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The Swedish executive's switch typifies the sea change that is altering the perspectives of many top European executives. Not long ago, the brightest minds sought out career-track civil service jobs or went to work for large multinationals. They seldom left -- and almost never to launch their own companies or join a startup. Now, like Dahlsten, more and more of Europe's seasoned senior managers are embracing the excitement and risks of the startup life. There is certainly no shortage of demand for their talents as the twenty- and thirtysomethings behind Internet startups hunt for managers with the sort of experience their fledgling companies need. "We hired Ulf because we wanted someone mature, who knew how to read a balance sheet and shape strategy for a large company," says Johan Stael van Holstein, one of Icon Medialab's founders. GLOBAL AMBITIONS. Transforming a brash Internet startup into a mature multinational is quite a challenge, particularly these days, as Europe's Internet industry slides into a dot-com recession. As has happened in the U.S., European investors have fled Web consulting companies. Icon has not escaped the pain, seeing its stock fall to around $10 -- about 70% below the February peak. "Our whole sector has been hurt," notes Dahlsten. His plan for recovery? Establish a broad global presence that will allow Icon to offer multinationals the same type of one-stop worldwide service they expect from the IBMs of the world -- plus a generous dash of style and creativity. "None of our designers would want to work at a place like IBM," insists Dahlsten. Icon employees -- Dahlsten included -- certainly seem to be having fun. The sparkling cafeteria offers free food, and workdays generally wind down over strong Belgian beer at a trendy nearby bar. "In comparison, my former employer was a dinosaur," says Geert Chielens, an Ogilvy & Mather alum, who now works as an Icon project manager. Another difference is Icon's team approach. "The IBMs of the world work in authoritarian fashion, from top down," Dahlsten says. By contrast, when Icon's Belgian managing director, Claes Thorneman, wanted to create specific business units, he backed down after staffers resisted. "We have a bottom-up management philosophy," he explains. Icon's clients seem to like the approach. "I don't think IBM could have given us such a user-friendly site," says Anette Gustafsson, the IT development manager at Ving Travel in Stockholm. She knows what she's talking about: Before joining Ving, Gustafsson worked for Big Blue. SURVIVOR STRATEGY. Dahlsten is betting that satisfied customers like those will boost Icon to the front ranks of Web-services companies. Founded only four years ago in an abandoned Stockholm warehouse, Icon now employs 2,200 people in 19 countries and should generate about $200 million in revenues this year. "As this industry consolidates, I expect we will be one of the four or five global survivors," Dahlsten predicts, adding that Icon's stock has fallen less than most of its competitors'. After an operating loss of $4 million in this year's third quarter, on sales of about $48 million, Dahlsten is confident Icon can turn a profit in the fourth quarter, and for all of 2001. About 80% of the company's business is with established multinationals such as Motorola and Siemens. It created an extranet for British Petroleum, worked on the launch of Mercedes-Benz' new A-Class model, and built the online site for Sony's new PlayStation 2. In many ways, Dahlsten says his background with Sweden's post office provided surprisingly good training for leading a Web startup. After graduating from Sweden's Royal Institute in Technology with a bachelor's in business and a master's in computer science, he first worked on a project that automated Swedish rail operations. He next moved to the postal service and the task of modernizing its package business. "When I joined the Post Office in 1988, it was the only real Internet possibility at the time in Sweden," he says. Under his lead, Sweden Post became a trailblazer. He supported legislation to liberalize postal delivery, and Sweden became the first European country to end its state monopoly. In order to compete, Dahlsten also slashed staff size. Meanwhile, he leveraged the Net to build business by setting up the popular Torget online shipping service, which hosts sites for 120 stores that offer everything from sports shoes to CDs. Under his lead, Sweden Post also became a leader in Internet mail and developed one of the world's first working electronic signature systems. "Ulf totally transformed the Swedish Post, turning it into a real B2B company," says an admiring Holstein. FROM CLIENT TO CHIEF. Dahlsten met up with the youthful Icon founder when he hired the infant Web agency back in 1997 to work for the Swedish Post. Icon developed an interactive site for the organization that let customers track packages, look up post codes, and work out postal rates. Dahlsten was so impressed with the company's work that he soon agreed to join its board of directors. At the same time, he was growing increasingly frustrated with the postal service. He wanted it privatized. The Social Democratic government did not. He wanted to become an international player, buying Australian parcel-delivery specialist TNT. The government declined. In September, 1998, he announced that he would resign in a year's time. Exactly a year later, he took over Icon. At the time, the company employed 600 and had offices in 10 countries. Analysts are impressed with the way he proceeded to expand the company. "Remember, the Swedish Post isn't anything like the U.S. Post Office," says Brian Skiba, a software analyst at Lehman Brothers in New York. "Dahlsten knows his technology and is a good human resources guy." BETTING ON BRUSSELS. In attempting to create a true global company, Dahlsten has moved the headquarters from Stockholm to Brussels. "We couldn't get top international management to live in Sweden with the high taxes," he says. Brussels, he adds, is much more centrally located, and almost 20% of the city's population is foreign. He also had personal reasons for the move: His children had left home for college, and wife Kerstin had already moved to Brussels, where she was the top-ranking European Commission civil servant responsible for the environment. "My wife and I had been living apart, and it was time to do something about that," he says. When he arrived in Brussels, he wasted no time putting down Icon's roots in its new turf. He moved the company from temporary premises to the new and hip headquarters near the Grande Place. And then, in his first year on the job, he almost tripled Icon's size. These days, he exudes confidence as he predicts things will get even bigger. "We could be a 10,000-person company in a few years," Dahlsten insists. Though he may not be the typical CEO of an Internet startup, Dahlsten certainly embodies the confidence of the most ambitious Net entrepreneurs. Echikson covers e-business for Business Week in Brussels |
