WINTER 2017
digital:mastered INSIGHT AND NEWS FROM THE UP GROUP
REMUNERATION GUIDE 2017 INTERVIEWS WITH INDUSTRY LEADERS WHERE WE WORK: STOCKHOLM ROUNDTABLE INSIGHTS WOMEN ON BOARDS SCALING A BUSINESS IN NEW YORK THE FINTECH CAPITAL OF EUROPE
Remuneration Guide Navigating through Turbulence FinTech Dinner
2-7 8-10 13
Women on Boards
14-15
PropTech Roundtable
16-17
Culture Roundtable
18-19
Digital Masters Dinners
20-21
Where we work: Stockholm
22-23
Success in the City
24-25
New York Roundtables
28-29
New additions to the senior team
30
With thanks to our 2017 Digital Masters partners
Welcome Hello and welcome to our Winter 2017 edition of Digital:Mastered, featuring our latest insight and a round-up of what we’ve been up to in the second half of the year. We’ve once again produced our Remuneration Guide, providing a go-to for digital leaders’ base salary. This year, we’ve benchmarked compensation across a range of functions, levels and company types (pages 2-7). The past few months have seen us travelling across borders hosting various networking events. We hosted our first Digital Masters Dinner in Amsterdam, followed by our fourth dinner in Berlin (page 20). To celebrate the official launch of our Nordic office, we threw a drinks reception for senior leaders and investors in Stockholm (page 22) and we closed the year by hosting three events in New York: a 70-person strong CEO and investor dinner, and roundtables for CTOs and HR Leaders respectively (page 28). In London, continuing with the Digital Masters events series, our Women on Boards dinner saw 30 inspiring female leaders discussing the lack of women in senior leadership and
Board positions (page 12); the topic of whether London will remain the FinTech capital of Europe was debated amongst 40 executives and investors at our FinTech dinner (page 13); through our roundtable programme, we brought together senior executives from the PropTech ecosystem, and also hosted a breakfast for CHROs on creating and maintaining a great company culture (page 16-19). Furthermore we interviewed key players in our network on their top tips in a time of uncertainty in our Navigating through Turbulence article (page 8). We’re also delighted to have welcomed new faces to our growing team, including three new additions to our leadership team; Kate Bamford, Rowena Knapp and Anca Condrea, who will enable us to continue delivering outstanding client service as we scale (page 30). 2017 has been a strong and successful year for The Up Group, and we’re excited for what’s to come in 2018. The Up Group
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The Up Group Digital Leaders Remuneration Guide 2017 The purpose of this report is to once again provide an up-to-date benchmark for digital executives’ base salary, across a range of functions, levels and company types. Our day-to-day work sees us placing senior executives in roles across the digital economy. From high-growth VC-backed scale-ups, to PE-backed companies and established digital corporates - as well as placing transformative leaders into traditional environments. For this year’s report, we’ve pooled candidate data and coupled this with our own insight to produce an overall guide to remuneration. For ease of comparison, the majority of salary data is UK based and all remuneration values are displayed in GBP. It goes without saying that these findings are based on a limited dataset, and therefore caution should be exercised before drawing firm conclusions, but the overarching trends outlined in this report are borne out by our day-to-day experiences. If there’s anything in the report that you’d like to discuss further, please do not hesitate to get in touch.
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Key Base salaries displayed in £GBP 000,s VC-backed - Series A VC-backed - Series B upwards PE-backed - Small and mid cap Listed Digital Listed Traditional
Chief Executive Officer
Chief Operating Officer
Base 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 Salary . . . . . . . 120 - 180
Base 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 Salary . . . . . . . 100 - 150
180 - 250
150 - 250 200 - 350
150 - 300
300 - 360
250 - 320
450 +
For this year’s report, we’ve pooled candidate data and coupled this with our own insight to produce an overall guide to remuneration.
300 - 400
General Management Base 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 Salary . . . . . . . 100 - 150 150 - 180 150 - 250 200 - 250 200 - 280
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Chief Financial Officer
Finance #2
VC-backed - Series A
Base 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 Salary . . . . . . . 120 - 150
Base 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 Salary . . . . . . . 75 - 90
150 - 250
1100 - 150
VC-backed - Series B upwards
150 - 300
100 - 180
250 - 350
140 - 200 450+
PE-backed - Small and mid cap
Chief Marketing Officer Base 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 Salary . . . . . . .
