August 2022
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5 EDITOR’S NOTE STAY CONNECTED! Follow us on: EDITOR’S NOTE UN I V E R S A L ME D I A www.ceotodaymagazine.com Katina Male Editor All of this and so much more - I hope you enjoy the content in CEO Today’s August issue! Make sure you check out the full list of features and exclusive interviews over the next pages. If you want to stay connected with us until our next edition, visit our website for more, join the conversation on our Twitter (@CEOTodayMag) and follow our LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram pages. Best wishes, KATINA MALE Editor CEO TODAY Copyright 2022 Circulation details can be found at www.ceotodaymagazine.com The views expressed in the articles within CEO Today are the contributors’ own, nothing within the announcements or articles should be construed as a profit forecast. All rights reserved. Material contained within this publication is not to be reproduced in whole or part without the prior permission of CEO Today. Disclaimer: Images used in this edition have been done so under the creative commons licenses. For details, see links below. creativecommons.org/licenses/ by-sa/3.0/legalcode creativecommons.org/licenses/ by-sa/2.0/legalcode creativecommons.org/licenses/ by-sa/4.0/legalcode Hello and welcome to the August 2022 edition of CEO Today! As we prepare to enter the month of summer vacations, I’m delighted to present to you CEO Today’s August collection of inspiration from some of the world’s most successful leaders, which you’ll hopefully be reading from the comfort of your sun lounger. Here are some of our favourite stories from this month’s issue: The Top 8 Business Reads for the Beach Top 5 Luxury Destinations for Summer 2022 36 30 52 42 Flexibility is the Answer, Not Four-DayWeeks How to Avoid the Sale of a Company or a Merger Leaving a ‘Twitter Taste’
6 CONTENTS www.ceotodaymagazine.com Together for Tomorrow W. Kenny Massey President and CEO of ModernWoodmen of America 10 THE CEO INTERVIEW 12. Together for Tomorrow 18. Why Brand Tracking Matters CONTENTS 8 Monthly-Round-Up 12 22 28 THE DISRUPTORS VISION & STRATEGY 30. How to Avoid the Sale of a Company or a Merger Leaving a “Twitter Taste” 34. What’s the Future of Crypto & NFTs? 24. Jeff Bezos The Inspirational Success Story of Amazon’s Founder 24 Jeff Bezos The Inspirational Success Story of Amazon’s Founder
7 What’s the Future of Crypto & NFTs? 50 TRAVEL & LIFESTYLE 36. The Top 8 Business Reads for the Beach 42. Flexibility, Not Four Days Why Autonomy is the Key to a Productive Workforce 46. Sustainability Are You Contributing to the Communities You Serve? 52. Top 5 Luxury Destinations for Summer 2022 64. How Luxury Brands are Adapting to the Challenge of Younger Audiences 34 36 www.ceotodaymagazine.com 52 Top 5 Luxury Destinations for Summer 2022 Sustainability Are You Contributing to the Communities You Serve? 46 The Top 8 Business Reads for the Beach
www.ceotodaymagazine.com 8 MONTHLY ROUND - UP N EWS The Stories Everyone’s been Talking about Bill Gates Pledges Almost All of His $113 Billion Fortune to His Foundation Billionaire Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates plans to give away almost all of his fortune to his foundation — the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation — which will eventually see him removed from the list of the world’s wealthiest people. Gates launched the foundation in 2000 alongside his then-wife, Melinda French Gates. It aims to fight disease and poverty across the globe. Gates said the non-profit organisation plans to up its spending from $6 billion per year to $9 billion per year by 2026. “To help make this spending increase possible, I amtransferring $20billion to the foundation’s endowment this month,” Gates tweeted. “As I look to the future, I plan to give virtually all of my wealth to the foundation. I will move down and eventually off of the list of the world’s richest people.” “I have an obligation to return my resources to society in ways that have the greatest impact for reducing suffering and improving lives,” said Gates. “And I hope others in positions of great wealth and privilege will step up in this moment too.” Wikicommons: DFID - UK Department for International Development
Aston Martin Raises £650 Million as Saudi Arabia Becomes Major Shareholder Luxury carmaker Aston Martin Lagonda has received a large investment from Saudi Arabia as it raises £650 million of capital to pay down its debt, which is currently costing it £130 million a year in interest. However, despite the large sum, Aston Martin has not been successful in raising the cash required to invest in new models and electric technology. The carmaker has also struggled with delays to its Valkyrie hypercars as well as its latest DBX 707 sports utility vehicle. The Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) will now buy Aston Martin shares worth £78 million and will participate in a £575 million rights issue that will make it the second-biggest investor following YewTree. For several years now, Aston Martin has struggled to put itself in a stable position. InMay, AstonMartin boss Lawrence Stroll appointed former Ferrari boss Amedeo Felisa as the company’s third CEO in three years in a bid to revive its image. 9 www.ceotodaymagazine.com MONTHLY ROUND - UP Elon Musk’s SpaceX Finally Reaches Major Goal SpaceX, which was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk, has completed its first-ever launch to polar orbit for its Starlink internet network, enabling complete coverage of Earth. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California to deliver 46 Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit. “These polar launches will enable complete coverage of Earth (where approved by local government)”, Musk tweeted following the launch. This marks SpaceX’s 50th Starlink-dedicated launch. In February 2018, SpaceX launched the first payload of two satellites and has since launched over 2,600 Starlink satellites into orbit. SpaceX is now responsible for over 40% of all active satellites in orbit around Earth.
