Eric Yuan
Eric Yuan
Founder and CEO at Zoom
Would the American economy have survived coronavirus if not for Zoom?
The video conferencing software has exploded onto the scene amid stay-at-home orders, with the term “let’s do a Zoom” entering the global lexicon as naturally (and much more rapidly) than “Google” did 20-odd years ago. The technology has become an essential part of doing business away from the office, helping to facilitate everything from team meetings to deal closings and virtual industry events.
The San Jose, Calif.-based company logged a peak of 300 million daily meeting participants in April, up from 10 million in December, founder and CEO Eric Yuan said on the company’s first-quarter earnings call last month. He noted that one new banking customer deployed about 175,000 new Zoom enterprise licenses in the quarter.
So, yes, it was a critical tool in keeping business running. But, by the same token, those are the types of numbers that are sending chills down the spines of office landlords, who since March have been playing the “will-they-or-won’t-they” game on whether work-from-home policies will stick post-coronavirus. Executives at firms ranging from Twitter to Morgan Stanley have been vocal about the success of remote work and the possibly diminished need for office space.
“I never used the word Zoom up until March,” said one executive interviewed for this list, adding that the tool has been surprisingly effective in building new client relationships. “We met them through Zoom, we’ve been hired through Zoom, we’re starting to work together.”
For his part, Yuan, a Silicon Valley veteran who has held posts at Cisco and Webex, sounds like he’s just getting started.
“I truly believe video is a new voice,” he said on the earnings call. “The way for us to work, live and play is completely changed.”
What happens next is anybody’s guess. For a sure bet, take a look at Zoom’s stock. Its shares have almost quadrupled since the start of the year.—S.G.