Marketing #2 Base 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 Salary . . . . . . . 75 - 100
100 - 150
Listed digital
150 - 225 150 - 250
Listed Traditional
180 - 275 200 - 400
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150 - 225
100 - 175 110 - 180 150 - 200 180 - 225
Chief Technology Officer
Technology #2
Base 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 Salary . . . . . . . 110 - 150
Base 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 Salary . . . . . . . 100 - 120
150 - 220
120 - 170
150 - 230
125 - 180 200 - 300
150 - 200
250 - 320
Chief Product Officer
125 - 175
Product #2
Base 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 Salary . . . . . . .
Base 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 Salary . . . . . . . 100 - 120
100 - 150
120 - 170
150 - 230 150 - 250 200 - 300 200 - 300
125 - 175 125 - 175 140 - 200
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Chief Commercial Officer/ Chief Revenue Officer
Commercial #2
VC-backed - Series A
Base 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 Salary . . . . . . . 100 - 150
Base 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 Salary . . . . . . . 80 - 120
150 - 200
100 - 150
VC-backed - Series B upwards
125 - 250
125 - 200
200 - 250
200 - 250
220 - 300
PE-backed - Small and mid cap
Chief People Officer/Chief HR Officer Base 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 Salary . . . . . . .
People #2 Base 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 Salary . . . . . . . N/A
80 - 100
100 - 150
Listed digital
120 - 200 150 - 250
100 - 150
Listed Traditional
200 - 300 200 - 350
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180 - 250
150 - 180 150 - 200
Chief Data Officer Base 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 Salary . . . . . . . N/A N/A 150 - 175 175 - 220 200 - 350
At each stage of company growth, there needs to be a mindset shift around compensation package
Chief Digital Officer Base 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 Salary . . . . . . . N/A N/A 175 - 250 N/A 220 - 375
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Navigating through Turbulence Quick-fire interviews with industry leaders We spoke to key people within our network for a quick fire insight into their thoughts in a time of unprecedented change.
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Steve Crossan
Sean Cornwell
Celia Francis
Former Product, DeepMind
CEO, Direct Ferries
CEO, Rated People
In the midst of all the global fear and uncertainty, what core business principles do you find yourself turning to?
In the midst of all the global fear and uncertainty, what core business principles do you find yourself turning to?
In the midst of all the global fear and uncertainty, what core business principles do you find yourself turning to?
Find a big market, have a credible story about how technology can disrupt it and how a lot of the value of that disruption can be captured.
Focus on a great customer experience - that will always hold you in good stead - and build a great team around you, it gives you the best chance.
There is great opportunity in uncertainty. Helping make the lives of your customers better is even more important in difficult times.
What’s the most interesting business article or book you’ve read in 2017?
What’s the most interesting business article or book you’ve read in 2017?
What’s the most interesting business article or book you’ve read in 2017?
Rise of the Machines by Thomas Rid a history of cybernetics.
Azeem Azhar’s weekly newsletter, Exponential View - it’s brilliant and so educational with all the tech change happening.
Thrive: The Third Metric to Redefining Success and Creating a Happier Life by Arianna Huffington.
If you had to rely on one person on Twitter for consistently reliable, insightful information, who would that be? Simon Kuper - @KuperSimon On a scale of 1-10, where 1 is ‘We all get nuked’ and 10 is ‘Obama replaces Trump and Brexit is cancelled’, how optimistic are you about the future? 9 Provide one feel-good cliché that a tech executive, depressed about the state of the world, should hang on to. Never waste a good crisis.
If you had to rely on one person on Twitter for consistently reliable, insightful information, who would that be? David Allen Green - @davidallengreen On a scale of 1-10, where 1 is ‘We all get nuked’ and 10 is ‘Obama replaces Trump and Brexit is cancelled’, how optimistic are you about the future? 8 - the alternative is just too grim. Provide one feel-good cliché that a tech executive, depressed about the state of the world, should hang on to. You work in the most exciting industry globally. Enjoy it!
If you had to rely on one person on Twitter for consistently reliable, insightful information, who would that be? The Boston Globe - @BostonGlobe On a scale of 1-10, where 1 is ‘We all get nuked’ and 10 is ‘Obama replaces Trump and Brexit is cancelled’, how optimistic are you about the future? 8 Provide one feel-good cliché that a tech executive, depressed about the state of the world, should hang on to. ‘We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves’ - Buddha.
