BUSINESSWEEK ONLINE : OCTOBER 23, 2000 ISSUE
BUSINESS WEEK E.BIZ -- STRATEGIES ONLINE EXTRA: Q&A with Icon Medialab CFO Rens Buchwaldt "The decision-making is much quicker here....You need to be on the edge" Rens Buchwaldt enjoys a unique view on how American technology and management is transforming the Old Continent. Born, raised, and educated in the Netherlands, the lanky Dutchman worked for 12 years in the U.S., first for computer maker NCR and later for electronics giant Bell & Howell. Then he jumped at the opportunity to join the New Economy -- in Europe. In April of this year, he became chief financial officer of the fast-growing, four-year-old Swedish Internet consultancy Icon Medialab International. His task is to bring financial rigor to the company. He's now based in Brussels, in Icon Medialab's recently opened corporate headquarters. In his chic, 21st century office, he met with Business Week's William Echikson. Edited excerpts of their conversation follow: Q: What's the difference between working at Icon and working at NCR or Bell & Howell? A: The decision-making is much quicker here. You can't do a full three weeks of analysis and think about it. You need to be on the edge. I'm trying to inject a little more analysis and structure...But overall, I like this system. It's the only way to grow fast. Q: Is the office environment different? A: Yes. At NCR, we all had cubicles. The executives sat in old, dark-wood offices with carpets. Here, it is wooden floors, open space, and glass walls. At Icon, you never wear a tie, although I have to admit that Bell & Howell also went casual a while back -- even more casual than here, where there's a lot of European fashion. But Bell & Howell was a much more sedate environment. People would walk slowly from one meeting place to another. Here, everything is much faster. Q: How was Icon created? A: It was almost in a garage in Stockholm...There were four young guys, [led by] Johan Stael von Holstein, in their 20s and 30s, who had the idea. Before, they tried inventing a daily free newspaper that would be given away in the subway. When that idea wasn't financed, they turned to the idea of a Web agency and convinced one of Sweden's wealthiest financiers to help them. Q: The Swedish press recently has criticized Johan for his jet-set lifestyle. Why? Shouldn't they be celebrating a successful entrepreneur? A: Johan certainly has had a high profile. He does live quite a fast life. He likes to be talked about. But he has achieved a lot. He's now in Asia, building up our business there. We are now becoming a more mature company, and you must separate Johan from the company. The new CEO, Ulf Dahlsten, is an experienced manager, ready to take the company to the next stage. My background and lifestyle are not similar to Johan's, either. Q: So you think Icon will start to resemble the American companies where you worked? A: No. The American companies where I worked are top-down -- the boss has the final say in most things. When I first moved to the States, I had a hard time getting critical input from people who worked for me. In Europe, particularly in the Netherlands and Sweden -- perhaps less in the South -- people are more participatory. There is more discussion. A boss isn't considered always right. Where I think we are similar to Silicon Valley is the open way in which we work. We do a lot of things together outside the office, socializing in a team. Like in Silicon Valley, people here like to work hard and play hard. Q: Any other similarities? A: Yes. We like to look at our American competitors to set examples in financial management. Generally, American companies do that well, so we are always looking what happens with our target group, the US Webs, Razorfishes, and IXLs. Q: Icon's stock has fallen by almost 60% in the past year. Why? A: In the beginning of the year, people were buying into our industry. Then came the American dot-com and tech downturn -- and this has had a worldwide impact. Demand for our stock dropped. Demand for the stock of our American competitors dropped even more. But our financial fundamentals haven't changed. Our growth rates are going to be impressive, and we already turned an operating profit in Q2 of this year. That has generated a lot of positive feeling about the stock. Q: But Q3 will probably be worse. Why? A: Unlike in America, Europeans go on vacation during the summer. So when we announced our Q2 results, we warned that Q3 might be slower. People understood the story. Our stock price actually rose after the Q2 results. Q: But why didn't you just spread the vacations out? A: It's true that American business is not subject to seasonality. This is a cultural thing. In Sweden, vacations are in July. In the South of Europe, it is August. You just can't change this, global competition or not. Q: Long term, can growth be so strong? Many analysts are skeptical about Web agencies or integrators, seeing little value-added. A: We will not keep up with 300% annual growth. But there is still a lot of growth possible. In the U.S., 50% annual growth is possible, and Europe is a bit higher. We will grow at the market rate. We are well positioned, with many multinational clients. And we are almost uniquely positioned to help work with these global clients, giving them global solutions. Q: Do European employees at Icon want to get rich as much as Americans? A: No. My experience with Silicon Valley is that stock options are a big part of the incentive. In Europe, they are less important. I think that this is good: When you hit the first bump, people won't walk out the door. That said, we are trying to give options to all our employees, even if in Europe the tax system doesn't make this so interesting. It is part of building this company. But that reward shouldn't be out of proportion to what you are building. We can't afford the unrealistic expectations like in the U.S., where people think you can just join a dot-com and become a multimillionaire. Q: Then how can Icon attract top employees? A: People like working here. There is quite a bit of mobility within the company. We use a lot of people across borders. There's a lot of teamwork. Another reason people join Icon is because we are international. It is possible to work in many countries. Q: How do you feel working and living in Brussels compared to the States? A: I really enjoy it. There's the benefit of being closer to my home [in the Netherlands]. You can take the bus to work. I could never do that in the States. But the really important thing is the career opportunity. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _					RELATED ITEMS EBIZ Contents for issue dated Oct. 23, 2000 Silicon D-Day (int'l edition) TABLE: A New Plan for the Old World (int'l edition) TABLE: Harnessing Silicon Valley Culture (int'l edition) ONLINE EXTRA: Profiles of Cirlab... ONLINE EXTRA: ...and some of its spin-offs Old-World Upstart (int'l edition) ONLINE EXTRA: Q&A with Icon Medialab CFO Rems Buchwaldt INTERACT E-Mail to Business Week Online

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