For me, it was a bunch of numbers. You can convince a bunch of VCs with numbers. The churn was low. The revenue was up. Talking to the customers, the sentiment was that this could grow within their companies. There was a huge market with cloud-based file sharing with both consumers but also enterprises.
And, on pivoting to “enterprise”:
In 2007, the consumer market was still the target at Box. But by 2008, individuals were using Box’s file storage and sharing services for business. In 2009, groups started using Box products within their companies. In 2010, Hamid said that “whole departments moved onto Box,” with entire businesses joining in more wholeheartedly in 2011. By 2012, the CIOs finally realized (or admitted) that hundreds of employees were using Box, essentially forcing their hands to get involved.