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Navigating through Turbulence Ed Ungar
Claire Davenport
Co-founder, Pharmacierge
CEO, UK HelloFresh
In the midst of all the global fear and uncertainty, what core business principles do you find yourself turning to?
In the midst of all the global fear and uncertainty, what core business principles do you find yourself turning to?
Focus on solving genuine user problems.
For me, it always comes back to:
What’s the most interesting business article or book you’ve read in 2017?
Listen to your customers - solve real problems (in fresh ways).
Consistently Azeem Azhar’s Exponential View.
Develop your people / talent - champion people and their personal and professional growth.
If you had to rely on one person on Twitter for consistently reliable, insightful information, who would that be? Jonathan Freedland - @Freedland On a scale of 1-10, where 1 is ‘We all get nuked’ and 10 is ‘Obama replaces Trump and Brexit is cancelled’, how optimistic are you about the future? 6 Provide one feel-good cliché that a tech executive, depressed about the state of the world, should hang on to. ‘Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm’ - WS Churchill.
Execute your strategy - know where you want to go and do the things that will get you there. Don’t stop disrupting - if there’s a better way, find it or someone else will. What’s the most interesting business article or book you’ve read in 2017? The Innovator’s Dilemma by Clayton Christensen - Brings up some important concepts. Leadership Coaching by Jonathan Passmore - Best leadership book I have read recently, for senior rather than junior managers. Act Like a Leader, Think Like a Leader by Herminia Ibarra - great for junior managers stepping up to leadership, important in scaling companies.
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If you had to rely on one person on Twitter for consistently reliable, insightful information, who would that be? I’m not a big Twitter user. On a scale of 1-10, where 1 is ‘We all get nuked’ and 10 is ‘Obama replaces Trump and Brexit is cancelled’, how optimistic are you about the future? Good scale. I’m a natural optimist but with a realist twist, so I think 6 right now but, long term, I hope this is a short term adjustment and we end up at a good 8 in the next 5 -10 years. Provide one feel-good cliché that a tech executive, depressed about the state of the world, should hang on to. As I say, I am an optimist. I am not depressed as I believe in people and that good actions executed with energy have ripple effects which add up. We can act. As Nelson Mandela said: ‘We can change the world and make it a better place. It is in our hands to change things’.
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Will London continue to be the FinTech capital of Europe? In light of Brexit negotiations, London’s supremacy as a technology hub could be at risk, particularly its dominance within the FinTech ecosystem. We discussed the question ‘Will London continue to be the FinTech capital of Europe?’ at our recent FinTech dinner, attended by 40 executives, Board Members and investors in the space. London’s current position within the financial sector is incredibly strong, with a secure and long-standing infrastructure. Innovation is emerging from both the cutting-edge FinTech startups, and the incumbents adopting technology. This strong position
provides opportunity for a natural collaboration between the two sides, which we are beginning to see more of in London. With a supportive regulator and an abundance of talent in the UK, it was widely agreed that it would be challenging for other cities to catch London up in the FinTech space. Leaving the European Union, however, brings with it uncertainties - the main concern for FinTech in London seems to be the movement of people. If the British Government doesn’t implement a simple visa process for those moving to the UK, attracting top European talent will become increasingly difficult.
Furthermore, Brexit may bring significant opportunities for other cities to entice FinTech businesses. EY has predicted1 that Dublin and Frankfurt are the frontrunners to take London’s crown, and have attraced 14 and 12 companies respectively since July 2016. Despite this, it was widely agreed that the UK will take the necessary steps to maintain their dominant position, and remain open to growing this sector. Interviews from the dinner bit.ly/London-FinTech 1 http://bit.ly/2BDB61I
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Women on Boards Leaders are representing their company and serving the customers of today, and it’s really important that they’re as diverse as possible to represent that GM, Northern Europe, Uber
In light of the recent statistic that in 2016 female representation on UK plc Boards declined from 32.1% in 2014 to 29%1, the need for discussion around increasing the number of women on Boards is more important than ever. We gathered 30 senior female leaders at London’s Ivy City Garden restaurant for an evening of networking and provoking thought around what can be done to combat the issue. We heard from Helen Stevenson, SID at Trinity Mirror plc, about the benefits of female leadership for organisations, and what can be done to improve the lack of diversity. Of the themes discussed, the danger of groupthink proved particularly widespread from startups through to incumbents. Crucially, the best interests of women are not always being voiced in the meetings that matter the most. A non-diverse senior leadership team is unrepresentative of both the wider company and the company’s customer base. It is argued that the value of an organisation is increased by simply diversifying the workplace; particularly the board and executive leaders. This is supported by McKinsey & Co.,2 who believe that advancing women’s equality could add as much as $2.1 trillion to Western Europe’s GDP by 2025.
