After putting Oracle on the map in Europe, Loek went on to assist General Atlantic in an advisory role to the boards of their portfolio companies, while his work in launching net4kids has driven a much-needed customer relationship culture for charities.
As Vice President for the EMEA region, you helped take Oracle from revenues of $13m to $4.2bn by the mid-Nineties. Having achieved so much, do you have a business philosophy?
At Oracle it was just all out work and nothing else. In that stage of my life that was OK. Now I try to keep a 50:50 balance between my business and outside interests if I can – though it never works! In this stage of my life my work with net4kids is important to me, which I combine with working intensively with five different companies. No more, because I’m not just a Board person and try to be as involved as I can. One of the key things I learned at Oracle was to always hire ahead of the game. Hire for what’s needed in two or three year’s time, not for today.
Was having a great team around you key to this success?
I’ve always been focused on building the best teams. To build the best teams you have to hire the very best, and I wanted people like that at Oracle. This is also about ego: if you hire the very best, better than yourself, you will be better. If you hire the second best team, you will come out second.
I don’t have what I call ‘ladder thinking’. At the heart of it is what will make the company more successful, while matching those company requirements to individuals’ personal ambition. There is always a feeling that if your boss leaves, that’s great, because it makes promotion possible. But you don’t need to go up the ladder, if you can make the ladder go up. To be successful you don’t need to climb the ladder, a move sideways or building your role into something bigger and better which in turn grows the company, can reap more rewards.
You have been an advisor to General Atlantic Partners portfolio companies, supporting a series of European and US companies and specialising in international expansion. How does the role of an advisor work, and is there an art for success?
My approach is to be very hands-on; I’m not there to be obstructive. The opportunity with General Atlantic came about when I left Oracle in 1996. They wanted someone from industry to get involved and coach the management teams of the companies they’d invested in.
When I started with a Spanish company, General Atlantic wanted me to help put the company on the map and expand its geographical spread.
The relationships you have with the executives are interesting: the strong CEOs know when to ask for advice and don’t let their egos get in the way of development. I do this now for a range of companies, including some GAP portfolio companies and I see it time and time again. It’s the less secure ones that are more challenging and they usually lose out.
There aren’t too many people I can‘t work with because I’m not a threat to them. The ones I’ve said no to are usually the one or two who think they know it all. Most CEOs will ask, “You’ve seen this situation – how do you do this?” They’re still the ones in the driving seat.
Who has had the most influence on your career?
Well, being at Oracle 12 years I would have to say the biggest influence from a business point of view was Larry Ellison. His credo was spontaneity and ambition, and that ‘nothing is impossible’ approach. Geoff Squire and Ray Lane, both from Oracle and great managers, were also great influences. I learned a lot from them.
After you left Oracle, the software industry experienced some upheaval during the dotcom years. How do you look back on those years now?
It was a bizarre time: crazy valuations for companies, hypergrowth, how do you add value and position your products? By putting e-in front of your name? It was that crazy. And then the bubble just burst.
What we did learn was that customers got back in the driving seat. Instead of IT dictating what happens and when, the power is slowly swinging back to the business people.
You serve as an independent Director on the Board of Patni. Is offshoring an area of interest for you?
Offshoring is a fascinating sector. I’ve been with Patni for around two and a half years, and we are now number six in the world, behind Tata and Infosys. Just like other Indian offshoring companies we’re experiencing solid growth, with 15,000 people and $600m revenues.
net4Kids is a charity project you launched which has set a benchmark for other charities in the way it interacts with its donors. How did that come about, and what have other charities learned from it?
net4kids is an internet market place for child aid projects. Whether contributing as an individual, a company or a community, with net4kids you choose what you give and to whom. Regular updates tell you exactly what difference you make through your contribution.
net4Kids came about because my wife Anke and I wanted something to share, so we looked for projects that appealed to us. We had some ideas and we asked around to see what we could get involved with and then became quickly disillusioned because charities told us we were asking too many questions!
But we wanted to contribute more and because of that, we wanted to know more. Yet virtually no charity had that individual approach for its user. net4kids has changed that: you choose your project, everything is open, you get full reporting — no cash deducted, and if you’re not happy you get your money back.
Reflecting on the way your career has progressed, what advice would you give to others?
Life is so full of opportunities, and sometimes it is a case of being lucky and being in the right place at the right time.
My experiences at Oracle colour my personal conviction on this. I’m proud of what I achieved but it didn’t come easily.
What still stands out for me is Larry’s Ellison’s mantra: nothing is impossible because no-one has done it before. And that’s good advice to offer people. What you see is what you get with Larry, and I knew exactly what his expectations of me were.
My advice would say: be a good listener, be open and learn fast, and always remember that your business success doesn’t necessarily make you a better person. Remain modest, respect people and realise what is really important in life. It will also make you a better manager.
And remember the ladder thinking, because I learned it early on. Once upon a time, I wanted to be the best CFO on earth, but I’ve become a great believer in keeping your eyes open for opportunities and knowing what fits your skills and aspirations, rather than planning your life to death. Have an open mind for switching jobs — because sometimes going sideways is the best way to broaden your experience.
Loek van den Boog's Profile
From 1984 to 1996 Loek van den Boog held various senior management positions at Oracle Corporation, where he helped build the company’s revenue from $13m to $4.2bn over the twelve year period which culminated in the role of VP EMEA. Following Oracle, Loek was a Special Advisor to General Atlantic Partners, supporting European and US portfolio companies through their international expansion. In 1999 he, along with his wife, founded net4kids on a unique business model guaranteeing complete process transparency and project specific donation channelling, with all administration costs borne by net4kids.
|