THE CEO INTERVIEW 12 Together for Tomorrow 18 Why Brand Tracking Matters
THE CEO INTERVIEW www.ceotodaymagazine.com 12 W. Kenny Massey is the President and CEO of Modern Woodmen of America - a nearly 140-year-old, memberowned, fraternal financial services organisation based in Rock Island, Illinois. ModernWoodmen serves nearly 730,000 members throughout the United States. W. Kenny Massey President and CEO of ModernWoodmen of America Tell us about Modern Woodmen’s long history and the values it’s built on. Explaining our history starts with sharing the vision behind our name – there’s no woodworking, cabinetmaking or lumberjacks involved. The name was actually inspired by pioneer woodmen, who cleared forests to build homes and communities and provide security for their families. Modern Woodmen’s founder, Joseph Cullen Root, felt this was the perfect symbol to illustrate his goal of clearing away financial burdens for families, and Modern Woodmen of America was born on 5 January 1883, in Lyons, Iowa. The headquarters moved across the Mississippi River to Fulton, Illinois, in 1884 and relocated downriver to Rock Island, Illinois, in 1897. We remain in downtown Rock Island to this day. Modern Woodmen of America is the nation’s third-largest fraternal benefit society in terms of assets. Fraternalism is a unique combination of business and giving back to those we serve – a continuous cycle of positive impact. • Our representatives provide financial products to help members protect their families and their futures. • These products help fund member programs, including social, educational and volunteer activities that identify and meet local needs. • These programs build relationships, allowing for membership growth and greater community impact. Our members are connected by common values, including: • Financial security, through life insurance, retirement planning and financial services. • Quality family life, through fraternal member programs and activities. • Community impact, through local volunteer projects that make a difference where members live, work and play. THE CEO INTERVIEW Together forTomorrow
13 “Passion provides your sense of purpose. It gives you energy, a fire fromwithin, and it acts as a magnet to attract others.” “ “
THE CEO INTERVIEW www.ceotodaymagazine.com 14 Why is life insurance so important? It’s tough to survive without it after the death of a breadwinner. Life insurance is the only thing that can ensure you’re able to take care of your family’s hopes, dreams and goals for the future – from where you live, to your children’s education and so much more. Assets can ‘disappear’ after a death when everyone has to get paid, and things can get tied up in probate. It’s something I experienced firsthand as a teenager when my father died in a car accident. I watched my mother make ends meet by first selling the property around us, then eventually the house. It was a slow decline as money ran out. I’ve seen it happen that way, and I’ve seen the difference when adequate life insurance was in place. I’ve spoken with many people whose late spouses were covered with Modern Woodmen life insurance and that protection was the only money they had left after other things were paid off and the bills continued to come. How has the COVID-19 pandemic impacted your industry? For Modern Woodmen, our disaster recovery/business continuity plans provided a smooth transition. We were prepared from a business standpoint, but from a psychological standpoint, I think everybody, at all companies, was affected. Employees were sent to work from home and were isolated, worrying about the news and seeing what the pandemic was doing. COVID obviously impacts our industry and selling life insurance. Over a million people have died, and it’s not over. Naturally, in our industry, we study mortality and are very careful with our finances. The reserves we set aside are predicated on possible catastrophic events, such as a pandemic or a financial market collapse. So overall, the industry has handled things in stride. Have we paid out more claims and more money? Absolutely. That’s why our members bought life insurance and why we exist. We’re fulfilling our promises, and we were built for situations like this. What have you learned from the past two years? I’ve had to learn to be more patient and to step away from situations, discussions and media reports that are emotionally charged, in order to keep a balanced perspective. The immediate thing in the face of the pandemic was the business side – can we keep things running and maintain service? That played out in the first 2-3 weeks, and I learned that yes, we can. What I didn’t foresee at that time was the ‘long tail’ of the psychological impact of the pandemic. Over the past two years, I’ve thought more deeply about the psychological impact of the decisions we make and the importance of communicating with people directly. Can you tell us a little bit about your life and the things that brought you to where you are today? The circumstances of my father’s death and how it impacted our family led me here. The experience of us not having adequate life insurance caused me to take courses in college to learn more about the industry. There I discovered the noble, social and moral good that’s done with life insurance. It’s different from other kinds of insurance; it’s not about replacing a house or a car. It’s being able to help financially fulfil people’s dreams for tomorrow, and that’s powerful. Life insurance is about paying forward, toward the hopes and dreams of your loved ones. It’s not for you, but for the generations to come, and it can be transformational. That appealed to me, and I gained a passion for it as I learned more. I felt that we can’t let people pass away without being protected. That can be devastating to people; I’ve lived it. Personally, I had a great childhood. I received an athletic scholarship from Mississippi State University and was working, singing with a band for spending money. I felt like I didn’t suffer, but my family did. My family’s experience ignited my passion for this business. What are the most important lessons your career and work for Modern Woodmen have taught you? I’ve taken away many lessons, but a few rise to the top. 1. You can’t inspire people without passion. Passion provides your sense of purpose. It gives you energy, a fire from within, and it acts as a magnet to attract others. At the core of discipline, you will always find passion. 2. Don’t hire like-minded people; hire those with like values. Every leader needs to hear diverse opinions and different ideas in order to make the best decisions. Having like values allows participants to feel safe during spirited, or even heated,
