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> Cisco's real innovation wasn't just the tech – it was creating the most successful partner program in tech history. While others tried doing everything in-hou

> Cisco's real innovation wasn't just the tech – it was creating the most successful partner program in tech history. While others tried doing everything in-house, Cisco built an army of passionate partners who became its extended sales force, support team, and innovation engine. Good topic for a business school case study. https://engineering.stanford.edu/about/visit/inside-engineering-quad https://engineering.stanford.edu/about/visit/inside-engineer... In 1981, inspired by Ethernet and the fledgling Internet, alumni Judy Estrin and Eric Benhamou and two other entrepreneurs co-founded Bridge Communications to make servers and routers to move data within and between networks. In 1984, alumnus Leonard Bosack and his, wife Sandy Lerner, left computer operations staff jobs at Stanford to found an Internet router company called Cisco, which has become the dominant company in the industry. They adapted the multi-protocol router software developed some years earlier at Stanford by William Yeager. Cisco was later successful at acquiring alumni spin-outs, if the startup proved market traction with technology invented at Cisco.

walterbell 2y ago
https://www.phoenixcg.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Cisco-Systems-Leveraging.pdf https://www.phoenixcg.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Cisco-S... > Building a partner culture within an organization as large and complex as Cisco is not a simple task. Initially Strategic Alliances had to justify solution selling with partners to gain strong mindshare with the sales force. But the tides are beginning to change. Direct sales now ask how to lead with a partner solution. https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/faculty-research/case-studies/cisco-systems-novel-approach-structuring-entrepreneurial-ventures https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/faculty-research/case-studies/c... > This business case study focuses on Cisco’s strategy of using acquisitions and alliances to gain access to world-class technologies and people... the spin-in model could be an effective way to address the challenges of raising funds, recruiting the right people and successfully executing with customers.

walterbell 2y ago

https://www.phoenixcg.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Cisco-Systems-Leveraging.pdf https://www.phoenixcg.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Cisco-S... > Building a partner culture within an organization as large and complex as Cisco is not a simple task. Initially Strategic Alliances had to justify solution selling with partners to gain strong mindshare with the sales force. But the tides are beginning to change. Direct sales now ask how to lead with a partner solution. https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/faculty-research/case-studies/cisco-systems-novel-approach-structuring-entrepreneurial-ventures https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/faculty-research/case-studies/c... > This business case study focuses on Cisco’s strategy of using acquisitions and alliances to gain access to world-class technologies and people... the spin-in model could be an effective way to address the challenges of raising funds, recruiting the right people and successfully executing with customers.