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Targets and open reporting are a great beginning, but I think the initiatives that are really going to work need to be systemic, deep and owned within businesses SID, Trinity Mirror plc
Networking and mentorship schemes have proved beneficial to the career progression of women, and facilitate the cross-fertilisation of ideas and practices between various companies and industries. Giving women a platform on which to voice the concerns of their gender is also fundamental. Current boards must make a concerted effort to develop women within their organisation, at all levels, to pave the way for the next generation of female leaders. We hope that by running events like these, we can help to shine a light on this key issue and help to foster valuable connections between senior female business leaders.
Being on a Board is a lonely place to be and this event has provided a space where you can share ideas, share learnings and grow as a result of that
Companies represented included:
NED, Royal Mail
Interviews from the dinner bit.ly/Women-on-Boards
1 http://on.ft.com/2kH8dJs 2 http://bit.ly/2BPBsEO
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Roundtables:
Proptech A nascent sector, PropTech is on the rise of late – with a range of companies beginning to gain both traction and headlines. With that in mind, we gathered a number of founders, senior leaders and investors, from both incumbents and disruptors for a spirited roundtable discussion. The following key themes emerged...
PropTech represents a huge opportunity PropTech is currently a particularly attractive opportunity for two key reasons: the size of the market, and the lack of digitisation in the space to date. At a global value of $217 trillion1, property represents one of the biggest asset classes on the planet, yet one of the last major sectors to face digital disruption. $2.6 billion2 was invested in PropTech globally last year, and whilst this went largely to companies in the US and Asia, the pendulum has swung back towards Europe in 2017.
A fragmented ecosystem
Real estate must collectively catch up to reduce the friction and better serve customers digital:mastered • 16
One notable aspect of PropTech is the sheer diversity of companies in the space – to the extent that some questioned the usefulness of the term itself. Real estate must collectively catch up to reduce the friction and better serve customers including estate agents, aggregators, and FinTech companies. Similarly, there is fragmentation within these individual points of the value chain, creating friction for users through their journey. However, this does provide attractive, albeit challenging, opportunities
for disruptors who can navigate this fragmented ecosystem and offer seamless customer journeys.
Diversity of funding Unlike many other sectors that have undergone transformative change in recent years, whose financiers have been dominated by venture capital and, to a lesser extent, private equity firms, investors in PropTech are much more diverse. Only a small handful of companies in the room had received venture funding. Investment instead comes from corporates, high net-worth individuals, or from crowdfunding rounds. PropTech firms must not be disheartened at an initial lack of venture capital interest, and instead be ready to be resourceful in the pursuit of funding to help them scale.
Second-wave disruption PropTech has been around for over a decade, and is now seeing a second wind. First-wave disruptors have either fallen by the wayside, such as House Network, or become established, successful companies – ZPG plc, for example. Those that prospered have played a complementary role in the real estate ecosystem, with services that, for
The complexity involved in property means there is a range of companies under the ‘PropTech’ umbrella
example, aggregated properties from multiple sites in a single location. The new wave of disruptive PropTech startups, instead of playing nice with the established players, are playing a more directly competitive role; companies such as eMoov and Purplebricks seek to attack, rather than augment, the established franchise estate agent model. Meanwhile, successful firstwave PropTechs are consolidating their positions and expanding their offerings via M&A. ZPG plc provides a good example: the company has recently acquired both SaaS platform Expert Agent and FS comparison provider Money.co.uk in order to enhance its offerings to estate agents and consumers alike.
Without a doubt, this discussion will be beneficial to all
The future of PropTech: diversifying propositions and changing attitudes
Companies represented included:
Revenues for companies in real estate track, almost exactly, to transaction volume in the space: the more property sales or rental contracts, the higher a company’s revenues. And although there is a growth in transaction volume amongst younger generations, overall transaction volumes remain steady in an increasingly crowded market. As such, it is essential for companies to diversify their offerings to both provide ancillary revenues, as well as to add genuine value to the consumer. Companies such as Amazon, Apple, and Uber have reset consumer expectations, and real estate must collectively catch up to reduce the friction and better serve customers. We would like to thank all those who attended, and look forward to future innovation in this space with great interest.
