10 August 2008 by Change Agent Des
In an earlier post I discussed the consistent process I take the first week of each interim CEO / COO assignment. As noted, though my process is consistent across companies, the resultant actions taken are often quite different from company to company. My strangest -– but in hindsight maybe my most effective –- first action was as interim COO at a $20+ million, unprofitable software company: The first thing I did was clean the company kitchen!
Little did I know that -– before the last clean mug was in the strainer -– word traveled to the company’s remote offices in London, Dubai, and Perth that there was a new kid on the block and he was taking no prisoners. Unknown to me at the time, the foundation for a rapid turnaround was in place.
Arriving 45 minutes early that first day -– it’s amazing what you find out about a company arriving 45 minutes early on the first day –- the only employees in the office were four individual contributors having coffee in the company kitchen; a ridiculously extravagant kitchen any TopChef chef would die for.
I was told that the only available coffee cups were in the pile that filled the sink -– a pile of dirty dishes, it was noted, that was indicative of two of the company’s problems. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Business, Change Agent, Des Pieri, Desmond Pieri, Interim, Interim Management, Top Chef, Turnaround | 3 Comments »
8 August 2008 by Change Agent Des
If you want your customers to access your web site via their mobile phone, you may want to scan a blog post titled “10 Biggest Mistakes in Mobile Marketing.” The author talks about the problems with viewing web sites on mobile browsers. He ends the post by saying, “To solve the last mistake – not taking into account how every phone is different and needs customization – buy a Device Atlas from us so you’ll know exactly what work needs to be done.”
I’d end the post by saying, “Don’t use a web browser in the first place; instead use… Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Business, Des Pieri, Desmond Pieri, Mobile Devices, Mobiles, mobiThinking | 2 Comments »
28 July 2008 by Change Agent Des
This month’s Mobile Monday-Boston certainly assembled an esteemed panel to address the decade-old problem of the dismally poor experience of using a mobile browser on your cell phone. Yet how could so many brilliant minds after two hours of discussion not come up with a solution?
Easy. Each panelist enjoys their cushy, high-paid ‘evangelist’ existence due to the deep pockets of a major corporation. So, while each evangelist may in their heart-of-hearts know that an outside-the-box solution is what is required, their high flying lifestyle and hefty paycheck tell them to only offer up solutions that protect the franchise of their employer. So Google suggests ‘better mobile search’, Mozilla proffers ‘small, mobile-specific browsers’ as the way to go, and Nokia says the answer is ‘a powerful OS like OpenSymbian.’
So with no viable solution offered, the three highlights of the night were: (a) getting an unprecedented ‘look see’ at the posh, expensive, over-the-top, completely unnecessary digs of Orange Labs; (b) the great food and drink provided by Vlingo’s founder, speech recognition pioneer Mike Phillips (Question: Do Izhar Armony (Charles River Ventures) and Bob Davoli (Sigma Partners) know this is where Mike’s spending their money?); and (c) the comment by Franklin Davis of Nokia, equating the current mobile web browser experience to ‘looking at the web through a paper towel roll.’
The current mobile browser experience IS that bad. And it’s getting worse: as one… Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Bob Davoli, Business, Charles River Ventures, Des Pieri, Desmond Pieri, Franklin Davis, Izhar Armony, Mike Phillips, Mobile Browser, Mobile Devices, Mobile Monday, Mobile Monday Boston, Mobiles, Orange Labs, Sigma Parnters, Smart Phone, The Economist, Vlingo | 4 Comments »
15 June 2008 by Change Agent Des
Thursday night was crazed in our house. Two sons were preparing for their last day of finals, followed by packing their trunks for summer camp, in turn followed by packing their suitcases for a pre-camp vacation week in Maine. My wife and I each had piles of unfinished work, followed by our getting packed for vacation. And we both needed to be out of the house before the boys awoke for early morning business meetings. Late at night, I turned on the Boston Celtics game fully expecting it to be over, having forgotten the ridiculously late tip off time. When I saw The Green down by over 20 points I shut it off immediately; Sunday would be another day.
As I headed up to join my wife in bed, I caught site of the huge pile of ironing which I had planed to get through during last Sunday’s game. Knowing that I needed some of these clothes for next week, I reluctantly headed to the basement to iron away. I first turned to a rebroadcast of the last inning of the 2007 Red Sox Mothers’ Day Miracle game; though I’ve seen it a dozen times, it never looses it’s appeal. I switched back to the Celtics only to discover them down by only 11. Wait; could they really pull this off? The rest, as they say, is history. The more I ironed, the more the Celtics scored. When I got through the pile, I didn’t dare stop ironing, my Irish superstition taking over. I ironed everything in sight — dishtowels, hankies, anything that allowed me, and the Celtics, to keep going.
