Trend Micro, the world's number one internet security company

Author: Zhang Mingzheng / Chen Yizhen
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-03-01
Features: PC-cillin, InterScan, ScanMail – these world-renowned antivirus software all come from a multinational company founded only 12 years ago – Trend Micro. This small company, initially started by a couple with just $5,000 in Los Angeles, grew to become the world's largest single-software company within 12 years, with a market value of $10 billion, and was ranked among the top 100 most popular listed companies globally by authoritative magazines. During the Melissa virus outbreak, Trend Micro was the first to recognize its threat and quickly provided a solution, offering free services to the public and gaining widespread acclaim. What is the secret of its success? "Enjoying Work" and "Finding Fun" are our driving forces – as Trend people say. In this book, the founders of Trend Micro, Zhang Mingzheng and Chen Yizhen, share their firsthand account of a success story in the internet era. Strategies, business model transformations, international marketing tactics, the future of software companies, and the unique culture of Trend Micro summarized by 3C, as well as the philosophy of "Finding Fun" – all crystallized over 12 years of wisdom are shared with aspiring entrepreneurs.
Author's Preface:
Reflections on the Chinese Edition of "@Trend" / Chen Yizhen
Chinese people describe time passing swiftly as "time flies like an arrow." In the internet era, perhaps it is more fitting to say "time flies like a key." With the click, click of keystrokes, time seems to slip away at tenfold speed. On August 18, 1998, Trend Micro went public on the Japanese stock exchange, and less than a year later, it listed on the NASDAQ in the U.S. by way of trust certificates. By August 10, 2000, Trend Micro's market value had reached $10 billion, ranking it as the 38th most valuable company among Tokyo Stock Exchange-listed firms. Looking back at 12 years of entrepreneurship, it is hard to believe that the antivirus software company founded by a couple in Los Angeles, with a research team in Taiwan as its backbone, could compete on the international stage with major software companies and carve out a niche for itself. Perhaps it was a combination of timing, talent, and luck, along with the right momentum! I wrote this book, "@Trend," to share my 12 years of entrepreneurial experience. Last year, our dear friend, the renowned Chinese director Ms. Juan, accompanied by the internet pioneer and venture capitalist Xue Manzi, came to Tokyo with us for Christmas. Bored one day, they flipped through this book and gave us much encouragement, actively promoting its publication in mainland China. This February, in the midst of freezing weather, Mingzheng and I traveled to Beijing to attend the premiere of Juan's film "." Beyond enjoying the moving and humorous movie, we also met many local internet elites. With the encouragement of our friends, the simplified Chinese edition of "@Trend" was indeed published in November 2000. To this day, I still feel as if I'm in a dream, unable to believe that there would be readers of "@Trend" in mainland China. Whether the book sells well or not matters little to us, but I am delighted that I can finally account to the 50+ colleagues at Trend Micro in Nanjing, the distributors in Beijing, and the 10+ new colleagues in Shanghai.
Trend Micro leads the world in antivirus technology, and the research elites in Nanjing deserve much of the credit. In 1995, our global technology director, Chen Qiaofen, met Ji Shuang, a computer master's graduate from Nanjing's gifted youth program, in Silicon Valley. At the time, Ji Shuang was the head of the R&D department at Sun Microsystems. The young and brilliant Ji Shuang, struck by a connection with Qiaofen, resigned from his high-paying job to join Trend Micro. Leveraging his network knowledge and experience, he developed Trend Micro's first internet portal antivirus software, InterScan, which won countless international awards over the following four years. Ji Shuang told Qiaofen, "I have many talented classmates from the gifted youth program in Nanjing!" Mingzheng, an CEO who couldn't help but gather the best talents, immediately decided to establish a R&D center in Nanjing, with Ji Shuang leading it and another colleague handling HR. In 1997, Trend Micro's Nanjing R&D Center was officially established, and program experts like Lu Jianfeng, Qian Haichuan, Gao Hanzhao, and Wang Hong soon joined. With them, Trend Micro's R&D team became unstoppable, pioneering antivirus software for Java. By 2000, we also set up a technical service center in Shanghai for mainland China, led by Wang Qiong and Li Jing, to provide broader support and services to clients. I would like to especially thank them for fighting alongside us and conquering the global antivirus market. With the same language and culture, our cooperation was seamless, and the unity of both sides doubled our strength. Of course, we also owe our gratitude to countless mainland friends for their support and encouragement, especially Ms. Juan, Xue Manzi, Dong Xiuyu, Hu Yong, and Dr. Tian Suning. All thanks are best repaid through the publication of this book.
When the first computer virus, C-BRAIN, appeared, Zhang Mingzheng happened to come across a related report in a professional magazine and immediately became curious. He went to great lengths to obtain this virus and, together with his colleagues, analyzed it. This marked the beginning of a 12-year battle against computer viruses. While most industry insiders had yet to recognize the threat of computer viruses, Zhang Mingzheng and his like-minded colleagues keenly identified the technological and commercial potential within. Not only did they create world-renowned antivirus software like PC-cillin, but they also pioneered an entirely new field in the information industry – the antivirus software industry. Today, Trend Micro has grown into a global multinational company, transforming from a software company into an internet antivirus service provider. This is a dream story of the internet era. It shows us the qualities of the dream-making heroes of the new age: sharp insight into business opportunities, the ability to respond swiftly to challenges, unwavering focus on a specific field, teamwork, and the passion and love for "enjoying work."