Deng Feng, who once sold the screen for $4 billion, is now carefully building a company as an investor-Hillstone (Shanshi NetScience Communication Technology Co., Ltd.). Hillstone looks like China's screen because it has the same DNA as the screen. Deng Feng, Tong Jian (CEO of Hillstone) and most members of the management team come from the screen. Therefore, apart from being in the field of network security, the management concept and technical background brought by the same team are similar. "Although the two are similar in many ways, we are not going to invest in the same company, but to surpass it." Deng Feng, partner of Northern Lights Venture Capital, said.
Join hands with old friends
When Tong Jian found Deng Feng with Hillstone, the latter didn't spend too much time and energy to finalize the investment. Tong Jian used to be a subordinate of Deng Feng when he was working on the screen. The long-term * * * incident has made both sides very familiar. Because of this, Deng Feng, who has always taken team factors as the most important measure when selecting projects, will quickly enter Hillstone. "Hillstone's team is mostly from Netscreen and is a very experienced team, so their understanding of the industry is beyond doubt." Deng Feng said, "The team's professionalism and efforts are even more than those of the previous screen, which is commendable. Investing in China mainly depends on what kind of person you choose and the execution of this person. Hillstone's management team can give up the high salary abroad and return to China, which is very worthwhile from the perspective of venture capital. "
After Juniper and NetScreen shocked the industry, Deng Feng and Tong Jian once again gathered in Hillstone. As another combination of two professions, Hillstone concentrated the essence of network and security from the beginning. Aiming at the application-layer multi-core processor, high-performance switching architecture, and the integration with routing and special ASIC processing, the security design idea of Hillstone is constructed. "Hillstone has positioned the company in the field of network security, so they really put network functions and security functions together, not just security functions." Deng Feng said. Compared with NetScreen, Hillstone is like standing on the shoulders of a giant. In addition to market positioning, it is also superior to screen in technology. According to the comparative test made by the Network Security Laboratory of Tsinghua University University of Information Technology, the key performance of Hillstone's SA-5050 firewall completely exceeds that of NetScreen5200 and Fortigate3600A. Among them, in the new link speed test, Hillstone has also created an impressive result that is nearly 10 times ahead of the above two products. Hillstone's existing SR series security router and SA series security gateway products adopt multi-core processor technology, switching bus and self-developed special security chip ASIC, which makes the products have a qualitative leap in the application layer security processing performance. Although technology has unparalleled advantages, the network security market is not a rapidly growing field.
"If you look farther, don't ask for a year or two in return, and let it go for five years or even longer, then this opportunity exists." Deng Feng said, "To be a company is to do it in a down-to-earth manner, so that you will have a chance to succeed." Before being acquired by Juniper, NetScreen made no profit in the first three years, and lost money in the first quarter of listing. It spent a total of $54 million before and after listing, but it has a huge user base, and finally successfully entered a virtuous circle by listing on Nasdaq. Because of this, Deng Feng's demand for Hillstone in the first three years was not "profit", but to make the product well. As long as the products are well done and successful, there will naturally be users and markets, and profits can be achieved through listing. "Being unprofitable does not mean that this enterprise has no ability to make money, but only invests the money earned." Deng Feng said, "This is how the screen won the favor of users without technical support." Venture capitalists don't judge whether an enterprise can start making profits after spending all the venture capital money. The key is to see whether the company's profit potential is increasing, the advanced nature of products, the acceptance of customers and the growth rate of income.
China of Silicon Valley Model
In April 2007, Hillstone received $6 million in venture capital. Although Hillstone's two series 10 products have just landed in China's network security market, China Telecom, China Netcom, CCTV and other big customers have all become guests of Hillstone, which is quite different from the leading practices of many domestic companies. "In fact, this form is very common in Silicon Valley." Tong Jian said, "Mature overseas companies like Intel usually sell a lot when they announce what products they have and seize some market share, which is why there are many fast companies in Silicon Valley."
Besides business strategy, Deng Feng and Tong Jian also brought the corporate culture of Silicon Valley to China. The communication between Hillstone employees and management is very smooth, and employees can express any views on the company at any time. The company also trusts employees and gives them full authorization. "Openness is very important. Only when everyone has equal relations and respects each other can we really communicate with each other and solve problems. This concept of equality applies not only to Silicon Valley but also to China. " Tong Jian said, "In addition, the company's trust in employees is also very important. In Hillstone, it is never the leader who tells employees how to do the project, but gives the project full authority to employees to stimulate their creativity in solving problems. "
The Silicon Valley model is not a master key. Only the Silicon Valley model is made in China can it be tailored for enterprises. For example, users in the United States and China have different requirements for products, so China's excellent products are not necessarily equally popular in the United States. First of all, China has a vast territory and uneven development, so it is not easy to catch the source after being attacked. Many attacks are unique to China, such as Trojan virus and panda burning incense. Therefore, users are more likely to be attacked by cyber attacks in China, and have higher requirements for new attacks. Secondly, China's network construction has directly entered the latest stage from the initial stage, while many places in the United States are still using the old network technology, so users in China have higher requirements for bandwidth and corresponding trust. "In the south of China, the broadband export of a school with a population of 65,438+/kloc-0.00 million has reached 2.2G," Tong Jian said. "So we must be clear about the needs and market characteristics of China users."
As its brand is still a new thing in China market, Hillstone adopts omni-channel sales model, that is, all marketing promotion, technical service support and sales marketing strategies revolve around channels. In the early stage of enterprise development, direct selling can indeed expand sales rapidly, but with the gradual increase of enterprise scale, the sales cost will rise, thus affecting the development of enterprises. "We hope Hillstone can develop into a world-class enterprise, so the channel is the most suitable model for us." Deng Feng said, "Cultivating the right channels is a slow process, but our slogan is to grow together with our partners, leaving enough space for the channels, and we will definitely make our cake bigger through the channels."