So on Friday, listening to sports talk radio during my early morning drive to my 7:15 meeting, when caller after caller lamented not having stayed up to see what was being dubbed by many the greatest comeback game in NBA Final history, I was pleased that a pile of ironing allowed me to be one of the few people I knew who actually saw the game live!
Posted in Boston Celtics, Des Pieri, Desmond Pieri, Greatest Comeback Game in NBA History, Irish, Ironing, Red Sox, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
4 June 2008 by Change Agent Des
I don’t think I’m a ‘new car snob’ – I’ve driven plenty of old cars, but each I acquired new. So why – 35 years after my first car, a showroom-fresh Toyota Crown – is this used, full size Buick LeSabre sitting in our drive? Two reasons. First is our family’s April Fools ‘perfect storm’; the first week of April four things happening that decreed our small Volvo S40 – augmented with an antique 1964 Rambler Ambassador – would no longer suffice: My work location moved from just blocks from our Lexington home to downtown Boston; My wife’s new venture took her out of public transit and into a car; Our middle son got his license; And our oldest son returned home from college. (Not to mention that a month earlier we adopted two large greyhounds.) Clearly we needed another car! But why not a used Honda or Toyota, the ‘kids car’ of choice for most Lexingtonians? The second reason for picking a Buick is the warning we received at Skid School, which both sons have now attended. In addition to teaching young drivers how to ‘handle the unexpected’ at highway speeds, Skid School teaches – lectures, really – parents that young drivers should only drive cars equipped with both ABS and side-impact airbags. Although few used Hondas or Toyotas available for under five grand have both safety features, American Caddys and Buicks have been so equipped for years. So, no, we don’t have distant, ancient relatives visiting us for the summer; that old bomber in the drive is our ‘new’ car!
Posted in A Better Way?, Buick, Buick LeSabre, Des Pieri, Desmond Pieri, Greyhound, Rambler, Rambler Ambassador, Skid School, Volvo | 2 Comments »
4 May 2008 by Change Agent Des
Executives Online, a firm specializing in placing interim C-level executives in Europe, reports today that the demand for CEO / COO to perform Change Management has increased 220% in on one year. They attribute this dramatic increase in demand to a combination of the impact on all types of businesses of the problems in the financial markets, as well as the US recession.
This is good news for people (like me!) who specialize in interim ‘Change Agent’ type assignments.
Posted in Business, C-Level, Change Agent, Des Pieri, Desmond Pieri, Europe, Interim, Interim Management | No Comments »
26 March 2008 by Change Agent Des
I’ve finished my assignment as interim President and COO (reporting to the founding CEO, Omar Khudari) of independent video game developer, Cecropia. When I arrived in 2006, I managed a team of 75 that created The Act, a new style of video game that combines the appeal of an animated film with a simple game mechanic that anyone can enjoy — a video game that appeals to “the rest of us.” As a team, we navigated the challenge of finishing the game on time while simultaneously downsizing the operation significantly. As a company, we learned about creating a powerful, emotional connection between game players and interactive characters. Building on this knowledge, we have transitioned the company to where it can now develop a new kind of interactive advertisement, a Flash Comedy Skit, which could, in our view, become a key component of the Facebook strategy of large consumer products companies.
Check out two things on our updated web site: Under the Projects tab you can play games that are completed and get a ‘sneak peak’ of games in development. And under the Blog tab, read the 12 March 2008 post to answer the question we get asked every day, “What happened to The Act?
Posted in Advergame, Cecropia, Facebook Strategy, Flash comedy skit, Interim Management, Omar Khudari, Video Game | No Comments »
13 March 2008 by Change Agent Des
The recent MIT Enterprise Forum ‘Interactive Entertainment SIG’ event was another example of a side benefit of doing interim CEO / COO assignments – when each assignment is over I get time to ‘network’ at events like this (or the recent MIT / Polaris Venture event.)