www.ceotodaymagazine.com 15 debates because common respect for each individual transcends any conflict. Having shared values and principles means you won’t question motives. 3. Make decisions based on facts, not fears. Too many times, our fears override logic. Emotions can be powerful and should be considered. However, in today’s world, we are saturated with emotional stimuli. 4. Don’t do it alone. I’ve never felt like I am better than anyone else. I’ve always felt there are people I can surround myself with who are better than me, and I can learn from them. As a CEO, you’re not trying to control situations or people, you’re trying to work with people, together. It’s also important to find a mentor, someone who fits your personality. If their approach doesn’t resonate with you, it’s not a fit. I also enjoy and find value in spending time alone and being reflective. Knowledge is not the same thing as wisdom. Wisdom is applying knowledge gained. We all make mistakes, and we learn from them. This refines us into who we are. What are your favourite things about being the CEO of Modern Woodmen? I never had a dream or desire to ascend to become the CEO. It wasn’t on my radar. I feel blessed that I had the opportunity and have been able to work with great people. The experience has been a journey of learning. There’ve been hundreds of changes during my tenure as CEO, from the housing market crash and the Great Recession to regulatory changes, low-interest rates and a pandemic. If you’re not a change agent as a CEO, you’re not doing your job. You have to be willing to accept change and lead others through change, and you have to keep learning. I’ve learned a lot about people too. You learn about people’s diverse personalities and their strengths and weaknesses. You begin to look at it like conducting an orchestra - when do you need the drums? When should the violins come in? You learn when you need certain areas to ‘play louder’ and carry things. In the end, you’re trying to make beautiful music that people will appreciate. What do you hope your legacy to be? I think that’s something the people I’ve served with will have to decide. My thoughts about it really aren’t that important. It’s how they feel that matters. I inherited a wonderful culture at Modern Woodmen. There have been challenges, but I fit Modern Woodmen. Our purpose, our mission, our fraternalism - everything about this organisation attracted me. I didn’t have tomould it into something it wasn’t, but we’ve evolved. That doesn’t mean we weren’t focused on remaining extremely strong financially to protect the promises made to our members, whether it’s for their retirement planning or their life insurance coverage for those they leave behind. That will always be at our core. Overall, I’m a recovering optimist. I’ve always thought people have more potential than they realise, and I think this organisation has a lot to be excited about. “ Life insurance is about paying forward, toward the hopes and dreams of your loved ones. It’s not for you, but for the generations to come, and it can be transformational. “
THE CEO INTERVIEW www.ceotodaymagazine.com 16 About W. Kenny Massey W. KennyMassey, of Le Claire, Iowa, is the President and CEO of Modern Woodmen of America, a fraternal financial services organisation based in Rock Island, Illinois. He serves as presiding officer of the Modern Woodmen Board of Directors and is responsible for the leadership, initiation and oversight of strategic organisational initiatives to ensure the delivery of quality service and products to Modern Woodmen’s members. Kenny’s Modern Woodmen career began in Mississippi in 1982. He was promoted to district manager/managing partner in 1985 and was named agency manager/ regional director of western Louisiana in 1988. In 1997, he became director of agencies, overseeing marketing and sales efforts and the administration of Modern Woodmen’s nationwide field force. He was appointed to Modern Woodmen’s board in 2002 and has served as president and CEO since 2005. He earned a business degree in insurance from Mississippi State University, Starkville, Mississippi, and he completed the Kinder Advanced Management Academy, Purdue University Professional Management Institute and Agency Management Training Council programs. Kenny holds designations of Fraternal Insurance Counselor Fellow and LIMRA Leadership Institute Fellow (in conjunction with Babson College), and he earned the National Security and Strategy Certificate of Leadership Development from US Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He also holds securities licenses 6, 63 and 26. He has served on various industry professional organisations’ boards and committees, including the American Fraternal Alliance, LL Global (LIMRA/ LOMA), the Society of Financial Services Professionals, GAMA International (now Finseca), the Fraternal Field Manager’s Association and the National Association of Fraternal Insurance Counselors. In addition, Kenny has served on committees and as a board member for several community organisations, including the Martin Luther King Center, the Center for Active Seniors, the Quad Cities Contributors Council, the Quad Cities Air Service Committee, the Development Association of Rock Island, the Regional Opportunities Council, the Trinity Hospital Board, and the Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce. He and his wife, Tammy, have three children and six grandchildren. www.modernwoodmen.org
CEO Today Management Consul t ing Award s 2022 - CANADA - - 1 - OUT NOW View the Management Consulting Awards 2022 Winners Edition at www.ceotodaymagazine.com
www.ceotodaymagazine.com 18 Why Brand Tracking Matters We had the ple sure to connect with Nico Jaspers, who introduced us to the importance of brand tracking and his company Latana.
