A: It was a combination of a few things. At the forefront, I saw the Internet changing. This may sound obvious now but a few years ago it wasn’t. The Internet quickly went from being a publishing tool with static communication to a much more interactive medium. At this time, the breadth of social was really rising – Facebook was emerging on the scene, there was a rapid growth in online games, and in general, an explosion of interaction. This got me thinking. Fundamentally people talk to each other every day, so shouldn’t they be able to communicate as easily and naturally online as well?
What I also saw was technology coming to a point where it really worked – Skype was connecting people around the world and broadband penetration was getting to where it was supposed to be. But with all these advancements, people weren’t really taking advantage of the technology to bring interactive communication online.
Q: How has your background prepared you for your role as CEO?
A: I have quite an eclectic background – I have touched everything from legal to operations to finance, but the common trait among all my jobs has been communication. I was exposed to new business models in earlier careers and saw how people communicated in different situations. Communication was always the crux of everything though and I have been able to put all the pieces together to run Vivox.
Q: What has been the most challenging and exciting part of the last year for you from a business perspective?
A: They are almost one in the same. The most challenging part of the last year has been the fundamental communication transformation that has been taking place and is the reason we started Vivox. There has been a shift in the way people communicate and a change in services provided online. You can see it with Skype, Microsoft acquiring Skype, Skype acquiring GroupMe, Google, etc. There is massive disruption taking place in the market – voice and video are really taking more and more share of the way we communicate. And the market is responding. Carriers are reacting, tech providers are reacting – we are taking advantage of all the moving pieces to drive our business. We are at the crest of the wave and it’s challenging and exciting.
Q: What do you think makes Vivox so successful?
A: It’s the vision we are pursuing – to have communication be a natural part of the way we interact online – and not trying to copy what others do cheaper or slightly differently, but really differentiating our product and making it easy to communicate. And it’s our team – we have great depth, expertise and capabilities in engineering product and in marketing. Our vision is consistent and what we saw years ago is here now and we are well positioned to take advantage of the market.
Q: How would you describe your leadership style?
A: I am really a collaborative, hands-on leader. I work closely with my teams to execute the best products, but I also have full trust and confidence in my team members to deliver. I find it really rewarding to empower my team members to excel and carry out their capabilities every day so they enjoy coming into work and I have a team that I know I can trust and rely on.
I am also a big believer in listening and learning. I don’t know everything and I learn new things every day from my team members. That is what makes a team environment so dynamic. I am a leader and I do set direction, but I also listen to my employees and make sure they are treated with respect.
Q: How do you keep your team motivated?
A: It helps that what we do every day is motivating. The work that we do is extremely interesting and it motivates our team. We don’t copy anyone else. We get to have a little fun while playing games online. We get to spend time on the cutting edge of communication, we live and breathe innovation – it’s exciting to be in such a fast-paced environment. We give our employees the opportunity to be hands on with the product and do what they love each day.
Q: Where do you see the company in five years?
A: We are trying to change the way people communicate. We want it to be natural and easy for consumers to communicate online – just as we communicate in-person, we should be able to do the same online.
As we succeed, we think it will become more and more commonplace for people to communicate, even when they aren’t right next to them — and they will be using Vivox.