This particular SIG is the brainchild of Michael Cavaretta member of the business-only law firm Morse Barnes-Brown Pendleton. Last summer The Boston Globe’s Hiawatha Bray wrote about how Boston has emerged as a video gaming hub, challenging similar regional hubs in Seattle and Austin. In his work, Michael sees many of the deals – both investment deals and development / publishing deals – being made by local game companies. Since the Boston-based game industry has historically operated in stealth mode, Michael formed this SIG as a way to promote the success of these local companies.
This meeting’s subject ‘Getting Started and Succeeding’ was addressed by a stellar panel of successful local game company CEOs including: Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Blue Fang Games, Business, Cecropia, Des Pieri, Desmond Pieri, Hiawatha Bray, Interactive Entertainment SIG, Jeff Anderson, MIT, MIT Enterpirse Forum, MIT Stata Center, Michael Cavaretta, Morse Barnes-Brown Pendleton, Omar Khudari, Polaris Venture Partners, Rob Sebastian, Startups, Video Game, Zeemote | No Comments »
2 March 2008 by Change Agent Des
Last week’s “Triumph in Tech” event at the R&D Pub in MIT’s Stata Center was a success. Polaris Venture Partners and the MIT VCPE (Venture Capital and Private Equity) Club hosted the ‘round robin’ dinner – we changed tables after each course – with the purpose of bringing together three types of people: Venture Capitalists (looking to meet this year’s top graduates); MIT Sloan School MBA students, most from the Entrepreneurship & Innovation Program (looking to find a start-up that’ll hire them); and seasoned CEOs – people like me who Polaris asked to speak directly to the subject of the evening, “How Great Teams Come Together and Break Through to Success.”
Though I enjoyed talking about the teams I’ve pulled together in early-stage start-ups, turn arounds, or ‘growth-phase’ companies both here and in Europe, I enjoyed even more learning new ‘tricks of the trade’ from my contemporaries. Unfortunately I suspect some of the students did not enjoy the advice given by many of the CEOs: since start-ups don’t have the luxury to groom, you’ll not likely find a start-up willing to hire a fresh MBA grad for their executive team. So land a position – preferably in Bus Dev and / or Product Management – at a large, well run company with a strong management training program. Then come back in ten years and seek out your start-up.
This event was one of those win / win situations where all in attendance – the Polaris VCs, the MIT MBA candidates, and the CEOs – benefited.
Posted in Des Pieri, Desmond Pieri, Entrepreneurship & Innovation Program, Europe, MIT, MIT Sloan School, MIT Stata Center, MIT VCPE, Polaris Venture Partners, Turnaround | 1 Comment »
27 February 2008 by Change Agent Des
Every CEO with a Series B coming up in the next 6-12 months would be wise to use this post from Jeff Bussgang (General Partner at Flybridge Capital Partners, formerly known as IDG Ventures) as the ‘roadmap’ for his or her actions. Instead of learning what VCs will require from trial end error, using Jeff’s roadmap would allow a CEO to provide — on their first Series B presentation — exactly what the VC expects. And rather than waiting until the Series B time arrives, the CEO should today put a list on the wall of Jeff’s required items; then put together an action plan to obtain each item over the next six months.
Preparing a company for a Series B (which I’ve done a number of times, often in the role of interim CEO / COO) reminds me of preparing for a ‘phase review’ when I was a product manager years ago. Though some people dreaded preparing for such a phase review, I found that — if my product development program (including the go-to-market component) was under control — then providing all the data requested at a phase review was not difficult.
Similarly, for a start-up company, the data Jeff says is required for a Series B is really the data you should normally have to operate the business in the Series A phase: an accurate sales pipeline; customer references; a product road map; financial projections; market analysis / potential, etc. are really all things that should be part of your normal operations. If that’s the case, then pulling together the Series B package will be a reasonable process.
If you’re a CEO facing a Series B in the next year save yourself a lot of pain and heartache and follow Jeff’s advice.
Added 17 March 2008: IDG Ventures announced their third fund ($280 million) and a name change to Flybridge Capital Partners. Check out Jeff Bussgang’s post for the reasons why.
Posted in Des Pieri, Desmond Pieri, Flybridge Capital Partners, IDG Ventures, Jeff Bussgang, Series B | 1 Comment »
In an earlier post I discussed the consistent process I take the first week of each interim CEO / COO assignment. As noted, though my process is consistent across companies, the resultant actions taken are often quite different from company to company. My strangest -– but in hindsight maybe my most effective –- first action was as interim COO at a $20+ million, unprofitable software company: The first thing I did was clean the company kitchen!