19 Nico Jaspers CEO of Latana Brand Tracking What’s brand tracking and why is it important? Brand tracking is the continuous monitoring of your brand’s health over a period of time. It provides a means to understand what your target audiences think of your brand and how they respond to your brand messaging. In the past, we have seen social listening, performance marketing, and other data-driven tools helping marketeers to make faster and better decisions. However, companies still spend typically 40-60% of their marketing budget on brand marketing which is still largely driven by gut feel and best efforts. Brand tracking is disrupting this paradigm by providing brand marketers with accurate, timely and affordable brand marketing data. But brand tracking provides more than just data on consumer response to your brand — it allows you to compare your brand performance across markets, KPIs, audiences and competitor brands. It can also identify new audiences or areas to focus on and even pinpoint ones that aren’t working out. In the past, brand performance has been somewhat tricky to quantify accurately. However, with the right tools and KPIs now available, it’s 100% possible — and highly advisable — to track your brand health and performance. “
THE CEO INTERVIEW www.ceotodaymagazine.com 20 How can Latana help with this? If quality and usability of data rank high on your list of priorities, then Latana is the modern alternative you should try. Latana is an AIpowered brand tracking platform that provides companies with consumer data and key insights to help track brand and campaign performance. Latana provides brand tracking data of much higher quality. We are able to achieve these results through the use of a form of advanced statistical modelling — called Multilevel Regression and Poststratification, or MRP. In essence, MRP uses data to create a model and then uses said model to generate estimates for responses in a survey. So, when given a set of respondent characteristics, the model can produce an estimate for how a certain respondent would answer a particular survey question. his, in turn, provides more precise, reliable data. Additionally, Latana leverages global ad-tech infrastructure to access organic and casual audiences in the app-based ad space — which allows for authentic and representative brand opinions from 100+ countries and 1000s of cities worldwide. Because of this setup, Latana can produce lower margins of error and allow for flexible audience segmentation, which makes it possible for brands to track the perception of target demographics. How did Latana come about? Before Latana, there was Dalia Research (which this year was sold to Pure Spectrum). Fernando Guillen and I founded the company in 2013 after noticing a shift in human behaviour. That is, more and more people were easily reachable via their smartphones. We saw this as an opportunity to open up market research opportunities that go far beyond traditional methods in terms of range and efficiency. Fast forward to 2019, we saw another need: the need for companies to better understand their brand perception. With Dalia, we already had the technology to generate over 1 billion survey responses per month across 150 countries. Dalia soon became Latana following a decision to provide a way for brand managers to answer the milliondollar question: what does my target audience think of my brand? What are Latana’s goals for the future? Latana is on a mission to answer the ‘ultimate question’ for brands: how does our target audience perceive our brand? Great marketers thrive on quantitative tools, whether this is for social media management or adspend. For too long, brand marketers have been left behind, and have made decisions on ‘get feeling’, rather than data. Without data, there’s no way to know if campaigns are effective. Brand marketers are left with little idea if they are driving results or impacting business outcomes. More importantly, companies have no real idea how target audiences perceive their brand. This is our mission. Latana provides a direct channel to consumers that helps brands understand exactly what its key audiences are thinking. With its advanced survey technology and intuitive datadriven dashboard, Latana provides brand marketers with numbers, and a clear view of campaign success and audience perception. We will fully focus on developing the next generation of brand analytics and consumer insights. “Latana is on a mission to answer the ‘ultimate question’ for brands: how does our target audience perceive our brand? “ “
www.ceotodaymagazine.com 21 What motivates you? I’mpassionate about the intersection of data, research, and technology. If you ask someone a question, you understand what that person thinks and feels. But if you ask millions of people questions, you get a lot more than just a collection of individual thoughts - you get access to the pulse of human perception. And you start to understand the drivers of what makes the world go around. Is there another sector you are interested in? My roots in political science always find a way to shine through. For example, democracy is very important to me. Every year, I (as part of Latana) partner with the Alliance of Democracies to bring the latest insights into democracy perception. This year at the summit in Copenhagen, our report made it into the hands of President Barack Obama and I had the wonderful opportunity to hear President Zelensky speak. It was amazing to know that Latana was able to have an impact on such an important topic. What is one piece of data that has stuck in your mind? It really shocked me to learn that fake news spreads six times faster than real news on social media. “In the past, we have seen social listening, performance marketing, and other datadriven tools helping marketeers to make faster and better decisions. However, companies still spend typically 40-60% of their marketing budget on brand marketing which is still largely driven by gut feel and best efforts. Brand tracking is disrupting this paradigm by providing brand marketers with accurate, timely and affordable brand marketing data.” “ latana.com
Photo: Steve Jurvetson
THE DISRUPTORS 24 Jeff Bezos The Inspirational Success Story of Amazon’s Founder
JEFF BEZOS The Inspirational Success Story of Amazon’s Founder According to Forbes, Jeff Bezos has an estimated net worth of $136.1 billion at the time of writing, making him one of the richest people on the planet. Most of Bezos’ wealth stems from his shares in Amazon, which he founded in 1994 from his garage near Seattle, Washington. Behind the success of Amazon and, in turn, its founder, is innovation, creativity, and hard work. Let’s take a deep dive into how the e-commerce giant and its founder made it to the top. Rachel Makinson 24
THE DISRUPTORS Photo: Wikicmmons - Daniel Oberhaus 25
THE DISRUPTORS www.ceotodaymagazine.com 26 Early Life: Bezos Before Amazon Jeff Bezos was born in Mexico to teenage parents Jacklyn and Ted Jorgensen. Not long after his birth, Bezos’ parents separated and his mother marriedMiguel Bezos. As he grew up, Bezos developed a sharp interest in computer science, though spent much of his early years working on his maternal grandparents’ ranch in Texas. In the mid-80s, Bezos graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University, with degrees in computer science and electrical engineering, and went on to join startup Fitel after declining job offers from both Intel and Bell Labs. By the age of 30, Bezos was on a six-figure salary, but his realisation that the world of web was then growing at 2300% pushed him to start his own company —Amazon. How Bezos Founded Amazon Once Bezos had realised the expansive possibilities of the web, he created a list of 20 potential products he believed could sell well online. He realised that even the largest bookstores could stock just a few hundred thousand books at one time —only a fraction of the almost infinite number of titles truly available. Books were Bezos’ winner. In 1994, Bezos took his idea to Seattle, home to a huge pool of high-tech talent and within close proximity to Ingram Book Group’s Oregon warehouse. With $1 million raised from friends and family, Bezos rented a house in the city and established his new online book business from his garage. For almost a year, Bezos and a team of five employees worked from the Seattle garage, learning how to source books and creating a computer system that would make Amazon. com easy to navigate. It called itself “Earth’s Biggest Bookstore” with over 1 million titles for customers to choose from. By September 1996, Amazon.com had over 100 employees and had made over $15.7 million in sales. Following Amazon.com’s launch, Barnes & Nobles was quick to launch its own online presence and a marketing campaign claiming it offered twice as many books as Amazon. However, Bezos had already expandedAmazon’s product line and changed the e-commerce’s tagline to “Books, Music and More”. Thanks to its relentless expansion strategy, in 2019, Amazon was believed to control 37% of all online retail sales. And, as of July 2022, Amazon has a market cap of $1.105 trillion, making it the world’s 5th most valuable company by market cap according to companiesmarketcap.com.
