+ 10 Business Objects lessons for start-ups

 It takes 2 to build a start-up

Vision is everything

Business Objects technology was fostered by 10 years of R&D but at the latest Shareholders meeting, Bernard Liautaud explained again the importance of the very first idea which triggered the beginning and success of Business Objects: software products which allow non-IT users to access databases.

This vision was also key in convincing Venture Capital funds and new customers, year after year. When the vision is good enough and wide enough, there always is plenty of room for growth!

The IPO is only the beginning

4 years after its inception, Business Objects founders brought the French start-up to the doors of the US stock exchange for high growth companies, the NASDAQ.  Business Objects IPO was impressive enough to make some investors & employees think the stock would always go up. In 1996, Business Objects stock when from $55 to $7 during the first company crisis, due to a hard and painful product transition. Denis Payre, co-founder of Business Objects left the company in troubled times, in 1997. Overcoming this crisis leads to the next lesson...

9 quarters in a row

In order to regain market confidence, Bernard Liautaud is used to saying that you need 9 quarters of growth in a row, because it actually is the time it took for the stock to get back to its initial level. This challenge was also achieved by making two succesfuls moves. First by actually moving to the USA, as Bernard relocated with his family to Business Objects headquarters in San José. Second, by hiring a seasoned CFO, Thomas Weatherford, who was key in making sure that growth predictions and real numbers would fit, 9 quarters in a row...

Go multinational

Business Objects is well know for its trans-national culture and mindset because it was quick to open offices around the world, and by establishing a strong presence in the US. Business Objects management is equally distributed, mostly between French and US citizens (nearly a perfect role model for the French-American giant top management of Vivendi-Universal).

While it took several years for US operations to take the lead in revenues and growth, this effort is now key in the ability of Business Objects to keep its momentum and increase market share. Business Objects latest subsidiary was opened in Brazil in June 2001.

Pre-sales are key to sell

Everyone understands the importance of sales and marketing people to find and close deals. Of course, many companies have tried to invent new roles (thus the importance of "Business Development" teams today), for instance Apple Computer pioneered the "evangelist" job description.

Business Objects went a step further, being one of the first software companies to put pre-sales people (employees with a IT background and a sales sensibility) at the same level as sales and marketing people. Because pre-sales help actual sales by demoing the product, answering request for information from customers and partners,... Business Objects management enforced their roles and presence year after year.

Pre-sales presence at Business Objects is approximately one for two sales representatives.

Get back to the university?

Headed by Jean-marc Bellot then by Martin Cooke, Business Objects University is the way to go for new hires. Including a one week program for every employee, and an additional two weeks technological course for R&D and pre-sales new hires, Business Objects was clearly ahead other software companies in Europe, even before reaching the 1,000 employees milestone.

Use Stock Options for real, please

In order to motivate employees, Business Objects was one of the first French companies to widely distribute stock options to all employees.

While it is true that employees of public companies spend some time monitoring their stocks through the corporate intranet or WAP phones, stock options are key to retain people and also to make them share common objectives. When the CEO announces quarterly results, employees feel they are part of the game.

Denis Payre founded Croissance Plus (then co-founded Growth Plus) which was instrumental in helping members of the governments and CEOs in Europe to understand why a better fiscal treatment for stock options was a key factor of success for young start-ups.

CEO summit every quarter

Because of its impressive "distributed environment" (more than 25 offices worldwide), Business Objects CEO was not always very present and close to its troops, even in his French homeland. A rendez-vous every 3 months was established through a phone conference, quickly enhanced by a WW powerpoint presentation. While this may seem logical and easy to achieve, start-up entrepreneurs should understand that these sessions were succesful because of their formal and unformal format: while presenting the latest news was the biggest part of the show, distributing awards to select employees worldwide was a key element for employees to attend and react to these sessions.

Bring your employees to Quota Club

Business Objects drew the media attention when a French TV show, "Capital", followed the Business Objects founders from their IPO in New-York to the ... Quota Club in Cancun.  Even if France is the country of "Club Med", the very idea of bringing employees around the world once a year was far from being a common nature of French companies at the time. A sales-driven event, the Quota Club is a way to thank the "best of the best".