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Ve Global (previously Ve Interactive) once occupied a seat within a distinct billion-dollar club of European technology companies. Following a sustained period of hypergrowth, Ve achieved unicorn status after being commonly acknowledged as one of the UK's leading brands within the marketing and advertising technology space. So why did it fail?
I've never been overly obsessed with fictional novels, movies or comics; however, there is one mythical creature that has overwhelmed nearly one-third of my lifetime — the Unicorn.
Standing tall and proud, this awe-inspiring creature is often portrayed as a magical animal with the antidote to poison and the ability to extend one's lifespan — quite the antithesis of a beast that became known to me.
Clearly, I'm not talking about a white horse with a twisted horn protruding from its forehead, but a metaphor used to describe a distinct billion-dollar club of European technology companies. A seat once occupied by Ve Global (a conversion marketing and advertising technology company), of which I and many others have spent the last ten years tirelessly trying to grow, revive, and survive before recently retiring to the proverbial graveyard.
Reaching unicorn status is a rare feat, but as untouchable as the name might suggest, reality exists in the fragility of this creature living on the very edge of legendary status and a catastrophic fall from grace.
Many people will read this in anticipation of 'lifting the lid' on a unique business plagued by distress, controversy, and deceit. Sorry to disappoint, and as tempting as that might be, this is not about dishing the dirt or pointing the finger. Those old stories will be reminisced over a cold beer and in the company of a trusted circle of colleagues I now call my friends (...quick disclaimer that I was not part of the management team at this time!).
Ve indeed has a checkered past. Hundreds of people (including myself) have suffered in this process, whether professionally, financially or emotionally. It's disappointing that we couldn't turn the business around and produce the outcome so many people deserved, and I sincerely apologise for that.
I am, however, excited to explore a new chapter of my career, but I can't help but reflect on this rollercoaster journey. Many positives can and should be acknowledged from failure, so I want to remind everyone who sacrificed so much—that their efforts were not in vain.
Knowing where to start with this post was a challenge. Anyone who commits wholeheartedly to a distressed business will understand the discomfort of scrolling for inspiration through the success theatre of LinkedIn and social media. So if nothing else, hopefully, this will make a tiny contribution towards levelling up the reality of doing business in such a turbulent space.
To bring some structure to this post, I'll go some way to answer the three most frequent questions I have been asked and have been asking of myself since the winding up of the business...
There's simply no single reason why the business didn't bounce back and reach its full potential. Perhaps we never fully recovered from the initial fall from grace, and as much as we tried to convince ourselves otherwise, we struggled to release the cultural shackles of the past.
Ve Interactive, the predecessor to Ve Global, was once a company with an international footprint of 32 offices in as many countries. It boasted 850 employees and experienced multiple years of hyper-growth before running into financial difficulties resulting in a pre-pack administration in early 2017.
This dramatic transition exposed a minefield of legacy issues that five versions of leadership have attempted to unravel over as many years. These unavoidable distractions forced on each leadership team manifested in the neglect of strategic initiatives that, over time, diluted focus and any clarity of direction for the business.
Rightly or wrongly, the overly-frequent rotation of leadership created a situation whereby the business lost its sense of purpose. Trying to reverse into a founders seat is hard enough, but passing the baton again... and again... and again... and again resulted in a confused, borderline schizophrenic identity.
After the dust had settled (three and a half years later) and another leadership team in place, there was a glimmer of hope fuelled by a positively conscious effort to reposition the business around a meaningful problem to solve. Whilst the company was now culturally and organisationally on the right track, the numbers were trailing behind, and investor fatigue got the better of us.
It's certainly worth noting that despite apparent failures, our investors backed us till the end and acknowledged the positives through a continual stream of investment.
This is a painfully tricky question to answer and one that I have grappled with for years. I'd be lying to say leaving never crossed my mind and also to pretend there wasn't an element of sunk cost fallacy. Still, much to people's surprise (and amusement), I never had any tangible "skin in the game".
The reality is that I loved the challenge. I saw distress, conflict and ambiguity as an opportunity to expose myself to the wrath of experiences few would hope to encounter in an entire career, never mind a single business. It's certainly not for everyone, but I now proudly sport the battle scars that hold equal if not more value than the typical markers of success.
It wasn't all doom & gloom! Despite the apparent difficulties, Ve was always an exciting, inspiring and fun place to work. We always had competitive products within our category(s) and arguably exceeded the competition with brand identity and precedence over the customer experience.
I never stopped learning, and this was primarily down to the people. Of course, there was too much dead weight, but the pockets of talent passed through this business make you wonder how it ended in failure. Thankfully, I believe talented and capable people have a habit of crossing paths many times throughout their careers, and I hope I get the chance to work with these people again.
Having earned and sustained a seat at the executive table, I found a purpose beyond the spreadsheets and MBAs of a typical business environment. Supporting and influencing leadership and investors with creativity and design-thinking processes provided a refreshing dynamic and (so I have been told) competitive advantage for the business.
Over the last ten years of my career, I have been fortunate enough to observe various leadership styles from close quarters and gain first-hand experience operating within executive leadership teams.
The discovery of several common problem themes has inspired me to develop a deeper understanding of these challenges as I begin to offer strategic product and creative services to overcome them.
The stark reality is that business leaders are often spread too thin. We operate on shallow grounds and lack the creative confidence to craft, communicate and nurture strategic initiatives — with clarity, creativity and purpose. Disrupting this status quo can be realised through design integration at the highest level of any business, as we learn to lean into transformational processes that help us design a better business, not just a better product.
Like any creative and product-minded person, I have always been drawn to the process of problem-solving. I have also learnt that good design is not a function but a process—the process of doing things...
So as I finally dismount from such a significant chapter of my career, I can only hope that my new trusty steed will carry me on an equally exciting and rewarding (but perhaps more stable) journey.
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