#016 Marc Benioff On The New Era For Business

Billionaire tech titan Marc Benioff, the founder and CEO of Salesforce, joins Julia La Roche on a special episode at Dreamforce, the software and cloud giant's annual technology conference in San Francisco. 

This year's Dreamforce attracted 40,000 attendees, making it the most significant event in San Francisco since the COVID pandemic. Benioff shared that the event brought in an estimated $40 million to the local economy, giving a much-needed "big shot in the arm" to the city. With sparsely populated offices, the San Francisco native CEO made a case for companies choosing San Francisco to host large events and conferences instead of places like Las Vegas.

The conversation also touched upon the homelessness situation in San Francisco. As San Francisco's largest private employer, Benioff supported the passage of Proposition in 2018, which levied a 0.5% tax on the city's largest companies to combat the homelessness crisis. During the conversation, he called for institutionalizing affordable housing in the U.S. and for more mental health and addiction treatment programs.

Benioff started Salesforce in 1999 as a pioneer in software-as-a-service (SaaS) and customer relationship management (CRM). Since then, it's become the largest enterprise software company and customer relationship management (CRM) company globally. The company is expected to do $31 billion in annual revenue this year and aims to hit $50 billion in the fiscal year 2026. While at Dreamforce, Benioff unveiled the company's newest product, Salesforce Genie, the first real-time CRM.

Since its inception, Salesforce has integrated philanthropy into its business, primarily with its 1-1-1 model, where the company donates 1% of its equity, product, and employee time to charity. Benioff discussed some of the focus areas, including the environment through reforestation and adopting public schools. He also shared some of the biggest influences in his life and business and advice for next-generation entrepreneurs. 

0:00 The Great Reunion 

1:38 Future of Work 

2:57 Quit Quitting 

4:42 Views on the Economy 

5:56 Salesforce Genie 

7:32 Talk to Your Customers 

9:02 $50B Goal 

10:03 Ecopreneur Revolution 

11:40 Public Education 

14:34 San Francisco 

17:47 Influences 

21:54 Advice for Entrepreneurs