Dreamforce is always my favorite day of the year because there’s no better chance to be face-to-face with the reason we’ve been working so hard all year long: our customers. It’s also an opportunity for us to celebrate how salesforce.com revolutionized an industry by turning back conventional wisdom and shattering what people expect. Today is one month before our big event, but it’s another highly anticipated day as Behind the Cloud—a book that discloses insider details that are pivotal to our success and that can be replicated by anyone—hits the shelves. Since our customers have inspired so many of our best ideas, including many that are in the book, I’d like to offer my thanks for all that they have done.

This book is the story of a few people who started working on simple idea in a rented apartment and the unlikely revolution that resulted. It’s the story of our customers, who tested a new model, took bet with us on the future, and taught us so much. It’s the story of our partners who helped us expand our service and build an industry that once didn’t exist—and that has since changed the way all businesses use software applications and the way the software industry works. I’m excited that this is the first book that tells the story of the creation of the cloud computing industry and shows how we brought businesses into the cloud in an era dominated by mass consumer cloud services like Facebook, Google, and Twitter.

Behind the Cloud is not just the salesforce.com story, or the story of the cloud computing phenomenon, though. I wanted to write a book that would help entrepreneurs and business leaders in any industry create more innovative, more profitable, and more meaningful companies. People always ask me, “How did you start salesforce.com,” “How did you beat much larger competitors,” “How do you integrate philanthropy into the business model?" Every day I get bombarded with these types of questions, and while I love talking about the lessons we’ve learned at salesforce.com, I recognized there must be a more efficient way to share them.

I hope you’ll enjoy the book. It’s divided into 111 plays (a nod to our 1-1-1 integrated philanthropy model). The plays address every aspect of building an innovative, game-changing, high growing business in any economic climate.

As always, we want to hear what you think. Just like we love feedback from users, we love feedback from readers. Please join our community on Facebook where we can discuss unconventional business strategies, reminisce on the fun we’ve had over the past 10 years, and, my favorite topic, talk about what’s next.

Mahalo for making the past 10 years so extraordinary. Looking forward to the next chapters together!

Aloha,

Marc