THE DISRUPTORS www.ceotodaymagazine.com 27 Why is Amazon so Successful? There are many reasons why Amazon is one of the most successful businesses in the world, though the primary reason is generally considered to be its devotion to customer experience. Amazon makes shopping quick and easy. Its every move comes back to its customer-centric philosophy. Its goal is to be the most customer-centric company in the world. Other reasons for Amazon’s success include its: • Huge product range • Quick and easy delivery • Release of innovative technology, such as the Kindle, Amazon Alexa, and Amazon Fire TV • Its 14 leadership principles While Jeff Bezos stepped down as Amazon’s CEO in 2021, his name will always go hand-in-hand with the e-commerce giant’s status as one of the globe’s top companies. According to Bezos, one of the key lessons he learnt while building Amazon was “that success can come through iteration: invent, launch, reinvent, relaunch, start over, rinse, repeat, again and again,” he said, adding that “the path to success is anything but straight.”
30 How to Avoid the Sale of a Company or a Merger Leaving a “Twitter Taste” 34 What’s the Future of Crypto & NFTs? 36 The Top 8 Business Reads for the Beach 42 Flexibility, Not Four Days Why Autonomy is the Key to a Productive Workforce 46 Sustainability Are You Contributing to the Communities You Serve? VISION & STRATEGY
How to Avoid the Sale of a Company or a Merger Leaving a “Twitter Taste” Pauline Rigby Managing Partner of Forbes Solicitors Twitter’s plans to sue Elon Musk proved another twist in a fractious deal. It’s been an acrimonious acquisition process and the entrepreneur’s intentions to countersue the social media company suggest there are more difficulties to come before a resolution is finally reached.
VISION & STRATEGY www.ceotodaymagazine.com 32 Although it’s been a rather unique saga, it’s proved a reminder of the complexities, and sometimes hardto-foresee challenges of buying and selling a business. Such circumstances can prove off-putting for CEOs when thinking about the future of a company. A sale or merger might be overlooked in favour of alternative options that involve fewer external influences and parties, and the relinquishing of control to ‘outsiders’. However, the protracted Twitter-Musk deal also provides a stark reminder of the steps CEOs can take to strengthen the certainty of a deal. Outline an ideal outcome The binding merger agreement made between Elon Musk and Twitter is likely to be central to the forthcoming trial that considers how this deal is to be concluded. Undoubtedly, the structure of the binding agreement is important but there are initial steps a CEO should take before they even get to this point. If a sale or merger is being considered, the whole process must start with clear objectives for what’s driving that decision. This is one of the first factors we sense check when we’re engaged in such transactions. If there’s a clear vision governing the whole purpose of the potential deal, it helps to determine what is or isn’t suitable in terms of how a deal is structured and progressed. In many instances, it’s beneficial for a CEO to start by looking beyond the immediate value of the company and to focus on drawing up a list of attributes for what would constitute an ideal buyer, and why. Such criteria can prove as useful to prospective buyers as a sales memorandum championing the value of what can be bought and can identify many other things such as culture alignment. It can help to save time, expense, and resource, and minimise any distractions, especially during the early stages of a sale or merger. In Twitter’s case, and those instances where a CEO is approached by a prospective party, the same thinking applies. A CEO should avoid honing in on the attributes of a bidding party and instead consider what they really want to achieve from a sale. Do the due diligence As CEOs look to exit, it’s advisable to take a two-pronged approach to researching the credentials of prospective new owners. A selling party should undertake their own due diligence, referring to the purpose of the sale and the criteria they have outlined for buyers to meet, to determine the suitability of a bidder. Due diligence should also involve a tender process where buyers are invited to make their pitch early, as part of their expression of interest. All too often, it’s not unfamiliar for the early stages of a sale to prioritise bringing as many bidders as possible to the table, with the view to creating competition that maximises the potential return for the exiting CEO and/or shareholders. Placing more emphasis on what a buying party can offer will help better align the business with a more suitable buyer. It can also be a more effective tactic for encouraging healthy competition that goes the