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e-unlimited - UPdate
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Think of a truly world brand and what comes immediately to mind? The
Olympics, Nike, First Tuesday, ... More to come on the last one. Branding is an odd thing. 'Part myth and part math' is perhaps the best way to explain it. Looking first at the 'math side', the most valuable brand in the world, according to a Citibank (Interbrand) survey last year, is...wait for it!... Coca Cola, which is said to be worth $72.5 billion. However, the fizzy drink maker may soon cede its top spot to Microsoft, the brand world's fattening heavyweight valued at $70.2 billion. In fact, five of the top 10 world brands are now taken up by ICT companies like IBM, Intel, Nokia and AT&T. But what is a brand really worth? Moving onto the 'myth side', this is a question that needs to be asked as a plethora of mergers, acquisitions and closures sweep across companies large and small, tech and non-tech. How prepared is the market to accept a compound word of two, sometimes three different old guys' names -- think PriceWaterhouseCoopers or AOL Time Warner -- while other companies are changing CEOs, logos, business models and parents like lost orphans? Under the circumstances, it is also worth considering whether lesser known brands or, say, new economy ones are more readily accepted in merged form or under changing guises than old guard commercial names. This issue of 'e-unlimited UPdate' profiles a woman who knows a thing or two about brand names and shares her experience on how smart moves and timing should be added to the marketing mix crucible. Shifting Fortunes Julie Meyer, founder and former chief marketing officer of the global start-up marketplace and matchmaking organisation, First Tuesday, speaks about the challenges of going from being an investment mediator to an investment maker in her current role as founder and CEO of Ariadne Capital. As news breaks that Yazam is selling her former company back to the city leaders for a fraction of sale price, Ms Meyer also wants to set a few things straight ... First Person Julie Meyer You know that things are slightly out of control when someone asks you 'who knows you best?' and you respond, without blinking, 'my driver.' Or when you can't log-off Instant Messenger at night, so comforting is the ping of the IM from San Francisco. It's been two and a half years since I left the States bound for the UK not knowing a soul. In this time, the tech scene in Europe has gone through an entire wash cycle but somehow I feel I'm going to be around to put the clothes away no matter what happens. First Tuesday came about partially because I get a kick out of bringing people together and partially because I’m genuinely curious about what people do. During the 27 months in operation, and after clocking up $150 million for the start-ups in its marketplace, the founders decided to merge it into Yazam at a valuation 'reported to be' $50 million. I Voted Against the Deal I voted against the Yazam deal for 3 reasons. First, we had fantastic investors ready to take the company forward with $7 million at the same valuation for which it was sold. Second, I felt it was inappropriate for the founders to make money off the backs of the network of city leaders who were not consulted about the deal. Since I had brought these 400 people into First Tuesday, I had the relationships with them, not the other founders or management. Third, First Tuesday was the grassroots of Europe, and you can’t sell the grassroots of Europe, can you? As an investor now, I see that the list of lessons learned from the First Tuesday experience is quite long, but here it goes: Trust your instinct always and act on what your gut tells you to do or not to do. Don't assume that the guys sitting on the half billion dollar venture funds are necessarily smarter than you are, or even begin to understand the problem that may be at hand. When a tough decision needs to be taken, do it swiftly and firmly. The deal is done at the beginning, and the most you can do thereafter is course-correct, but you fundamentally never re-negotiate. Invest in the success of others; the more you give, the more you get. Trust is efficient. A 'Class C' leader can never build a 'Class A' organisation You know more than you think you do. You do not need to be successful at the expense of others; there is enough out there for us all -- I can be successful and help you to be successful too. Greed, jealousy and incompetence are a deadly combination. You can't outsource your problems. There are fundamentally only two kinds of companies: start-ups and divisions of large companies. Either you are a start-up -- a company in high-growth mode -- or you’re not. The DNA of a company is set at the very beginning. Hired hands never really internalise the genetic code. Plug us in to your network The day after the Yazam merger, July 20th, 2000, I woke up and asked myself, what next? Where had the market moved on to? What was my differentiation? The answer came back resoundingly in the thousands of corporates, start-ups and investors who’ve approached me since that merger asking to be plugged into my network. I saw my new role at Ariadne Capital as the next step in satisfying a market need but also answering the question: Where does a brand go when the DNA of the brand goes? Ariadne Capital is one or two degrees of separation away from the people that our clients and portfolio companies need to know, and a way of getting back to the grassroots again -- this time in stealth mode. We co-invest, advise and find talent for high-potential technology and media start-ups. (http://www.ariadnecapital.com) From the summer of 1999 when I left my job at NewMedia Investors to found First Tuesday with £50,000 from my savings and working out my flat, to the Yazam merger, I felt as if I was on a TGV bound for one of many European destinations. In the driving seat at Ariadne, I feel I have a choice which destination, when we'll depart and, hopefully, when we'll get there -- different team, same vision ... Europe.com. Curriculum Vitae Julie Meyer is Founder and CEO of Ariadne Capital (mailto:julie@ariadnecapital.com) Co-founder & Former Chief Marketing Officer First Tuesday Fromer Assistant Director NewMedia Investors Ernst & Young UK Entrepreneur of the Year 2000 Ranked among Time Magazine's Digital 25
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