Innovation and Leadership lessons from Meg Whitman, eBay CEO and President, and top Innovator

eBay CEO and President Meg Whitman, in her keynote presentation on the morning of the second day of TiEcon 2007, May 19, not only provided a historical overview of eBay and provided insights on how eBay is positioning adroitly for the future, but also shared real world lessons on Business, Innovation, Leadership and more.

Here are nuggets of wisdom from Meg Whitman shared with the TiEcon attendees and entrepreneurs:

What are the Five things People do online:

Find, Buy, Sell, Communicate, Entertain

eBay focuses on three of these five things:

Buy, Sell, Communicate

What are the Six Business Lessons that Whitman has learnt at eBay:

1. Enable our customers; we do not direct. For example, eBay Motors.

2. It's all about the customer experience.

3. Level the playing field as often as you can.

4. Make size a business advantage.

5. Disruptive ideas are vital - find them from inside and outside.

6. Constant Innovation within the company is imperative.

What are the Five Principles that drive Innovation at eBay:

1. Innovation is a mindset. We strive to ensure that everyone in the company is focused on Innovation.

2. Innovation is in the DNA. We build new products with Innovation from the inside-out.

3. Cannibalization does not scare us. We would rather cannibalize ourselves than someone else cannibalizing us.

4. Some people are gifted disruptive innovators. We call them "Baby Tigers". We make it a point to nurture them and give them the room to succeed.

5. There can only be so much structure to creating innovations. We are always open to new ideas and serendipitous finds.

In the past five years, eBay has embarked new innovations through:

1. PayPal acquisition - and the online payment solution

2. C2C Classifieds all over the world

3. Online Shopping through Shopping.com

4. Skype acquisition - the largest provider of Voice over IP solution in the world

eBay has always kept strong focus on the core auction business though and has created innovations in the core auction business; for example, eBay Motors, Fixed Price model, integration of PayPal with eBay Auctions.

What are the Seven Personal Lessons on leadership that Whitman espouses:

1. Hire the right person for the right job at the right time and who has the right values. "I cannot stress this enough"

2. Reorganize early and often. Transform change and uncertainty into opportunity.

3. Hire ahead of the curve. For example, get someone with experience who has managed larger businesses so that he or she can help you grow to that size.

4. Focus. Focus. Focus. Vision + Strategy + Execution.

5. Mission motivates. We are in the business to make a difference for our customers, and every employee should be passionate about this.

6. Get out and about enough. This is where new ideas that generate game-changing innovations can happen.

7. There is no compromise for Integrity. Whenever you say something or are making a decision, what if your kids, brother, sister or parents were also present? Would you do that?

Whitman also answered several questions from the audience (the questions were beamed using SMS). Here were a couple of questions and answers:

1. How do you achieve Balance?

Maintain focus on the Core Business - 70% of our resources are allocated here.

Rest of the company is focused on Adjacent Business, Planting Seeds, and creating new Innovations.

The business must keep itself informed of the key consumer trends, and always work towards "ease-of-use" for our customers.

2. What do you worry about the most?

Changing environment, and our ability to keep track, staying informed, and taking smart risks. The cost of "not doing anything" or inaction is huge. We would rather do something and have an answer, even though it may not be the right one, instead of waiting and not doing anything.

We want to make sure we maintain a 0.60 batting average. Training and Development of our employees and customers is essential for success.

Bottomline:

Meg Whitman is one of the most successful women CEOs of our generation, having grown eBay from tens of millions in revenue to a multi-billion dollar global corporation. Whitman is a charismatic leader and an innovator. Her energy, passion, wit and leadership were in full flow at the TiEcon 2007. The audience was enlightened during her presence, however felt a gaping hole soon after her presentation got over, longing for more of her infectious wisdom and insights.

References:

eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) is one of the top 20 innovators of The Innovation Index.

TiEcon 2007 was hosted by TiE – The Indus Entrepreneurs at the Santa Clara convention center.

Innovation Lessons from the Top Innovators and 13-year old CEO at TiEcon 2007

Innovation Lessons from the Top Innovators and 13-year old CEO at TiEcon 2007

Yesterday, I attended the annual TiEcon 2007 at the Santa Clara Convention Center. The theme of this year's conference was: The New Face of Entrepreneurship! And TiEcon had the bold mission inviting every entrepreneur to "dream, explore and connect." This was my fifth TiEcon in attendance. And believe me, it seems every year, it gets bigger and bigger. Case in point: many sponsors and exhibitors organize luncheons, separate meetings, dinners and more. TieCon is hosted by TiE - The Indus Entrepreneurs.

I was quite impressed by the turnout (I overheard there were over 4,000 attendees). I met some of my friends, past colleagues from previous employers and TiE alums that I have known over the years. I also met new would-be friends, enterprising exhibitor companies looking to open up new opportunities, and budding entrepreneurs. The best though were the keynote presentations on Innovation from some of the world's top innovators including Meg Whitman, President and CEO of eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY), Robert Ingram, Vice Chairman of Pharmaceutials, GlaxoSmithKline, Ravi Venkatesan, Chairman of Microsoft India (NASDAQ: MSFT), Ajit Singh, President and CEO of Siemens Medical, Gerard M Mooney, VP, Emerging Business Opportunities of IBM (NYSE: IBM), Zia Yusuf - EVP of SAP AG, and Matt Cohler, VP Strategy & Business Operations of Facebook.

Although I did not attend his particular session, "The buzz on the expo floor was about Silicon Valley gaming startup Elementeo and its precocious 13-year old founder and chief executive, Anshul Samar." I did visit the Elementeo booth on the exhibit floor, and was quite impressed by this new entrepreneurship of gaming in the world of Chemistry. Our son, Rohan Dalal, wants to be a writer (he's 11), and you can find a sample of his writing on Lightning - a story about a young boy Matt who is trying to save his friend Blake from the evils of Dr. Vick. Rohan won the Young Author's contest in his school last year. His latest books are already combining elements of gaming and challenges. Our daughter, Suhani Dalal, wants to be an artist when she grows up. She has also started her own picture site at My Pictures. However, not to digress, and take the attention away from Anshul Samar. We are after all in the age of "young" entrepreneurship and creativity, where every year, we will find more budding entrepreneurs beginning their careers in their teenage years.

I learnt many key lessons on Innovation from these top innovators and leaders.

Here are the Innovation Lessons learned from Meg Whitman who provided the keynote presentation in the morning.