Zoom, the cloud-based calling solution has been around since 2011. But the pandemic turned into a verb. Zoom meetings became a buzzword as workplaces went remote and people tried to keep in touch with each other. The company that went public in 2019, saw a 300%+ surge during the pandemic. Suddenly, the world woke up to the Zoom founder success story.

The Zoom success story has its origins in its Chinese-American founder Eric Yuan. A former Cisco engineer, Yuan came up with the idea after getting frustrated with traveling long hours. Since going public in 2019, the company has beaten revenue and profit estimates every single quarter, but its shares have fallen after six out of the last seven reports.

Why did Eric Yuan Start Zoom?

The Zoom founder success story shows us how an immigrant built a life and a company in the US from the ground up. In 2020, during an interview for Herbert Business School, Yuan admitted that it took him several months to come up with the name for his company.

Before starting his own company, Eric Yan was one of the top engineers at WebEx. He shifted gears after WebEx was acquired by Cisco. The change in leadership and direction did not go down well with Yuan who wanted to create the perfect video-conferencing tool.

The company’s mission statement reads — Make communications frictionless. And that is exactly what Zoom did. Within a few years of its release, “Let’s jump on a Zoom” became as common as saying “Just Google it.”

In the first two years, Zoom worked on building talent and perfecting the product. Yuan was personally involved in garnering customer feedback.

How did Zoom become successful?

After months of hard work and rework, Zoom was launched in 2013. It was quickly adopted by many companies, who were on the lookout for a premium video conferencing tool.

While building Zoo, Yuan focused on developing a toll that is easy to set up, use, and is simplistic by design. Before directing its energies towards perfection, Zoom focused on growth and building a solid customer base. With competitors like Google and Microsoft, Zoom faced an uphill battle. But Eric Yuan wanted only one thing — make video conferencing as easy and simple as possible.

The company went public in 2019 at a price of $36. Under the ticker “ZM,” it surged up by nearly 80% on the first day to reach a high of $65 before closing at $62.  By mid-2020, Zoom had seen triple digit growth for the past three years.

As of October 25, Zoom stock price hovers around $80.61. When it comes to business, the Zoom founder success story can be attributed to the entrepreneur’s view that the harshest criticism can sometimes be the best words one can hear.

The Zoom founder success story caught fire during the pandemic as Zoom became one of the most downloaded apps on the App Store. The company is currently valued at nearly $24 billion. The Zoom success story is a story of grit and relentless innovation of a Chinese immigrant who did not give up on his vision. 

How much is Eric Yuan worth?

The Eric Yuan success story shows us that with a clear vision and hard work anything is possible. When Yuan first moved to the US in 1997, he did not speak English. He even had to apply nine times to get a visa.

Yuan believes that empathy, humanity, and support is more important than revenue or growth.  

The company also held its first quarterly profit meeting through its own platform, giving investors a boost of confidence. As of October 2022, Eric Yuan’s net worth is estimated to be around $3.9 billion.

The Zoom success story is a reality because it is centered around the company’s clients’ happiness. Yuan states that they are committed to listening to feedback and “making relevant changes to deliver happiness to our users.”

These days Zoom finds itself facing stiff competition from Microsoft’s Teams, Cisco’s Webex, and Salesforce’s Slack. 

“The most important thing isn’t your dream coming true,” says Yuan. “That’s one day. It’s more important to enjoy every day along the pathway.”

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