Moving to an e-Commerce Start-up: “Lessons
Learned”
Caroline Watteeuw,
Executive Vice President and Chief Technical Officer
Brick & Mortar Wall Street Career
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MD CSFB Technology Department – 900 people
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MD Bankers Trust Technology Department – 600 people
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Responsible for: Development FA&O, Investment Banking &
Risk Management
EMU and Y2K
Y2K and E-commerce efforts
Development Risk Management Technology (includes all
Trading Systems)
CEO/President Office of the Future – 100 people
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Software Development Firm
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Current Position
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Chief Technology Officer – Started July 1,1999
Executive VP and part of Senior Management Team
Pre-IPO Internet-based, real-time trading service for the
fixed Income securities market
July 1 – was 37th employee – currently 105
Moved twice and released 2 major software upgrades
Technology Department in 9 months: 4  42
Target: end of 2100: 75-100
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The Bondlink  System
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Application that supports an Internet-based virtual brokerage
service - Buyers and sellers can meet and conduct transactions
in an online virtual meeting place
 Anonymity to buyers and sellers
 Full price transparency to both parties
 Trading Edge is the nominal counter party for each
transaction
 All information is live and updated in real-time
Intuitive graphical user interface - optimized for traders
Currently trading High-yield, emerging markets and busted
convertible bonds.
Municipal Bonds will be traded on the system in June
Investment grade bonds and hedged convertible securities will
be traded later in the year
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Through the looking glass
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Take the red pill
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Stay at Credit Suisse
Power, influence, organization, LTP, bonus…
Take the blue pill
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Enter the Matrix of e-Commerce startups
Alternate reality
Unrealistic expectations
“Close Relationship” with the Board
Devastating consequences of major failure
Systems are the business
Perception is everything
Compensation is inextricably tied to success of the venture
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Immediate Challenges
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Staff of 900 -> staff of 4
 Where is HR, Assistant, Voice Mail, PC support!!!!
 The three key developers were already major shareholders
 Launch new systems with five people rather than twenty
 Ratio development/support is 4/1
Find place to sit for yourself and the staff
Recruit senior management team
Build a development and operations organization
New products have been promised to the Board & the market
Define “next generation” BondLink
Establish critical process & procedures
Convince vendors to return calls
Rely on friends and family!!!!
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Critical Success Factors
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Know if YOU are ready for this
Be sure you can work closely with the founders and CEO
Be passionate about the business
Have a team and organization map BEFORE you start
Get smart quickly at a deep level on delivering
applications via the Internet
 Apps vs. Browsers
 Internet brownouts
 Quality of ISP’s, hosting sites etc…..
Don’t be afraid to make mistakes, however correct them
quickly
Speed to market is SOOOOOOO important
No room for good people, need exceptional people to
move at e-commerce speed
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Organizational Blueprint
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The Team
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Senior Product Mgrs, paired with Development Mgrs
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Hire a product delivery team
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Team that understands the business and can write code
Hosting
Networking
Infrastructure
Customer connectivity
Strong recruiting skills
Build best in class professional QA department
Be clear about how you will lead!!!
Commitment to creating a highly productive & effective
environment
Recruiting
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Understand skills and personality required to succeed in the
organization
Relationships with recruiting firms
Value networking
Understand alternative compensation requirements
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A New Set of Metrics
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Delivering systems on schedule
>> staying on budget
Recruiting
Exceeding the expectations of Delivery
the customers
Quality of systems >> staying
Innovation
on budget
Competitive
Advantage
Recruiting and employee
turnover
Documentation
DR & Contingency
Innovation
Planning
Continually benchmarking
against your competitors
Customer
Expectations
Budget
Enhancements
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Take the blue pill
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It is a fast and fun ride
It is a tough ride, you sometimes
question the decision
You’ll get rewards at multiple levels
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Satisfaction of propelling a business
Financial rewards
Bring your career to the next level,
even if it doesn’t work out
E-CTO
Survival of the fittest!!
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