distance of the sales process, as quality is prioritised over the quantity of bidders. Properly understanding a buyer’s motivations and plans will help to avoid any nasty surprises and can also pave the way for creating internal buy-in to the sale process. Sharing the intentions of prospective new owners with key stakeholders such as employees can avoid speculation and allay fears, creating a more seamless transition for an exiting CEO. Full clarity of what a buyer’s motivations are for acquiring the company and their plans will also provide the foundations for more progressive negotiations. Reaching an agreement A binding agreement is a legally enforceable contract. Once signed by all relevant parties, it essentially means that any failure to fulfil the
33 terms of the contract can be contested in court. Elon Musk and Twitter are both claiming that each party breached different provisions of their binding agreement. The entrepreneur is relying on the agreement to terminate his obligations to buy the social media company, whilst Twitter is leaning on the agreement to force Musk to complete his proposed purchase. In England, a legally binding agreement for the sale and purchase of a business is normally only entered into at the time of the sale. Parties usually use the form of ‘Heads of Terms’ to agree principle terms in advance of the main negotiations, but the majority of the content of that document will be non-legally binding and is simply used to identify the fundamental terms of the deal, and to iron out any issues that may require further negotiation. Before any party enters into any form of binding legal agreement, detailed consideration needs to be undertaken, from a dual due diligence process, right through to detailed negotiations of fundamental terms. By having clear objectives for the purpose of the sale and an intended vision for an appropriate buyer, a CEO can ensure that by the time they reach this stage of the agreement, there’s considerably less scope for significant differences. This approach will help reduce the potential for drawn out and fractious sales processes and those that risk leaving a bitter taste created by unexpected twists and turns. About Forbes Solicitors Forbes Solicitors is an award-winning law firm, with 10 offices across England that looks after the interests of clients nationwide. The firm has 57 partners and an overall headcount of nearly 400, advising on a wide range of commercial and personal matters. Forbes specialises in supporting SMEs, providing legal expertise in practice areas including litigation, commercial, corporate legal services, employment, insurance, commercial property and individual services. Forbes holds the ISO9001 Quality Certification and in its recent assessment it was described as “exceptional”. The firm is ranked as a Legal 500 Top Tier Firm and a Chambers and Partners Leading Firm, receiving 70 nominations in the latest editions. Furthermore, a number of its partners are included in the elite “Leading Individuals” list, the “Next Generation Lawyers” list, and 41 of Forbes’ solicitors are listed as recommended lawyers. Forbes is also a member of LawPact® - the international association of independent business law firms – which supports the expansion of its national and global reach.
Viktor Uzunov Viktor Uzunov is a 30-year-old Bulgarianborn blockchain entrepreneur and marketing specialist. He moved to London in 2011 to pursue a career in finance and after trying university and studying for a degree in International Relations at the University of Greenwich, he dropped out after his secondyear to gain some practical experience and start an entry-level marketing position in a small London company. After a year there, Viktor managed to talk his way into aMarketing and Client Entertainment role at Jefferies LLC without having an inkling of what exactly he was supposed to be doing. Fast forward a few years and he managed to climb all the way to becoming Strategy Marketing and Client EntertainmentManager for EMEA/AP and a master of the craft. Today, Viktor has embarked on an entrepreneurial journey powered by his passion for all things blockchain.We connected with him to hear about his insights into the field and what the future holds for cryptocurrencies and NFTs. My passion for crypto and NFTs was born in 2020 when I decided to quit my secure job at Jefferies LLC and devote my time to this exciting sector. For the past two and a half years, I’ve worked as a consultant and acted as CMO for a variety of blockchain-based projects - from cryptocurrency tokens and DAOs to NFT collections and blockchain marketing agencies, and every time I think I’ve seen and done it all, the industry surprises me with something new and even more daring. 34 www.ceotodaymagazine.com What’s the Future of Crypto & NFTs?
