Conserving Cash: Veodia CEO Guillaume Cohen (Part 7)

SM: Beyond IT, what you are saying is that training and learning organizations are great places to scale your account. That is where you would send your sales organization.

GC: More and more companies now have someone in charge of collaboration. There are people in charge of improving communication with those new technologies. Technology people in those business groups are the ideal ones to target. They will appreciate all the hooks the software has, and they will see how we fit into their environment along with the benefit we bring to their business group. They are then advocates when the IT group is brought in, and they can directly counter any worries the IT group has. They also are advocates within the business group, and they can really envision how we will help their group accomplish its role. They are the perfect individuals to target.

SM: How has your role as a CEO evolved?

GC: Each stage has been different. When there were just two of us, I was involved in building the prototype. One of the big learning experiences for me, as a first-time CEO, is to bring in smart people who are much better than I am in their fields and stay out of their way. I need to show them direction and vision but leave them as much room as possible to realize their full creative potential. That works really well. Perhaps in the beginning I was too involved, but some of that was out of necessity. Having the money available to us now has enabled me to change my role, and I think I have learned and grown with the roles I have taken on.

What I am working really hard on now is the culture. I am creating a good culture where people feel proud and comfortable with communicating. There is a book called Leadership and Self-Deception that I have made part of the new employee package. It focuses on communication and how people tend to behave in a way where they see themselves as victims, and as such they behave in a way that emphasizes the same behavior. They call it ‘being in the box’. That applies not only to the work environment but also to personal life. It is a psychology book. It sounds basic, but I think it has helped me explain what I am trying to build to my employees. They understand what I am saying when I talk about openness and transparency.

SM: Those are good values.

GC: They seem like obvious things, but they are difficult to do in organizations. Politics can happen very early. I spend my energy on bringing in the right people. I want to ensure that I establish the right culture very early. I think that whatever the culture is that I establish at this stage is important because I expect it to grow with the company. When there are 100 or 200 employees, I believe we will have the same culture as long as I focus on it now.

SM: Thank you for sharing your story.

This segment is part 7 in the series : Conserving Cash: Veodia CEO Guillaume Cohen
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