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Issues of the Ariadne Capital Journal - Through the Maze

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John is recognized as one of Europe's top entrepreneurs. He is a founder Member and Patron of the Technology Leadership Group of the Prince's Trust. He holds a Master of Information Technology from the Washington DC based AIIM International and is also a member of their Company of Fellows. This year, he was awarded the Carl E. Nelson Innovation Award for 'leadership in expanding the utilization of workflow and business management technologies.'

Q. Staffware was acknowledged as the leading workflow and business process management (BPM) software company worldwide and one of Europe's top software companies. Tibco was one of many companies to see the potential of Staffware. At any time during the acquisition process did you contemplate applying the brakes to continue down the road with Staffware yourself?

I consulted with my management colleagues; major institutional shareholders (scenario setting, not specifics) and advisers at pretty much every step of the way. Their original offer was rebuffed on price grounds but the second one was accepted. There were some wobbly moments, especially in the early hours of the day leading up to the announcement of the offer being recommended by the board. Philosophically it was a shame that one of the few successful UK Software companies, globally, had disappeared, but our stakeholders felt the 'price was right'. (No crocodile tears here.)

Q. What was the most difficult part of the assimilation into Tibco?

The realisation that we no longer called the shots in terms of policy; that lawyers and accountants hold sway far more than a European software company and that the US model is very much silos of organisation, by function - sales; marketing; hr; legal; support; etc, not horizontal within countries , as Staffware used to be. This meant that each function can be doing its own thing, adequately, but the whole company view only comes together at the board level, with limited business management responsibility further down the line. I have no doubt that this is the standard US business model.

Q. If you had to do it over again, would you do anything differently?

No I don't think so. It was right I stayed on for a transitional period, which allowed me to come up with recommendations for the new management structure (not needing me fortunately)having gained first hand knowledge of how the two companies might best be integrated. It was right I left when I did as founders typically do not make good employees.

Q. You have a tremendous track record of success in both Europe and North America - do you notice any key differences between US and European entrepreneur's?

The US is still very much more vision driven with typically more ambitious goals, both personally and for their company. On the other hand, they may not have the resilience or pragmatism to hang on in there if the going gets tougher than expected. Terrible generalisation, but I am more inclined to believe the European's view of how things are, than the US executive whose unquenchable gung-ho attitude might mask major problems, needing urgent attention. So typically US types will either earn you far more or cost you far more. Europeans might not reach the same heights, but nor will they plumb the same depths.

Q. Did you ever have difficulty raising capital to support your entrepreneurial ventures - how have times changed?

I had great difficulty in the eighties and early nineties - never had any VC backing for instance. Had an Investment Bank invest pension funds initially, then angel investors in 1988, then a clearing bank, reluctantly, then floated on AIM in 1996, then onto Main LSE market in 2000. For most of that period UK investment community was very ignorant of software market and a considerable amount of our time was spent in educational mode. This has changed considerably and there are far more funds with a specialisation in software than they ever used to be. Battle hardened from 2000, tough times have made them more rational in assessing opportunities also.

Q. Are there any emerging technology areas within the IT sector that you are particularly interested in? Are you investing in this area?

Enterprise Software is my bag, with a potential to be a leader in their field, internationally , with proven appeal to the US market preferably, allied to dynamic , experienced management, with good funding or early day successes which could result in transformational performance and returns. One or two more Staffwares in other words, but with a time frame of 3- 5 years, not 15-20!!

Q. What was the inspiration for founding the Technology Leadership Group of the Prince's Trust?

My humble beginnings ; believe that outsiders with the right encouragement at the right time can become insiders and salving my social conscience, together with liking start-up situations.

Q. Have you ever invested in companies that came to your attention through the Technology Leadership Group of the Prince's Trust?

Not so far, but I can see no reason why it should not happen.

Q. Do you think England Rugby's slide to 6th place in the world rankings is justified?

After losing to the French at Twickenham, the answer is probably yes. However, it is better to come from behind than to be the favourite in everyone's sights, in my opinion. No team can suffer the loss of some many players so quickly - this is a metaphor for building a successful, sustainable business too, in my humble opinion.