What makes a great entrepreneur
Rob Wilmot, Founder and CEO of Crowdicity, is no stranger to innovation: back in the late nineties, he was one of the three founding executives of Freeserve, the Internet Service Provider that disrupted an industry by giving internet access away for free! After an IPO valuing the business at ￡1.6 billion, he became one of the youngest executive officers of an FTSE 100 company at the age of 29.
After seeing Freeserve through its sale to Wanadoo (a division of France Telecom) for ￡1.6 billion, Rob has gone on to found and invest in many more tech ventures. His latest one, Crowdicity, is an innovation management platform that helps with the transform of organisations and enterprises via the crowdsourcing of ideas.
With offices in the UK, Australia and America he's always on the move, giving talks on business, technology and innovation along the way.
We sat down with Rob to find out what makes a great entrepreneur...
You've had a unique career intersecting each disruptive paradigm shift: from CD-ROM to AI, via the dot-com boom and bust; which of those has been the most interesting shift for you?
They have all been interesting. I was lucky to have grown up in an age that saw the emergence and mainstream adoption of digital technology, and I’ve involved myself in many of the significant shifts. Mostly because they were new and full of possibility and the rules hadn't been made up yet. I have enjoyed learning new things and the act of creation.
How important is it for senior business people to hear the experiences of others to shape their own decision making?
Learning from others’ experience is valuable, no matter who you are. It can be professionally lonely being a senior business person; it’s good to hear different perspectives on the issues and opportunities that we’re all facing, every day.
Who has been your inspiration and why?
Personally, my family. Professionally, a businessman called Peter Wilkinson. This quiet, unassuming Yorkshireman skilfully brought all the components together to make Freeserve the success it was. He also gave me my big break a few years earlier when he gave me the opportunity of creating a turnkey e-commerce system for Premiership football clubs; a venture that later became part of Sports Internet Group (SIG) which was sold by SIG to BSkyB for ￡266 million in 2000. Freeserve went on to be sold by Dixons to Wanadoo (a division of France Telecom) for ￡1.6 billion in 2001.
What makes a good leader?
I’m still learning on that front. I think you never stop. But in short, I think it’s someone who brings the right talent together, sets the mission and the parameters, then points them in the right direction and leads the way.
How has knowledge sharing about others' experiences helped you and the decisions you have made in your career?
It’s been an essential part of my personal development. I make sure I take time every day to reading and learning. I subscribe to several email alerts from diverse trusted sources of news and information and try to read books as much as possible.
As a Board member, how important is the information you receive from a Finance Director to assist you in making a commercial decision?
A solid finance director is critical to a business, as it grows beyond being a start-up. When you need to make the transition from organic to strategic growth, and accounting policies, P&L and cash flow management, working capital, borrowing and/or investment, become the daily norms. A Finance Director also needs to be skilled at corporate governance, to guide the board. This becomes mission-critical once you take on investment and shareholders who have nominated board seats.
What has inspired you to make the best decisions?
Instinct: based on experience, learning and access to the right information at the right time.
What are your key learnings from your career so far?
- Don’t hire people and then micromanage them. If you have to micromanage them, then they’re not the right people.
- Sometimes you need to work in the business, and sometimes on the business, the trick is knowing which to do when.
- Don’t worry about what your professional adversaries may or may not be planning, let them worry about you (that one came from Peter Wilkinson).
- Don’t give away equity lightly.
- Delegate as much as possible and make those you delegate to accountable. Delegation gives responsibility, and this allows people to grow and feel valued through their success. It also makes them valuable to your business.
You've worked at all stages of the business lifecycle and were the youngest executive officer of a FTSE 100 company at 29; what's next?
I’m currently CEO at my latest venture, and I’m the Entrepreneur in Residence at DC Labs which is an AI-centric interdisciplinary research unit at the University of York, where I’m also on the advisory board of the computer science department there. I’m also a guest lecturer at Kings College London and do the odd TEDx Talk and keynote when invited. I’m a co-founder of a new venture, ArtLibrary.com, which is a free cloud-based platform for artists to record and manage their work. I’m an NED and Chairman of the Technology Committee of the Crown Commercial Service and I mentor young entrepreneurs and advise companies on business strategy. So I’m always keeping busy!
What technology is currently being developed that you think will make the biggest impact on businesses over the next five years?
AI, probably. Because it's already embedded in so many services that we take for granted, and it is going to continue to be integrated into all facets of society - from business to government; entertainment to education, and more; which brings massive opportunities for turning research in commercially viable products and services across all sectors.
Rob joins our exclusive CFO Club alumni.
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