MARKETECH with PETER FILLMORE
"We can hire people from the USA when needed. Many are actually expatriate Canadian citizens, and many of the jobs can be done out of US offices."
Ottawa is different but in the same world
From SCAN's Print Edition
To continue the discussion of Ottawa’s marking strengths and shortcomings, is it a skills problem, a lack of execution, or something else?
“Ottawa is pretty different from other cities in that half of the workforce here works for government,” comments Eliot Burdett, co-managing partner at Peak Sales Recruiting. “Even in the technology community, a big chunk of the workforce is focused on the government sector, so they end up immersed in the government culture, not in a global market-building culture.” Some of the talent may be right here in town, but “we have over 50,000 technology workers, and under a thousand are highly qualified sales/marketing people,” according to David Perry, managing partner of Perry-Martel International. “We don’t have enough of them in this town, and those we do have are hidden and paid well"
Ottawa’s future in a knowledge-based economy and society rests on its ability to grow companies which generate revenue, profits and jobs. The byproduct of innovation is a hardy tax base which benefits all. Perry went on to comment on how the city debates infrastructure. “The light rail transportation debate is a red herring. For a better infrastructure project, the city of Ottawa should take out a $500 million bond, properly fund the many good startups among our 1,800 technology companies, and help Ottawa’s entrepreneurs grow 50 new companies past the level of $100 million/year of revenues ─ each,” he says.
The resulting growth in tax base would fund other projects, including a better transportation system. It would also increase our marketing, sales, management and governance talent across the board ─ and bring us many more respected global brands like Cognos and Corel. It would also put more emphasis on long-term company growth and profits versus early investor exit by sale into a US acquisition, leaving a somewhat fragile engineering office in Ottawa.
The fact is that Ottawa companies have access to all the marketing talent needed, but this needs explanation. We market to a global customer base; and we have also to think big about the global talent pool. We can hire people from the USA when needed. Many are actually expatriate Canadian citizens, and many of the jobs can be done out of US offices. For those positions that need to be in Ottawa, an executive recruiter can find and recruit the talent, including the delicate task of getting spouses on board for a move to Ottawa, usually via a carefully planned and persuasive Ottawa lifestyle visit.
The President/CEO
The talent problem starts at the top. As Burdett observes, “A lot of company founders and leaders in Ottawa have engineering backgrounds and they are backed by investors who have made their money on engineering plays, so they are not predisposed to create companies that are focused on sales and marketing.” Often a startup company’s products are not right for the marketplace, and have to be fixed before sales can succeed.. Finding a top product manager is hard, especially for startups, because in Ottawa, the available people often have long careers in large organizations only, or no product management experience in the key disciplines of early stage technology adoption planning, whole product definition, revenue growth and profitability.
The CEO needs to identify product management, marketing, and sales executive talent needs, and then use recruiters to find them, bringing them in from other cities as required. This is possible and practical – market-building talent is highly motivated by innovative companies.
The Board
McKinsey & Company has a comment on corporate governance. “Investors are willing to pay more for companies they perceive as well governed, especially those in emerging markets.”
Even though many of our technology companies are in emerging markets, private company boards often have no sales or marketing experience, hence the governance can be unbalanced. Typical compositions include founders and VCs – a mix of engineers, accountants, and business school graduates.
“Many BoD members have never carried a bag (worked in sales),” says Rick Dalmazzi, recently appointed CEO of <strong>VoIPShield, regarding the lack of field sales experience among senior people here in Ottawa. “So it’s hard for them to truly assess the sales pipeline, let alone make recommendations on overall sales strategy. Outside directors could be recruited from further afield – places like Toronto, a huge nearby city with a better balance of senior business skills. These directors can expand a company’s search space and networking reach when marketing and sales talent is needed.”
Dalmazzi adds that “Another way to expand the talent pool is to activate a working advisory board – hold quarterly meetings with a full strategy review. Also keep angel investors informed and involved so they can be proud to promote the company at social gatherings.” This will help attract more outside director candidates, and improve recruiting at all levels.
Contact Peter Fillmore at fillmore@westpark.com