CEO, Virtual Commercial 1 http://bit.ly/1nJ6nbc
2 http://bit.ly/2BEjiUg
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Roundtables:
Culture In October, we hosted a breakfast roundtable for HR leaders to discuss the various challenges they face at different stages of growth and transformation.
Culture needs to be driven from the top down to ensure its success
Early-stage growing pains Founders inevitably play a huge role in early-stage businesses and shape the culture from day one - which can have both positive and negative effects. For example, a very ambitiously-led earlystage company might ‘step over’ people processes in an attempt to scale as fast as possible; creating a backlog of internal issues that go unresolved. Equally, while companies at all stages can have overly punishing work cultures, this can be more pronounced where the vision of founders is of a particularly ‘spartan’ work ethic. Interestingly, the discussion raised the point that strong business performance can attract talent to these environments - with the opportunities available outweighing any negative cultural elements - but that this isn’t necessarily sustainable; employees in such “sink or swim” cultures are, almost inevitably, less inclined to display loyalty independent of personal gain. On the other end of the scale, early-stage companies can also find themselves with an excessively informal management
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culture. Whilst the ‘people over profit’ model can be effective - and profit will often follow a healthy people culture it can, over time, cause growth to slow down; goodwill does not necessarily lead to high growth.
IPOs and M&A - coming of age Successfully completing an IPO can be a key cultural moment for a growing business. As a company transitions from a private culture to a public culture, it is vital that employees understand that certain working practices need to change once the company lists. For example, financial timeframes constrain, meaning whilst privately held businesses can operate on relatively distant targets, listed companies ‘live by the quarter’; this transition is understandably challenging when employees who may be used to solving problems long-term confront it. One approach to countering this, raised at the roundtable, is to run a dress rehearsal of the post-IPO environment in the months leading up to listing; treating the business as if it were already public.
As corporates undergo digital transformation, they face the challenge of injecting a ‘digital culture’
M&A processes can also present significant people and culture challenges, especially if disparate skill-sets are being merged. A team with significant experience in more traditional business models (e.g. banking, consulting) may have a difficult time integrating fully with a team with technology expertise at its core. Equally, integrating a small company into a larger corporate can create a significant culture shock - particularly if the employees of that smaller company have been used to a particularly independent working culture. Mechanisms by which this can be mitigated were discussed, including the importance of demonstrating the value of a larger organisation, through an emphasis of the benefits that a scaled business can provide. Simple elements such as company gym membership and a highprofile location - more readily available to larger organisations - can play a significant part in this.
Corporate transformation defining a digital culture As corporates undergo digital transformation, they face the challenge of injecting a “digital culture” across large scale, legacy businesses. Failure to address this can lead to a misalignment between the opportunities presented by digital business models, and the human resources they are able to deploy to meet them. In order to raise the talent and culture bar at scale, and across geographies, participants suggested utilising external recruiters, with values embodied in the hiring pattern.
Employees in ‘sink or swim’ cultures are, almost inevitably, less inclined to display loyalty Companies represented included:
Whatever the stage of business, attendees agreed that culture needs to be driven from the top down to ensure its success, and that values need to be fully operationalised within the organisation, rather than just ‘printed on the walls’. It is also crucial for People leaders to look ahead of the curve, to ensure that their business is able to respond to inevitable changes in a fast-moving digital world.
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Digital Masters Dinners As part of our Digital Masters series, the second half of this year has seen us travel to Amsterdam, Berlin and New York to host dinners for C-level executives, investors and Board members. These events bring together the digital community within each city to cross-fertilise ideas and enhance networks.
BOARD DINNERS
Amsterdam 26th September 2017 Pulizer Hotel 40 companies represented included:
Great event. You are correct, mixing folks with an innovation bend from multiple domains leads to a lot of unexpected connections and opportunities VP, Bain Capital digital:mastered • 20
Berlin 17th October 2017 Soho House Berlin 60 companies represented included:
New York 14th November 2017 The Breslin, Ace Hotel 70 companies represented included:
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Where we work:
Stockholm To officially celebrate the launch our Swedish office, we threw a drinks reception for 40 of the city’s leading executives and investors at the riverside location, Katjplats 18. The reception also featured an address from the British Ambassador to Sweden, David Cairns, on the rise of UK businesses in the Nordic region. We caught up with our Nordic Lead, Rupert Lion, to gain some insight into the market.
