大卫挑战巨人

Oskar Blues啤酒公司 vs. 米勒康胜公司

    挑战：前有2,000多家美国手工啤酒厂，后有占据市场主导地位的几家全球啤酒业巨头，面对如此险境，如何才能在市场中抢占一席之地？

    战斗历程：44岁的戴尔•凯特奇斯于1997年在科罗拉多州莱昂斯创办Oskar Blues酒店时，肯定没想过自己会经营一家数百万美元的企业。凯特奇斯回忆道：“银行都不愿意借钱给我。”于是，他只能用信用卡提现的方式，支付种子的费用。不过，后来他开始在地下室酿造啤酒，生产客户最喜欢的罐装啤酒，比如低度啤酒。从此，公司开始了快速发展。很快，他的啤酒公司就扩展到附近一个有百年历史的谷仓，最终成为一家占地43,000平方英尺的啤酒厂。目前，Oskar Blues已经成为美国发展最快的手工啤酒厂之一，年销售额达3,100万美元。12月份，公司在北卡罗来纳州的布里瓦德建造了一套生产设施，还成立了一家名为REEB Cycles的山地自行车初创公司。没错，公司的名字正是倒过来写的英文单词“beer”（啤酒——译注）。

哈佛书店 vs. 亚马逊

    挑战：面对在线书商的猛烈攻击，如何成功保留一家传统书店？

    战斗历程：62岁的前科技公司高管杰夫•梅耶索恩曾帮助开发互联网技术，但他仍是印刷图书的忠实粉丝。2008年，他在马塞诸萨州坎布里奇收购了具有代表性的哈佛书店（Harvard Book Store），决定在自己的领域打败大型在线零售商。他购买了一台小汽车大小的印刷机，可以在几分钟内印刷一本书——不必再占用宝贵的书架空间，有效扩大了库存。他的理论是：“数字化不应该成为实体书店的丧钟，而应该是救命稻草。”此外，他还在当地推出了自行车送书服务，派送速度甚至比亚马逊（Amazon，《财富》500强）还快。去年，他的书店销售额增加超过了10%。对于一个夕阳产业来说，这已经算是相当不错的成绩了。

Coupa vs. Ariba （SAP公司）

    挑战：如何战胜一家跨国同行，把开支软件销售给大客户？

    战斗历程：为了下大力气整顿公司预算，许多公司都采购了复杂的软件，来跟踪公司的开支，精细程度甚至细化到一支比克钢笔的费用。然而，他们的美好愿望在现实中却经常遭遇挫折，因为员工们发现，那些程序实在让人望而生畏。2006年，几个以前在甲骨文公司（Oracle ）干过的老员工成立了Coupa公司，开发出了依托于云技术的“开支优化”软件，希望这类软件能像Facebook一样易于使用。公司CEO罗布•伯恩施特恩说：“到目前为止，我们的产品是目前市场上最实用的。”公司称，康泰纳零售连锁店（Container Store）等大客户，以及超过90%的其他客户都续签了包年合同，公司2011年的收入达到了1,500万美元。风投们也蜂拥而至：自2009年以来，伯恩施特恩总计已经募集到了4,150万美元资金。（财富中文网）

    译者：刘进龙/汪皓

Oskar Blues vs. MillerCoors

    The challenge: Getting a toehold in a market with more than 2,000 U.S. craft brewers and a few dominant global titans.

    What he did: Dale Katechis, 44, never expected to run a multimillion-dollar operation when he started Oskar Blues Restaurant in tiny Lyons, Colo., in 1997. "Banks wouldn't lend me any money," recalls Katechis, who used credit card cash advances for seed money. But when he started brewing beer in the basement and, later, canning customer favorites like Dale's Pale Ale, the company took off. His beer operation soon spread to a nearby 100-year-old barn and eventually to a 43,000-square-foot brewery too. Now one of the fastest-growing U.S. craft brewers, Oskar Blues has annual sales of $31 million. It launched a production facility in Brevard, N.C., in December -- as well as a mountain-bike startup called REEB Cycles. Yep, that's "beer" spelled backward.

Harvard Book Store vs. Amazon

    The challenge: Maintaining an old-fashioned bookstore against the onslaught of online sellers.

    What he did: Former tech executive Jeff Mayersohn, 62, helped create technology to build the Internet, but he's still a die-hard fan of printed books. In 2008 he bought the iconic Harvard Book Store in Cambridge, Mass., and resolved to beat the big online retailers at their own game. He bought a printing press about the size of a Smart Car that could produce any one of millions of titles within minutes -- effectively expanding inventory without using precious shelf space. His theory: "Digitization, rather than being the death knell for the corner brick-and-mortar store, could be its salvation." He also introduced local bicycle messengers who can deliver books faster thanAmazon (AMZN, Fortune 500) can ship them. Sales rose by more than 10% in the past year. Not bad for a dying industry.

Coupa vs. Ariba (SAP)

    The challenge: Beating out an international powerhouse to sell spending software to big companies.

    What they did: Gung ho about whipping their budgets into shape, many companies invest in complex software to track spending down to the last Bic pen. But their good intentions are often frustrated because employees find the programs daunting. The Oracle (ORCL, Fortune 500)veterans who founded Coupa in 2006 created cloud-based "spend optimization" software designed to be as accessible as Facebook. "We're by far the most usable tool out there," says CEO Rob Bernshteyn, 39. With big clients like the Container Store -- and more than 90% of customers renewing their annual contracts, according to the company -- the Silicon Valley firm says it pulled in $15 million in 2011. VCs are flocking: Bernshteyn has raised $41.5 million since 2009.