Cisco turned down his idea in 2011. He quit and built Zoom.
Before that, America refused him a visa eight times.
In 1987 Yuan was a university student riding 10-hour trains to visit his girlfriend, and he began imagining a way to see someone without the trip. His US visa came through on the ninth application. In August 1997 he joined WebEx, an internet company in Silicon Valley, speaking very little English. Cisco bought WebEx in 2007, and Yuan became a vice president of engineering there.
In 2011 he pitched Cisco's management a new smartphone-friendly video meeting system. They turned it down. He left and founded Zoom the same year. Before Zoom's shares were first listed on the stock market in April 2019, he wrote to investors: "Video is the future of communications."
At the end of December 2019, Zoom's daily meeting participants peaked at about 10 million, Yuan wrote on 1 April 2020. In March 2020 there were more than 200 million a day. In the 12 months to January 2026, Zoom reported $4.87 billion in revenue.
In its 2019 papers for investors, Zoom named Cisco as one of the video-meeting companies it competed with.
One-minute true story. AI-generated illustration with narration by an artificial intelligence (AI) voice.
Has your company ever said no to an idea that someone else then built?
What the captions say
- This is the story of how Zoom went from an idea Cisco turned down to more than 200 million meeting participants a day.
- Its founder, Eric Yuan, was refused an American visa eight times. Then, in 2011, his own employer said no to his idea.
- As a university student in 1987, Yuan rode 10-hour trains to visit his girlfriend, and began imagining a way to see someone without the trip.
- In 1995, a speech by Bill Gates in Japan inspired him. He wanted Silicon Valley, but America kept saying no, and he kept applying.
- The visa came on the ninth try. In August 1997 he joined WebEx, an internet company in Silicon Valley, speaking very little English.
- Ten years later, Cisco bought WebEx, and Yuan became a vice president of engineering at Cisco.
- In 2011 he pitched Cisco's management a new smartphone-friendly video meeting system, and Cisco's management turned it down.
- So Yuan quit his vice president's job and founded Zoom that same year. By most accounts, dozens of Cisco engineers later joined him.
- In April 2019, Zoom went public. Before the listing, Yuan wrote to investors, "Video is the future of communications."
- At the end of December 2019, Zoom's daily meeting participants peaked at about 10 million, Yuan wrote.
- By March 2020, it was more than 200 million a day, about 20 times the December peak.
- For the fiscal year ended January 2026, Zoom reported $4.87 billion in revenue, from an idea Cisco turned down.
