| Director Magazine: Profile |
| Wednesday, 19 May 2004 | |
|
Director Magazine - Lars Becker breezes in from an overnight flight, straight from his company’s new offices in Seattle. The chairman of Flytxt, which four years ago was focused on selling and business development, says the firm is now settling into an early phase of consolidation. Although Flytxt has grown since its launch in 2000 (and new directors have joined), all four founders are still very hands-on. They started out by looking after technology, sales, marketing and the development of the business respectively, planning to redeploy themselves as each unit matured. Thomas Schuster who was the chief technology officer, now looks after product strategy. Carsten Boers has moved from commercial director to a US role, while Pamir Gelenbe has moved to a corporate development role.Their common urge to build a company was the driving force behind Flytxt, even before they knew what they were going to do. “We started with that, then said, let’s look for an idea,” explains Becker, adding that they are motivated less by money than by a good working environment and making a difference. “It’s about building something that wasn’t there before. I wanted to break new ground and build a company I’d want to work for.” Their founders come from corporate finance, telecoms consultancy and IT but do not have formal business qualifications. Their non-executive directors include venture capitalists and business angels. “This is our MBA,” says Becker. “Entrepreneurship is about energy and drive.” Working in the fast-moving field of business-to-consumer marketing via mobile phones, they certainly need energy. “The entrepreneurial challenge is still enormous,” says Becker. “In a way we are still starting up: for instance, in going to the US to tap a new market.” Keen to try out new ideas they are managing an Orange two-for-one cinema offer – their biggest ever deal. Empowerment for the staff of around 45 is a key goal. “You can’t run an organisation top down any more,” says Becker, who divides his time between operations and working with clients. Inspiration comes from Japan, where the market is two years ahead of the UK. A huge Japanese company called index is moving into Europe and the US through acquisition, but Becker is not nervous about the potential rival. “Competition is always good,” he insists. “There is a market there. It’s much easier to be in a competitive market than starting up a new one, and Japanese companies prove it’s possible to build a successful billion-dollar business in this sector.” © Copyright Flytxt Ltd 2006. Unauthorized use of any content constitutes a material breach. |
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|