????2.勇為牛首

????“寧為雞首，不為牛后”的想法雖然沒什么不對(duì)，但長(zhǎng)遠(yuǎn)的贏家卻還是牛首。成為牛首的方式有兩種， 一是打入已有的大市場(chǎng)，二是新開創(chuàng)一個(gè)大市場(chǎng)。

????當(dāng)初，馬克?貝尼奧夫建立 Salesforce.com并專注于客戶關(guān)系管理業(yè)務(wù)時(shí)，它已經(jīng)是一個(gè)龐大的市場(chǎng)，同時(shí)也存在一個(gè)市場(chǎng)龍頭 Siebel Systems，后者在被甲骨文公司（Oracle）收購前，年收入已近高達(dá) 13 億美元。建立 Salesforce.com，打造第一個(gè)真正的 SaaS 應(yīng)用，貝尼奧夫成功打入 CRM 市場(chǎng)。今天的 Salesforce 年?duì)I業(yè)額已超過 30 億美元，遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)超過巔峰時(shí)期的 Siebel，但貝尼奧夫并不需要?jiǎng)?chuàng)造一個(gè)龐大的市場(chǎng)——它已經(jīng)在那里，而他能夠打入這個(gè)市場(chǎng)，并從一開始就占據(jù)領(lǐng)導(dǎo)位置。

????相反，Google（Google）曾經(jīng)建立了強(qiáng)大的搜索技術(shù)，但早期并沒有找到真正的盈利模式。當(dāng)然，搜索營(yíng)銷 并不是 Google 的發(fā)明，它只是將市場(chǎng)再造，單憑一己之力，在短短 10 年時(shí)間里，就使搜索營(yíng)銷的市場(chǎng)規(guī)模增長(zhǎng)了 20 倍。

????如果您的公司也希望成為牛首，您的使命將是規(guī)劃如何贏得重要的市場(chǎng)份額。如果市場(chǎng)不夠大，就得規(guī)劃如何推出新產(chǎn)品、或者侵占相鄰市場(chǎng)來擴(kuò)大市場(chǎng)。

????3.通過差異化贏得競(jìng)爭(zhēng)

????公司越成功，面臨激烈競(jìng)爭(zhēng)的可能性越大。很不幸的是，成功的企業(yè)如果缺乏差異化，競(jìng)爭(zhēng)加劇往往會(huì)帶來無盡的煩惱。例如，團(tuán)購網(wǎng)站Groupon過去增長(zhǎng)就非常迅速，但它的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)優(yōu)勢(shì)并不突出，許多競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手也可以向消費(fèi)者提供類似的優(yōu)惠。結(jié)果，這家公司一直疲于奔命，難以創(chuàng)造價(jià)值。

????與 Groupon 的經(jīng)歷相反的則是商務(wù)社交網(wǎng)站LinkedIn。LinkedIn 的優(yōu)勢(shì)在于一項(xiàng)重大的核心差異化因素，那就是它獨(dú)一無二的數(shù)據(jù)庫。隨著工商界專業(yè)人士不斷更新資料和關(guān)系網(wǎng)絡(luò)，數(shù)據(jù)也得到持續(xù)豐富。憑借網(wǎng)絡(luò)的強(qiáng)大力量，它所向披靡，無可替代。LinkedIn 已經(jīng)找到這種數(shù)據(jù)庫的盈利模式，同時(shí)加上沒有競(jìng)爭(zhēng)威脅，它近期的利潤(rùn)率還有上升的可能。

????4.打造強(qiáng)大的管理團(tuán)隊(duì)