compliance, art and even everyday life as it develops. And we can all agree that the most disruptive concepts don’t always get off to a smooth start - people were doubting the World Wide Web, for years Amazon was just an online bookstore and so on. Does crypto have flaws? Of course it does. It’s highly volatile, it’s not regulated for the bigger part of it and it’s way too easily accessible for people who do not have the slightest idea about investing. The main point crypto critics make is that way too many people have lost their savings buying Bitcoin, Dogecoin or a number of other tokens available on the market. But so have people who invest in stocks with little to no research done beforehand, or people who try their hand at FX and Binary Options, as well as a multitude of other “old school, tried and tested investment products”. The same principles apply to both crypto and stock investments - you research the company/ token, the people behind it, the utility and future potential and youmake a call. The only difference is thatWall Street is now upset that a bunch of Gen Z and Millennials made fortunes and Investment Banks and Funds were too late to the party. I vividly remember BTC being at $3000 and a whole floor of Equity traders telling me I’m a fool for even looking into this. Two years later BTC hit an all-time high of $69,000. The NFT market has absolutely exploded over the last couple of years. 2021 saw $40b in sales and 2022 saw over $37b just for the first five months. They are an interesting case and I personally think NFTs sit somewhere in the middle of investment assets and art. To me, they are what you make of them. I have managed a number of NFT projects from concept to secondary market and they are all unique in their own way. Some are pure art and the sole purpose people buy them for is to own a unique piece of digital art, whilst others are certificates for ownership of an IRL or aMetaverse asset. Then there’s the membership cards to exclusive clubs and let’s not forget about pure degenerate crypto NFTs that are just pixelated or cartoonish objects which are well hyped by marketing and fear of missing out (FOMO) and have absolutely no utility. We keep hearing the word utility in the blockchain space, to the point where it’s starting to mean nothing. Utility is again what you make of it and the value is what the community and the hype around it make it to be. Love it or hate it - crypto and NFTs are here to stay. They are the future, or at least the early stages of what digital assets and money will look like in a few years. My personal view is that you either get on board and adapt along the way of this journey, while trying to make web3 a stable, working, space and reap the rewards of it in a few years, or you’re the next person who will one day look back and think: “Why did I miss out on this?” Since early 2022, I have also launched an assisted trading service that aims to become a web3 fund in the not-so-distant future, having over 40 private individuals investing capital for me to freely trade on a profit & commission basis. People keep asking me the same thing every time there’s a market crash or someone goes bankrupt in the field: Is crypto dead? Is it done? Have we seen the end of it? And my answer is always “no”. It’s only just beginning. For years and years, we were used to the same old asset classes and investment products that the media and the movies portray - Wall Street, the London City, stocks, shares, bonds, gold … you name it. Have they all had their massive recessions and issues? Most of us vividly remember the 2007-8 crash that forever changed the face of modern economy, and alongside that, the lives of many. Mine included. Every asset class goes through such turbulent times and the main argument when delving into the future of blockchain is that it’s not just a financial market - it’s a cutting-edge technology that is changing finance, 35 VISION & STRATEGY www.ceotodaymagazine.com
Katina Male CEO Today’s ultimate summer 2022 reading list. The Top 8 Business Reads for the Beach
VISION & STRATEGY CEO Excellence: The Six Mindsets That Distinguish the Best Leaders from the Rest Being Present: Commanding Attention at Work (and at Home) by Managing Your Social Presence Coming from the world’s most influential management consulting firm, McKinsey & Company, this book delves into how the most successful CEOs do their job by drawing from interviews with chief executives from Netflix, JPMorgan Chase, General Motors, Sony and more. A New York Times Bestseller and an absolute must-read this summer! Based on 15 years of research, interviews and teaching experience, Researcher Jeanine W. Turner offers her survival strategies on communication in a notification-saturated world – both at work and at home. She distinguishes four key communication choices - budgeted, entitled, competitive, and invitational ― and teaches readers when and where to employ each strategy to successfully allocate our attention and then command it to others. By Carolyn Dewar, Scott Keller & VikramMalhotra By JeanineW. Turner BUY HERE BUY HERE
www.ceotodaymagazine.com 38 The Power of Regret: How Looking Backward Moves Us Forward Build: An Unorthodox Guide to Making Things Worth Making An instant New York Times Bestseller, The Power of Regret dissects the hidden potential of regret and how it can work to help us make more informed decisions, perform better and live a more fulfilled life. Drawing on social psychology, neuroscience and biology, Daniel H. Pink debunks the ‘no regrets’ mindset and helps us find a positive in every mistake we think we could have made in the past. An absolute page-turner by Tony Fadell, who led the teams that worked on creating the iPod, iPhone and Nest Learning Thermostat. In Build: An Unorthodox Guide to Making Things Worth Making, he shares everything he’s learned about leadership, design, startups, Apple, Google, decisionmaking, mentorship, devastating failure and unbelievable success after over three decades in Silicon Valley. By Daniel H. Pink By Tony Fadell BUY HERE BUY HERE
www.ceotodaymagazine.com The Power of One More: The Ultimate Guide to Happiness and Success HowMinds Change: The Surprising Science of Belief, Opinion, and Persuasion In his gripping book, renowned keynote speaker and performance expert Ed Mylett draws on 30 years of experience as an entrepreneur and coach to top athletes, entertainers, and business executives to share his strategies for living an extraordinary life. Coming from self-delusion expert, psychology nerd and bestselling author David McRaney, How Minds Change is a page-turning investigation into how different people change their minds; from the ones that never do it to the ones that can change theirs in an instant. By EdMylett by DavidMcRaney BUY HERE BUY HERE
www.ceotodaymagazine.com 40 The Bond King: How One Man Made a Market, Built an Empire, and Lost It All How to F*ck Up Your Startup: The Science Behind Why 90% of Companies Fail – and How You Can Avoid It Written by the host of NPR’s Planet Money, Mary Childs, The Bond King tells the story of Bill Gross - an American investor and fund manager, who used to be a gambler before he made American finance his casino and changed finance forever. An absolute must-read this summer, How to F*ck Up Your Startup is a book that takes you on a journey of discovering the pitfalls that lead to the failure of 90% of companies and finding the right strategies that can help every entrepreneur to avoid or fix them. The author Kim Hvidkjær was only 29 years old when he became a millionaire, but two years later, after a series of disasters, found himself broke. He’s now rebuilt his fortune after founding several successful companies and has become an expert on failure and how to learn from it – happily sharing his top tips on it with all of us. By Mary Childs By KimHvidkjaer BUY HERE BUY HERE
OUT NOW View the Management Consulting Awards 2022 Winners Edition at www.ceotodaymagazine.com
VISION & STRATEGY Why Autonomy is the Key to a Productive Workforce Flexibility, Not Four Days Attar Naderi Associate Director Europe & MENA Laserfiche As of July, thousands of UK employees have enjoyed a three-day weekend, every week for at least six months, with zero loss of pay. To most of us, it sounds like a dream scenario—after all, a bank holiday is often the highlight of a working month. But what effect would regular extended weekends have on business profits? And can workers really be as productive in four days as they were in five?
