Famous Quote
“The best companies are built on the principles of putting employees and customers first.”
Why #76
Bhusri co-founded Workday to beat Oracle after PeopleSoft's hostile takeover, and succeeded — building a $60B+ cloud enterprise software company used by over 50% of the Fortune 500 for HR and finance.
The Story
Aneel Bhusri co-founded Workday in 2005 with Dave Duffield after Oracle's hostile takeover of PeopleSoft, and built it into one of the most important enterprise software companies in the cloud era. Workday's cloud-based human resources and financial management software disrupted the on-premise incumbents (Oracle and SAP) and became the system of record for HR and finance at over 50% of the Fortune 500.
Bhusri's founding story is one of revenge and reinvention. He was a senior executive at PeopleSoft when Oracle launched a hostile takeover bid. After Oracle won, Bhusri and PeopleSoft founder Dave Duffield started Workday specifically to build a cloud-native alternative that would beat Oracle at its own game. The strategy worked: Workday grew to $7B+ in annual revenue and a $60B+ market cap.
His background as a venture capitalist at Greylock Partners (where he invested in companies like Pure Storage and Docker) gave him a unique perspective on enterprise software trends. Bhusri saw earlier than most that cloud-native, subscription-based software would replace on-premise installations — and he built Workday to be the exemplar of that transition.
Key Achievements
Co-founded Workday (2005) — $60B+ market cap
Workday used by 50%+ of Fortune 500 for HR/finance
Built Workday to $7B+ annual revenue
Disrupted Oracle and SAP in cloud enterprise software
Former partner at Greylock Partners (invested in Pure Storage, Docker)
Co-CEO of Workday for nearly two decades
By the Numbers
$7B+/yr
Workday Revenue
$60B+
Market Cap
50%+
Fortune 500 Penetration
18,000+
Employees
Fun Facts
He and Dave Duffield founded Workday as a direct response to Oracle's hostile takeover of PeopleSoft.
He was a venture capitalist at Greylock Partners before co-founding Workday.
He holds an MBA from Stanford and an electrical engineering degree from Brown.
Workday was named after Duffield's original idea that work should be managed 'day by day' in the cloud.
He served as co-CEO alongside Duffield for years — one of the rare successful co-CEO arrangements in tech.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who are the greatest entrepreneurs of all time?
The greatest entrepreneurs include Steve Jobs (Apple), Elon Musk (Tesla/SpaceX), Jeff Bezos (Amazon), Bill Gates (Microsoft), and Mark Zuckerberg (Meta). Each built companies that fundamentally changed how the world works — from personal computing and smartphones to e-commerce, cloud computing, and social media.
What makes someone a successful entrepreneur?
Successful entrepreneurs share several traits: the ability to identify unmet needs, willingness to take calculated risks, relentless execution, and resilience in the face of failure. They combine vision with practical problem-solving and are willing to persist long after most people would quit. Capital and credentials matter far less than most people think — resourcefulness beats resources.
Can you become an entrepreneur without a business degree?
Absolutely. Many of the greatest entrepreneurs had no business education. Steve Jobs dropped out of college. Richard Branson left school at 16. Sara Blakely was selling fax machines. Henry Ford had no formal engineering training. Jack Ma was an English teacher. What matters is not the degree — it is the ability to see an opportunity, build something people want, and persist through failure.
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