Leaders of Change: Billy Courtney

BILLY COURTNEY is Co-Founder and Head of Partnerships for RichContext - an emerging retail technology startup focused on digital commerce. At RichContext, the team is partnering with the world’s largest brands and retailers to develop highly effective online shopping experiences. This includes a proprietary product that enable seamless add-to-cart on social as well as a patent-pending technology that prevents retail media from sending users to out-of-stock items.

Prior to RichContext, Billy spent time at Walmart, Nestle, and Coca-Cola holding a variety of sales related roles. In his last role at Coca-Cola he led eCommerce sales and marketing efforts across the entire beverage portfolio.

When he’s not at work he enjoys spending time with his two boys, Avery (4) and Kade (2), and playing golf.

Why did you choose to pursue eCommerce in your career? I knew I wanted to be on the front end of the eCommerce journey as it related to grocery. I opted out of the traditional promotion path that would take me deeper in the brick and mortar world and I was fortunate to take on a newly created role within Coca-Cola to help define how to go to market in the ecommerce space. Ultimately, that led me to co-founding RichContext where every day I get to work on building new digital capabilities to accelerate how brands drive product discoverability and conversion online. The online grocery market is wildy underdeveloped in this space and we are solving that. 

What is your biggest strength, and how have you used it for your success in eCommerce? ADAPTABILITY. Nearly every role I’ve had in my professional life has been one that was newly created and I had to pave my own way with no “this is how we used to do it” cloud looming. This is one of the most relevant/necessary skills for anyone trying to keep up in the digital commerce space. 

What is the weirdest skill or talent to come in handy in your eCommerce experience? The ability to have a short memory and move on quickly from failures.

How have you most successfully influenced change within your organization (or with your clients)? This is what we do every day with our clients. Influencing change isn’t done through superior selling skills alone. You have to have credibility, full understanding of the “why”, and a clearly articulated vision when you are leading clients down an innovation path. It is more than just words… you have to deliver. 

What was your most “valuable” career failure, and why? In my first job out of college I found myself trying to act like and sound like the leaders in my organization. It took me about a year or so to realize that simply trying to be like everyone else was arguably the dumbest thing anyone can do in any organization. Why? Because when you attempt to buy into a predefined mold you lose your own charisma and personality. To this day, I remind my team at RC to not tell our company story the way I would do it… but rather just be yourself and do it in your own authentic way.

In the last five years, what new belief, behavior or habit has most improved your life? Becoming an entrepreneur has completely reshaped my professional and personal POV. It is one thing to start a company… the real challenge is getting people to believe in what you are doing. We’ve been able to do that.

What are you learning right now? Every day I am learning how to become a more effective leader by channeling past experiences and/or pausing to coach – even in fast-paced, high-pressure moments.

What are the 1-3 songs that would make up your career soundtrack today?

• Can't Hold Us by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
• Better Way by Ben Harper

What are the 1-3 books you’ve gifted the most or that have greatly influenced your life, and why?

• Sales EQ by Jeb Blount: This one is full of great reminders on the importance of understanding people, situations, and your ability to influence outcomes.
• Blink by Malcolm Gladwell: I could have picked any of his – love this guy and his POV on human behaviors.
• Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman: This one has always been solid with respect to understanding instincts and rationale related to how people make decisions.

If you could have a gigantic billboard for the world to see with anything on it, what would it say, and why? Learn from others mistakes so you don’t waste time making the same ones yourself. 

What are the worst recommendations or advice you have heard related to eCommerce? “eCommerce is a Marathon”. I have heard this platitude so often as it relates to our space and I couldn’t disagree more. A marathon suggests you know exactly where you are going, how long it will take to get there, and that you stop once you’ve arrived. I believe eCommerce is actually a never-ending series of sprints with the next one improved by data and iteration. That cycle can’t stop.

What advice would you give to a future leader of change about to enter business, or specifically the eCommerce field? Have insatiable curiosity as it relates to both the business and technical sides of eCommerce. You will be in a much smaller and more effective group once you have a thorough understanding of how and why various digital technologies are designed and built. This industry only moves forward with passionate problem solvers and innovators, not grifters and opportunists. 

What specific, industry-related change do you believe will happen that few others seem to see? I believe brands are underestimating the importance of building experiences that handle digital stock-up trips. Increasingly, shoppers are no longer visiting stores but are instead building baskets online for pickup/delivery. Most of these shoppers are repeat buying their favorites and replacing known items in their pantry, refrigerator, and freezer. How do those shoppers find your products? Is it expensive for you to get them to switch? Is it easy for them to purchase online?

What is the last thing you bought online, and why? My last purchase online was a fuzzy plush lion for my 2yo son. It is my goal to get him to say “WION!” for as long as possible. 

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Leaders of Change is a weekly interview series featuring select industry pioneers who are driving the evolution of commerce, the consumer and everything in between. If you would like to recommend a Leader of Change for consideration, please reach out to me on LinkedIn.