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What do you think the main differences / similarities are between the Stockholm and London tech scenes? RL: In essence there are two major differences - stage of businesses and origin of funding. In terms of stage of business, as might be expected there are less later stage international businesses in Stockholm (those of note are Klarna, Spotify and others that have already exited, such as King). However, there are proportionally a good number of companies around Series B that have great prospects for significant success in the global market. One of the main reasons for this is the size of the domestic market ensures the majority of startups are built with the international market in mind - from day one, many of these are designed with scaling and platform capabilities to enable efficient global expansion. In terms of the origin of funding, whilst there are some significant local investors in Stockholm, there is also a significant amount of inbound investment (particularly from London-based investors). There is certainly a sense that the Stockholm market is not capital constrained for great startups when considering a combination of local VCs, other local private funds and the broader European VC base. How do you think the Nordic market has developed over the past 12-18 months? RL: The Nordic market continues to ‘come of age’ and whilst Stockholm still has the Lion’s share of successful startups, there are some other great businesses rising up out of the other Nordic nations. As with many markets that are in a phase of significant growth, demand for
talent is a significant potential inhibitor to progress, particularly as many businesses with international designs are trying to execute in ways that other companies in the Nordics have never had to do. Which talent is in most demand in Stockholm? RL: As with many European markets, technology oriented leaders (such as product and engineering) continue to dominate the talent agenda. An additional role that is becoming increasingly relevant is internationally oriented sales leaders and market makers - these people need to carry the culture of the existing business but execute in new international markets. Finally there is an increasing need for new forms of marketing leaders - as many startups focus on pure online acquisition (for both B2C and B2B markets) these marketers need to own the funnel to a much greater degree than traditional marketers. How does recruitment differ from elsewhere in Europe? RL: There is still ‘sticker shock’ at what it costs a Nordic business to compensate an international leader. In general, base pay is in the region of 30% higher than traditionally paid in the Nordics and these countries perceived (and real) cost of living, along with high tax rates, means it can be difficult to match company expectations with candidates. As a result, Nordic businesses are having to make radical shifts in their view on compensation (which also causes issues internally as other executives will likely be on a Nordic pay scale) or risk failing in attracting the talent required for their current stage of growth.
What advice would you give to anyone considering moving to Stockholm? RL: Firstly, embrace the culture and approach of the market - both personally and professionally. For example, Stockholm is a beautiful place to live but it has its idiosyncrasies - trying to apply a London way of living, or indeed interacting with business associates will be painful and ultimately unsuccessful. Secondly, get your ‘ducks in a row’. The Swedish systems work incredibly efficiently - once you are properly registered. Make plans to ensure you are registered with the tax agency (including applying for the generous “expert tax status” if you are eligible). Also, be aware that the rental market for property is both in short supply and expensive apartments will disappear quickly after listing so you need to be prepared to drop everything to close the deal. Thirdly, invest in relationships. The culture in Stockholm is heavily reliant on forming strong bonds and relationships - but as an ‘outsider’ you will need to be the one to make the first move. If you are bold, polite and helpful, then you will get a positive response and lasting relationships. What’s next for Up in the Nordics? RL: The sky’s the limit! We continue to invest time and resources in helping to bring great talent to top tier businesses in the Nordics. We work closely with investors in the region and are always on hand to provide support and advice on building out teams.
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Our New York Lead, Tiffany van Driel caught up with Sebastian Hempstead, the former EVP, North America for Brandwatch, on launching the company in New York, from the challenges, differences and top tips for those thinking of moving to the Big Apple.
TVD: You first moved to New York back in 2011 to set up the North America business for Brandwatch, what was that first year like?
Success in the City Sebastian Hempstead
Chief Revenue Officer, Idio Previously : EVP North America, Brandwatch
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SH: It was manic. The adage that everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face was very true. Despite doing some groundwork, being on the ground was very different. Key market challenges were a lack of brand recognition in the US, the market being more mature than Europe, and well established competitor relationships in our initial target market (media agencies). I was still going back to the UK every few weeks. Having no credit score in the US made things much more difficult to get done. We didn’t have a lot of the basics like healthcare, payroll, tax forms, US contracts, bank accounts etc. in place so there was a lot of admin. Alongside that there was the normal pitching, hiring and networking. TVD: What were some of your biggest successes in building out North America? How did the market respond to the Brandwatch offering? SH: The market responded positively to the Brandwatch offering but take up was still slow as US-based competitors had a strong position. The break through was with the more visionary individuals in the industry who were willing to take a risk with what was considered a new player. The next win was positive word-of-mouth generated by those customers, this was earned by being straight about what we could and couldn’t do in the pitch, and delivering on our promises. A later win was the partnerships we established with companies like Spredfast, Hootsuite and Ideacage who helped us deliver a more competitive, complete offering. Lastly, the team we built. We made some bedrock hires and UK transfers who were able to deal with the demands of UK to US startup and became the backbone of the US company culture and success.
