cloud demonstrates what happens when companies act as good citizens. Everyone--from employees to shareholders to the community--wins. Get ready to be inspired and make a difference.--Charles Moore, executive director, Committee EncouragingCorporate Philanthropy

From the Back Cover

Praise for Behind the Cloud

"Salesforce.com and Google share a vision for how the cloud will revolutionize computing. Behind the Cloud gives us a rare glimpse at the development of one of the most important trends in business today."―Eric Schmidt, CEO, Google

"In Behind the Cloud, Marc Benioff takes us through the ups and downs of building one of the most extraordinary businesses of our time and reveals the tactics that gave salesforce.com its amazing edge. This book will show you how to focus your vision, think differently, align your organization―and transform your business and your life." ―Anthony Robbins, author, Awaken the Giant Within and Unlimited Power

"Reading this book, I laughed out loud many times as Marc told his story, a story of great ideas, thunder-stealing pranks, and a world consciousness that is at the heart of salesforce.com."―Neil Young

"Reading, but also afterwards, practicing the 111 plays described by Marc Benioff opens the door for entrepreneurial success much better than any MBA program."―Klaus Schwab, founder, World Economic Forum, and cofounder, Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship

"Cisco and salesforce.com share a vision of how the network is the platform to transform business. In his book, Benioff outlines how salesforce.com has used cloud computing to disrupt and reshape the enterprise software space. It is clear that we are just beginning to understand the potential of networked business and the future benefits and productivity gains of the next phase of the Internet."―John Chambers, chairman and CEO, Cisco

"Behind the Cloud demonstrates what happens when companies act as good citizens. Everyone―from employees to shareholders to the community―wins. Get ready to be inspired and make a difference."―Charles Moore, executive director, Committee EncouragingCorporate Philanthropy

ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0470521163
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Wiley-Blackwell; 1st edition (October 19, 2009)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780470521168
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0470521168
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.07 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.1 x 1.2 x 9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #64,793 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #13 in Business Sales (Books)
- #24 in Business Marketing
- #182 in Business & Organizational Learning

Customer Reviews:
347 ratings

Customer reviews

5 star		70%
4 star		17%
3 star		9%
2 star		1%
1 star		3%

How are ratings calculated?

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Brian Bowden

A positive take on entrepreneurship with some caveats

Reviewed in the United States on April 30, 2021

Verified Purchase

This book provided a very positive, insightful story behind Salesforce and its growth into the company that it is today (well, if today were 2009). Like many success stories, it lists a playbook of strategies, policies, and decisions that the author believes to be the driving forces being their success.

The problem with such playbooks is that they are often heavily influenced by survivorship bias. An entrepreneur succeeds at something, believes they know why they succeeded, and then use that insight to pass on advice to others. Unfortunately, much of what works for one company during a specific time period often does not work for most others. While there is a lot of content in this book, that is noteworthy at a high level, I would caution new entrepreneurs to seek a more modernized, realistic guide more fitting for 2021. One such book is “Lean Startup,” which is also written by the founder of a software company, but it is also much more open about dealing with major struggles.

As an entrepreneur myself in the startup space for the past 10 years, I can vouch for the fact that grit in the face of uncertainty and coping with financial struggle is by far the most difficult challenge that normal entrepreneurs face. This book will not help you in this area of your development. Salesforce was very fortunate with its early profitability, but most startups will need to spend a great deal of energy staying afloat, learning to survive before they can thrive.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Nona

For entrepreneurs and information industry professionals

Reviewed in the United States on March 19, 2013

Verified Purchase

SaaS. Software as a Service. This comes as an disruptive technology when the enterprises were spending megabucks on software to roll out to maximize their efficiency. The initial software licenses and the hardware, in order to host the solution, was compounded by the efforts spent in adapting the software to the specific needs of the buyer. At a time like this, Marc Benioff was bold enough to pursue his vision of "No Software". Technically incorrect, the idea was to host the application and provide access to enterprises to use the hosted application to remove the hardware costs from the equation. If this was not enough, they were going to charge the customer a monthly subscription fees similar to a pay-as-you-go mode.

We all know how the vision turned out. I am talking about the company founded by Marc Benioff. salesforce.com. But do we know what were driving factors and deciding events behind the success story of salesforce.com. This is what the author and founder of salesforce.com, Marc Benioff, tells in this book. With a dream to change the world and limited resources, salesforce.com innovated to become a market pioneer and also leader. Humble beginning with respect to resources(both manpower and capital), they set out for a David-versus-Goliath battle against Siebel. Instead of building ground up, they capitulated on the successful and time-proven technologies available. When it comes to attract attention to their product, they came out with out-of-box ideas. All these are interesting and also inspiring to read.