????最好的管理團(tuán)隊(duì)會(huì)帶來上述全部三個(gè)特質(zhì)——他們?cè)谄髽I(yè)規(guī)模擴(kuò)大的同時(shí)改造著企業(yè)架構(gòu)，使它變得更好，他們擴(kuò)大市場(chǎng)，同時(shí)建立強(qiáng)大的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)壁壘。在商業(yè)上，唯一不變的就是永恒的變化。最好的團(tuán)隊(duì)時(shí)刻牢記這一點(diǎn)，持續(xù)更新人才庫，培養(yǎng)新領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人才，在不可避免的市場(chǎng)變革來臨時(shí)挺身而出，面對(duì)瞬息萬變的市場(chǎng)始終保持敏捷性。高級(jí)領(lǐng)導(dǎo)團(tuán)隊(duì)的周圍也都是最好的人才，常常董事會(huì)既有人質(zhì)疑他們的決定，也有人幫助他們?nèi)〉贸晒Α?/p>

????事情就這樣簡(jiǎn)單。盡管這四大秘訣并不是高深的火箭技術(shù)，但也不是唾手可得。但提前專注于這四點(diǎn)可能有助于提高您的成功幾率。

????格倫?所羅門是風(fēng)投公司 GGV Capital 的合伙人。他近期所作的投資包括流媒體音樂服務(wù)商 Pandora、人才管理云計(jì)算公司Successfactors、群集存儲(chǔ)系統(tǒng)公司Isilon、移動(dòng)支付技術(shù)公司Square、客戶服務(wù)軟件供應(yīng)商Zendesk、網(wǎng)絡(luò)廣告公司Quinstreet 和存儲(chǔ)及備份解決方案供應(yīng)商N(yùn)imble Storage。本文是針對(duì)期望做大的成長(zhǎng)階段創(chuàng)業(yè)者的系列文章的第一篇。

????2. Target an Enormous Market

????There's no shame in building a dominant player in a small market, but your market has to be huge if you want to be a long-term winner. There are two ways to get there – disrupt an existing large market or build into a new one.

????When Marc Benioff started Salesforce.com (CRM) and focused on customer relationship management, this was already a huge market with a leader, Siebel Systems, generating $1.3 billion in the year before its acquisition by Oracle (ORCL). Launching Salesforce.com as the first true SaaS application, Benioff disrupted the CRM market. Today, at over a $3 billion run rate, Salesforce is much larger than Siebel at its peak, but Benioff didn't have to create an enormous market - it was there and he was able to wrestle leadership from the incumbent via disruption.

????Google (GOOG), on the other hand, had built great search technology but hadn't quite figured out how to monetize it in its early days. Sure, Google didn't invent search marketing, but the company re-invented the market and single-handedly grew search marketing 20x in size over a 10-year period.

????If your company is targeting an enormous market, your mission is to figure out how to win meaningful market share. If your market isn't huge, figure out how to grow it by introducing new products or attacking adjacent spaces.

????3. Differentiate to Protect Against Competition

????The more successful a company, the more likely it will engender serious competition. Unfortunately for undifferentiated high fliers, increased competition often causes trouble. Groupon (GRPN) grew very fast, but its competitive moat wasn't deep and too many others have been able to offer similar savings to consumers. The company has struggled to create value as a result.

????Contrast Groupon's experience with LinkedIn (LNKD). LinkedIn benefits from a meaningful core differentiator – its unique data set. This data is enriched continually as business professionals keep their profiles and networks fresh. Given the power of the network, there isn't a viable alternative. LinkedIn has been able to effectively monetize this data set, and without the threat of competition, appears positioned to grow profitably for the foreseeable future.

????4. Build a Great Management Team

????The best management teams excel at building the three attributes mentioned above – they structure businesses to get better as they scale, they expand the markets they go after and they create significant competitive barriers. In business, the only constant is change however. The best teams recognize this and continually refresh the talent pool, grooming new leaders who are out in front of inevitable market shifts and who enable agility in the face of dynamic markets. The top teams also surround themselves with the best people, often times with boards that both challenge them and help them win.

????There you have it. While these four keys aren't rocket science, they're also not simple to achieve. The good news is that focusing on them early can help improve your chances of success!

????Glenn Solomon is a partner with venture captal firm GGV Capital. Some of his recent investments include Pandora, Successfactors, Isilon, Square, Zendesk, Quinstreet and Nimble Storage. This post the first of a series for growth-stage entrepreneurs who are thinking big.