TVD: What were some of the biggest challenges you faced? SH: The first was interviewing. Brits generally sell themselves short. Americans, especially in sales, sometimes over-sell. This was a big change. Growing a culture was something I hadn’t done before, it was way harder, and more personally challenging, than I expected. This was exacerbated by the UK/US split and the manic pace leaving little time to support a developing team and culture. Finally, a lack of strategy meant teams and regions weren’t aligned, creating tensions and slowing the speed at which we could move. We still achieved a lot and this was addressed in later years but at the time it’s something I’d change going back. These remain hard but important things to get right, now I have more experience to draw on. TVD: Why was having a NYC office important for Brandwatch at the time? SH: The US had the largest customer base and growth opportunity. The US marketing teams were setting global trends, had bigger budgets and were fueling competitors who were starting to make plays in Europe. NYC was a good choice due to the proximity to the agency headquarters, easy flights, and the time difference was better for overlap with the UK which made comms and support a bit easier. TVD: Over the last six years you have spent in New York, what have been some of the biggest hiring challenges for talent? SH: Like anywhere, finding and holding onto good people is tough. Larger companies raise the bar with salary levels and perks making it expensive to compete.
It’s often a shared vision and a solid culture that makes the difference to talented people that have a choice about where they go. Another key reason people want to join a startup is options. A number of UK companies I’ve seen don’t have a very accessible options plan, this is a negative when it comes to talent acquisition and retention. New York and San Francisco salaries were something of a shock to a Brighton-based finance team. Having being used to the NHS, the importance of Healthcare plans, especially to those with kids and dependents, wasn’t something we understood from the outset. The New York ‘employment at will’ structure makes hiring less risky than Europe but the level of maternity provision is shameful, bringing European sensibilities to those policy areas can help attract good people. TVD: What advice would you give to someone looking to open an office in NYC? SH: Assess whether you really need to be in NYC, there are a number of other East Coast cities that may fit your needs and provide a lower cost entry point. You may also be able to run a remote team, that was something that didn’t work so well for us. Having said that, I think it’s an awesome place to live and do business. Don’t assume you’ll have the same customer base. Consider the role scale will play in your strategy and how you will segment such a large market. Consider the challenge of scale in your customers’ business and make sure you’re technically prepared. If you can, open the office with someone from the leadership team, someone who gets the culture, has good relationships across the organisation and that is trusted by the leadership team. Then hire local carefully. Put support in
Don’t assume you’ll have the same customer base place for whomever moves over and pay extra attention to communication at all levels. Be ready to invest and to stick it out through the ups and downs. TVD: What were the major differences you found in the NYC digital scene compared to Europe? SH: I’ve generally found the digital scene more mature and forward-looking. However, there are a number of large customers who are still in catch-up mode due to size and culture. The tech scene isn’t as omnipresent in NYC as in SF, something I personally prefer. TVD: What is your top tip for a new-New Yorker? SH: New York is beautiful, vibrant and hardto-leave but make sure you get out of the city every now and then to decompress. TVD: What have been the biggest learnings from building an office from scratch? SH: Someone used to often quote ‘Drucker’s’ ‘culture eats strategy for breakfast’. To me, they’re two sides of the same coin, keeping them in balance will get you a long way.
digital:mastered • 25
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Dealmakers in Technology
New York:
HR Leaders In November, we brought together an exclusive group of People Leaders for an HR Roundtable in New York. The New York tech scene is rapidly scaling and there was much discussion, from companies across the growth curve, deliberating the challenges they are facing in a time of unprecedented change. Core to the discussion was how to successfully navigate a business through the life cycle of adolescence to adulthood from a people perspective, key points included:
Lessons learnt on the pre- and post-IPO trail Preparing a business for the cultural change and shift in KPIs is critical for success. Those who plan the growth and transformation process of the internal operations through an IPO will succeed; change management allows for employees to ready themselves for the transition and embrace a new way of learning. Companies who fail to communicate, equip and support individuals to successfully adopt change, inevitably aren’t supporting enterprise growth.