Starting from basics and turning successful was just one of the hurdles. But when salesforce.com became successful, the company as a whole has to adapt without changing their core values. Sometimes after defeating Goliath, David turns into Goliath. Instead of transforming into the undesirable giant, salesforce.com assimilates some of the good characteristics of Goliath as part of the adaptation process. When salesforce.com files for IPO, there are other challenges they face. They create a new market which did not exist before. Being the first means there are no written set of rules. This is the most interesting part of the book and makes it a must read for any budding entrepreneur. Disruptive technologies also has lot of challenges in addition to creating and capturing the market.

This books is recommended for two types of people. The first type are entrepreneurs(even if you are already one or you hope to be one in the future) and the second type are people associated with information industry. For the first type, there are a lot of lessons to be learnt from Marc Benioff's experience while for the second type, it is a history lesson.

7 people found this helpful

Helpful

Mark P. McDonald

Benioff's private cloud is about his experience not the technology.

Reviewed in the United States on January 16, 2010

Verified Purchase

Marc Benioff's Behind the Cloud is a quick, interesting and informative reading about Benioff's experience, personal philosophy and a personal memoir about the formative years of [...]. This book is not a book about cloud computing, how it works, what is important to get right, how to move your company into the cloud. So you are warned.

The book is a cross between a business success story, personal basking in success and a playbook for creating new companies. The book is a piece of corporate self promotion, but it goes beyond boosterism for the company and its offering to provide some real advice and insight. It is an example of the `different way' sales and marketing that [...] has become known for.

Benioff covers all of the major areas associated with setting up and leading a company. This gives the book a comprehensive nature normally not found in a piece of corporate marketing. This difference makes the book recommended, not as a book about Cloud Computing, but as a look into the mind of a business leader and innovator.

The book is organized around 111 `plays' representing concepts and ideas behind starting a business in general and [...] in particular. These `plays' are organized into parts covering strategy, marketing, events, sales, technology, philanthropy, globalization, finance and leadership.

So recommended reading for people who want to know more about Benioff and [...] and recognize the hyperbole that is in the book. Not recommended if you want to understand how the cloud works.

15 people found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Some good tips, a lot of smugness and arrogance too.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 2, 2014

Verified Purchase

Reading this book is a lot like going back to the heady days of the dotcom boom where stupid money, smugness and arrogance abounded. Fair enough in some ways as that's when salesforce.com started. I simply think that for anyone starting out now without a lot of money to invest much of the advice becomes irrelevant. When you consider the dropped in cliches of swimming with dolphins, indian sabbaticals and gurus, dalai lama meeting etc it's all a bit nauseating.

Cloud computing these days is a much more modest affair to get started on so much of the advice there is very dated.

That said the more down to earth bits of advice are useful, so it's not all bad.

5 people found this helpful

some feedback

wow, what a read ......

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 28, 2015

Verified Purchase

Still only half way through and cannot put it down .... best business book i have ever read, 99% of them i never get past the 1st chapter, they gather dust on the great bookshelf in the sky. If you work in tech then this is a must read, if you have worked in a start up and a tech giant this will take you on a personal journey. If you have done one or the other, then its invaluable insight into the contrast between both worlds. If you don't work in the industry then welcome to the insane world of tech ....

One person found this helpful

Joe

More than a book on SaaS

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 8, 2017

Verified Purchase

This book is inspiring, motivational and thought provoking. I started reading it as I wanted to start a SaaS business. I'm the time it took to read the book my business pivoted away from SaaS but I still found tons of value in the book in terms of personal growth, organisational culture and structure and marketing.

A great SaaS read a brilliant millennial business read.

Julia Pavlova

Great book and really well maintained

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 2, 2019

Verified Purchase

The book arrived faster than anticipated, very good quality and it looks like new. The book itself is great, well written, to the point and extremely inspiring! Highly recommend it.

Amazon Customer

Great book, perfect condition

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 6, 2019

Verified Purchase

One of the best business books out there. Especially for the software world.

See all reviews

Get everything you need

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

Dan S Kennedy
498
Paperback
72 offers from $4.63
Aaron Ross
114
Hardcover
28 offers from $19.00
Eric Schmidt
1,230
Paperback
93 offers from $2.30
Nick Mehta
393
Hardcover
115 offers from $2.02
Clayton M. Christensen
1,496
Paperback
81 offers from $10.89
Sarah Frier
988
Hardcover
68 offers from $6.37

Pages with related products. See and discover other items: history of computing, advertising ideas, how to launch a product, larry ellison, management communication, sales management

Behind the Cloud: The Untold Story of How Salesforce.com Went from Idea to Billion-Dollar Company-and Revolutionized an Industry 1st Edition

Frequently bought together

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Customers who bought this item also bought

Special offers and product promotions