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NORTH AMERICA Winner... JIM SKIPPEN
Canada CEO of WiLAN
CEO INSIGHT... Q
What are your most important
achievements at your current company?
My professional achievements at WiLAN can best be explained by looking at a before and after picture of the company.
When I became CEO of WiLAN in 2006 it had been in existence as a company for 14 years but it was in rough shape. At that time it had a going concern note from its auditors, a market cap of about $25 Million, $600,000 in the bank, about $5 Million in outstanding claims against it, no employees, no customers, no revenues and approximately 10 patents.
Fast forward to today and it could hardly be recognized as the same company. Over 280 companies have licensed our patents, we have over $130 Million in the bank, we have generated over $750 Million in license signings, we manage thousands of patents, we have a market cap of over $400 Million, we have 60 top notch employees and we are a member of the dividend aristocrats index of the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Q How did you do that?
Of course, I did not do anything alone but I would say key factors for our team in accomplishing this include: • Hard work • Perseverance • Belief in strategy
professional
• Modification of strategy when needed
• Hiring the best people Q
What education or prior experience helped you succeed at your current company?
I am a lawyer so I have a law degree. My undergraduate was a course that combined computer science and business.
All of this educational
background is helpful in what I am now doing.
I started my career as an associate and then partner in the Computer and Technology Group at a major Canadian law firm. I learned very early on that I needed to attract my own clients which I believe developed my entrepreneurial skills.
I worked for 10 years for another public technology company. My main role was General Counsel but I helped build and later ran a patent licensing program for the company which really educated me on our current business. I attended all Board meetings as Secretary and that gave me a lot of practical experience about Boards.
Q CEO?
One key lesson had to do with the relationship with the Board. The main job of the Board in my opinion is to hire the right CEO. If the Board is overruling
What lessons did you learn on your way to becoming a
or second guessing management decisions frequently, the company probably needs a new CEO or a different Board.
Another lesson is to focus on the key thing. A fox chasing 10 chickens is more likely to go hungry than a fox chasing one chicken.
Q
What lessons have you learned as a CEO?
Accept that not everything will work out perfectly. All great companies have setbacks. However, if one keeps moving forward as long as some things work out the company should be fine.
Related to this point, I would warn against too much analysis paralysis. One rarely has perfect information before making a decision and sometimes one needs to be satisfied with maybe 60% of the information one might like to have.
Q
What are the key success factors for a CEO?
Here are some of the key success factors: • Allocate time well • Be organized • Have a clear vision/plan – you must have a clear plan that you can explain to anyone that asks
• Admit when something is not working, and fix it if it is important
• Don’t be unduly waylaid by theoretical risks
Q Q
What are the key challenges for a CEO?
It is important to get and retain the right people. This is probably the most important job and is always a challenge.
It is important that a CEO do what he thinks is right for the company even if some or many stakeholders do not agree.
How did you overcome those challenges?
Every time I did something that was too short-term focussed, I regretted it. I listen to all points of view with an open mind but once I make a decision, I expect our team to do their best to support the decision.
Hiring and retaining the right people is a never-ending challenge. Offering the right people the compensation they need to work with you in a motivated state is important.
Cutting poor performers is also important. Q
How do you manage the relationship with your
Board of Directors?
We have a very strong Board who understand well the role of the Board and management, and that is most of the battle.
Before I joined, I made my expectations very clear to the Board. My expectations were that I would run operations and if they did not like what I was doing, I expected them to remove me as CEO rather than overrule my decisions.
FINANCE MONTHLY CEO AWARDS 2014
Jim Skippen - CEO of WiLAN