VISION & STRATEGY www.ceotodaymagazine.com 44 These are just a handful of questions that 2022’s imminent four-day working week trial—coordinated by think tanks, campaigners and world-leading universities—seeks to analyse. But while the study has stolen headlines, and excited employees pray for its success, some of us suspect the researchers are actually misplacing their focus. For sceptics like me, a four-day working week doesn’t go far enough. While it seems more flexible, it can be just as restrictive as the five-day week, if not more so. What works for person A may not work for person B, and a one-size-fits-all approach to flexibility would be irrational. If businesses want to be more receptive, why not offer total flexible working and let employees choose when they work? Out with the old In 2022, the average UK employee works between 36 to 37 hours per week. This sounds like a lot on paper and can feel even longer in realtime, but it’s a cakewalk compared to previous working patterns. In fact, until the concept of the weekend was introduced to the US workforce in the 1920s and 1930s, many people toiled for up to 16 hours, six days a week, without any paid holidays. The capped five-day week was partly introduced to counter employment turmoil resulting from the Great Depression, and we’re seeing a similar revolution today. After two years in and out of lockdown, Britons are now yearning for fulfilment and freedom. The worldwide ‘Great Resignation’ is rumbling on with almost a third of British workers ready to swap jobs in 2022, while UK businesses are posting higher numbers of job vacancies than there are unemployed people for the first time in history. It’s no surprise, then, that 97% of organisations are planning to implement hybrid working policies in a bid to retain their workforces and attract new talent. The rise of the four-day week is another offshoot of this—but it may not offer the autonomy that workers truly crave. The future of work Instead, giving workforces more freedom is often the best way to boost productivity and satisfaction. After all, each employee is different—some work better in the early mornings, while others can only concentrate later in the day. Even before the pandemic, more UK employees preferred working between 7 am to 3 pm than a standard 9-5 shift. By offering staff the flexibility to adapt their hours and hone their output, employers can unlock their workforce’s maximum potential. Here’s where the four-day proposal may fall flat: While it ostensibly offers extra freedoms, a shortened week still anchors workers to a restrictive working pattern. If employers want to provide “What works for person Amay not work for person B, and a onesize-fits-all approach to flexibility would be irrational.”
VISION & STRATEGY 45 true flexibility, they need to offer interchangeable hours—and the technological resources to facilitate this. Technology to enable workplace automation has developed immensely over the past decade and can now handle multiple day-today tasks, like timesheets, expenses claims and email scheduling. By introducing automation, employers can streamline workflows and remove inefficiencies, freeing employees to take on more fulfilling, impactful work at a time that suits them best. Automation also gives staff extra time to recharge and unwind, without worrying about not completing their daily duties. Since lockdown, fears that workplace technology would solely amount to employer surveillance have largely proved unfounded. In fact, 86% of UK employees want pandemic-era tech to stay due to its transformative flexibility benefits, like being able to access files from anywhere, hold video meetings from multiple locations, and use AI-powered task managers to stay up to date and organised at any time of the day. The growth of digitisation Technology also helps to smooth the transfer of legacy knowledge and processes between outgoing and incoming workers. This is particularly important during the Great Resignation and the rise of homeworking, in which co-workers often no longer meet in person. Virtual calls with managers and colleagues enable successful remote onboarding, while screen-capped tutorials, interactive handbooks and various other digital tools help recruits get started sooner than ever. Workplace technology doesn’t replace humans—it empowers them. Instead of leading to fragmented employer/employee relationships, we often see technology create greater employee engagement and higher levels of satisfaction and productivity than ever. It’s no wonder, then, that the UK’s digital transformation market is set to grow to $146.63 billion (£116.54bn) by 2030. And this proliferation should only lead to even greater freedoms for all. Flexibility beats fixed hours On its surface, a four-day week may seem just as forward-looking as technology. But these set working patterns, even when a fifth shorter than before, still force staff to potentially work outside of their optimal hours of function, impacting their output andwellbeing. Similarly, a shorter workweek could mean that employees are forced to cram five days’ worth of work into four, elevating, rather than soothing, their levels of stress. Not all workers will suit this jampacked, faster-paced ‘100:80:100’ working model. So, if a staff member prefers to work the full five days and take a little longer over their tasks, or blitz through them in three days to an equal standard, it’s often beneficial to give them the liberty to do so. Ultimately, the debate between offering a four-day week and full flexibility can only be resolved by an individual workforce. So, it’s always worth trialling a period of flexibility by allowing employees to manage their own hours and schedules. It may prove unsuccessful—or it may transform a workforce’s output and wellbeing. After all, 43% of workers say that flexibility in their working hours helps them achieve greater productivity than ever before. And as the number of UK employees with flexible working contracts grows to 4.27 million, and polls find that most workers would prefer continued flexibility even over a 10% pay rise, managers who spurn it will increasingly find themselves in an archaic minority. We must all embrace change, not just for the benefit of our employees—but for our businesses, too.
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