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Driving and enabling a growth culture In a period of uncertainty and change it’s important to have a united and transparent voice aligning different functions in different business units with the same core company mission. Maintaining optimism is key, and honest communication is imperative for success.
Ensuring best in class performance management Moving away from episodic reviews and feedback, to a model of continuous performance evaluation could be a way to engage and motivate staff. Performance should be measured for each department when it makes the most commercial sense – for example after a product launch or at the end of a project – rather than appraisals being on a cyclical cycle and causing disturbance mid-assignment.
World class talent acquisition and retention It’s just as important to keep the right people as it is to recognise when someone’s skillset is no longer suited to the journey of the business. Making an educated guess on future hiring needs in a period of growth can be challenging,
and there is often a need for People Leaders to work closely with leadership teams on roles which aren’t innate.
Competitive compensation and equity Gaining clarity on when it is important to stick to the frameworks outlined, or when to break the rules to make way for a transformative hire is important. Using tools to compare against c.20 companies ensures paying market-price remuneration, yet some functions will require more regular reviews, particularly engineering and product, to safeguard talent retention. It seems a discretionary yearly bonus, based on individual performance, is a better retention tool over company equity as it encourages productivity and efficiency, rather than waiting for the equity buyout.
Employer brand and company reputation HR is increasingly playing a key role in influencing how a business is perceived within the market. It’s important to work with senior executives to align an internal brand philosophy with industry trends and emerging themes.
Tech Leaders A great event. So much sharing and learning Chief People Officer, Compass
The stories and insights were incredibly rich CEO & Founder, The Culture Doctor
Whilst in New York, we also held a roundtable discussion for Chief Technology Officers. Managing the fluidity of the tech talent market in New York is a struggle, especially when scaling a business. Given the ease for engineers to move on to more attractive packages, how do you retain talent? The discussion provided insight into the current challenges of a CTO:
Remuneration It is widely agreed that remuneration for a technologist in NYC is over-inflated. It’s critical for businesses to recognise that engineers play a key part in the customer experience and so should be recognised and rewarded fairly. Rather than compete on price point, it’s important to ensure that engineers feel valued in their role and are provided with incentives to engage with the company.
Curating interesting technology problems to solve
Creating a community culture
Establishing a relationship of trust between executives and their teams, and being flexible and open with business objectives and strategy appeals strongly. Encouraging friendships within teams helps to foster a cohesive community and boosts positive working atmospheres.
The role of the CTO It is now often expected for the CTO to be as customer-focused as any other executive in the business. An early-stage CTO is initially needed for their technical expertise, often including hands-on coding, but as a business scales their role will transition to be more commerciallyfocused. Therefore, engineers need to have an interest in, and understanding of, what they are building for rather than solely executing backend capabilities. Some organisations have in fact done away with the role of a CTO, and instead have a core group of tech leaders who make strategic business decisions.
The allure of innovative problems helps to keep employees enthusiastic and engaged. Involving the whole team in the product roadmap prioritisation, and allowing engineers to build and launch products end-to-end, leads to greater engagement and therefore, retention. digital:mastered • 29
New additions to the senior team
We’re delighted to announce several recent additions to our senior team. These appointments will enable us to continue to deliver outstanding client service as we scale. Kate Bamford joins us as Managing Director, having previously been a Partner at JCA Group. Kate brings a wealth of experience advising on Board and senior leadership roles, particularly within Media, and has helped to assemble some very impressive private and listed Boards. digital:mastered • 30
Alongside Kate, we have appointed two new Directors: Rowena Knapp and Anca Condrea.
consumer practice. Anca specialises in the fashion and retail sectors, across all functions, in particular in the private equity ecosystem.
Rowena is a digital industry hire. She brings over 15 years of digital experience, spanning leadership roles at global corporates (eBay) as well as two high-growth, venture-backed European success stories (King and Skype).
These appointments will bolster our capacity to help our ever-growing roster of international clients source global talent for their ambitious growth and transformation plans.
Anca joins us from Heads!, where she was part of the European retail and
We’re really excited to welcome Kate, Rowena and Anca to the team.
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© 2017 Cooley (UK) LLP, Dashwood, 69 Old Broad Street, London, EC2M 1QS www.cooley.com
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