- If you think your CEO is about to make
you lose face with your clients, what should you do? Speed up the process
of replacing him, of course.
-
- Two weeks ago, word leaked out that the
CEO of USWeb, the Internet professional services firm that's merging with
interactive agency CKS Group to form Reinvent Communications, had a potentially
embarrassing project working on the side: an online book that describes
a new universal order based on original paradigms for space and time, and
which also seems to suggest that time travel is possible.
-
- Last week, Reinvent's board named Oracle
executive Robert Shaw as CEO, replacing Joe Firmage. Firmage will become
chief strategist.
-
- "There was a lot of furor over the
book," says USWeb board member Gary Rieschel. "We had discussions
about the Web site. Our competitors were highlighting this to the media
and calling Joe a crackpot. The company was in the situation of hunkering
down and weathering this, or saying that if this concerns clients, then,
whether the concern is legitimate or not, we need to address it."
-
- Shaw, who resigned as executive VP at
Oracle in August, will assume the post of Reinvent CEO when the deal closes
at the end of this month.
-
- Mark Kvamme, CEO of CKS Group, learned
about the book project for the first time on Oct. 28. He would not comment
on the book or offer his reaction to the news. Rieschel says that the Reinvent
board "accelerated discussions" over a new management structure
once news about Firmage's project leaked.
-
- When the companies agreed to merge on
Sept. 2, the structure included Kvamme as executive chairman and Firmage
as CEO. USWeb president and COO Toby Corey, CFO Carolyn Aver and CTO Sheldon
Laube would assume the same roles at Reinvent. CKS chief creative officer
Tom Suiter would also retain his title in the merger.
-
- An executive search process began soon
after the announcement, company officials say; they were vague about the
exact objectives of the search, though. Shaw says he had "known about
the opportunity for a couple of months."
-
- "Robert is a really senior executive,"
says Rieschel. "He's the kind of person, when you attract them, you
move on it."
-
- At Oracle, Shaw, 51, grew a $50 million
consulting business into a $2 billion operation in six years. Before that,
he worked at consulting firm Booz, Allen & Hamilton and Big Six company
Coopers & Lybrand. After being handed a hefty promotion in July assuming
control of another major unit at Oracle Shaw resigned, possibly because
of conflicts over strategic decisions.
-
- "I needed to run something, and
I wasn't ever going to run Oracle," says Shaw, adding that Oracle
asked him to stay longer. "But I lost confidence in the company; I
couldn't take it anymore."
-
- Shaw left in August and drew up a business
plan that involved buying a significant company in the Internet professional
services area and building the organization through acquisitions. A few
VCs were ready to go with it, Shaw says. But the plan was scrapped when
he began talks with USWeb about the top spot. "USWeb put into place
exactly what my plan was," says Shaw.
-
- As for Reinvent, the naming of Shaw may
indicate Reinvent's direction. While USWeb has always emphasized a systems
integration model, Kvamme has typically described CKS more as a traditional
ad agency that drew only one-third of its work from the online world.
-
- "It sounds like they're trying to
become more of a systems company like Sapient than a marketer," observes
G.M. O'Connell, CEO of Modem Media.Poppe Tyson. Kvamme has faith Shaw can
see the marketing side of the equation. "He has a good sensibility
for it," the CKS leader says.
-
- Firmage says his new role will involve
"strategic vision and forward-looking analytics." The 28-year-old
Firmage, a one-time Novell executive, has widely been considered the visionary
behind USWeb's business plan, a model that involves acquiring the intellectual
property assets of interactive agencies and systems integrators and leveraging
them through an updated company-wide database.
-
- Firmage adds that his "70-hour days"
will continue, and that he will "spend a lot of time with customers
to help them interpret a bewildering pace of change."
-
- Meanwhile, Firmage is also spending time
tweaking Kairos, the Web site at www.thewordistruth.org, in preparation
for his Nov. 25 book launch. A seventh clue to the book's meaning was posted
on the site last Thursday.
-
- Mark Gimein contributed to this report.
-
- Mentioned in this article
- PEOPLE
- *Joe Firmage Chairman and CEO, USWeb
- *Gary Rieschel Managing General Partner,
Softbank Technology *Ventures
- *Mark Kvamme Chairman and CEO, CKS Group
- *Toby Corey President and COO, USWeb
-
- COMPANIES
- *CKS Group Cupertino, CA
- *Booz, Allen & Hamilton McLean, VA
- *Modem Media.Poppe Tyson Westport, CT
-
- Related Articles
-
- *USWeb's Firmage Steps Down
-
- UPDATE In a surprise announcement Thursday
morning, USWeb's Joe Firmage
- said he is stepping down from his role
as CEO. (November 05, 1998)
-
- *USWeb CEO Prepares Book on Universal
Order
-
- In one month's time, the way to deal
with the chaos of the universe
- will be clear. That's the message of
a Web site promoting an online
- book coming out from Joe Firmage, the
CEO of USWeb. (October 29, 1998)a
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