The Pivot CEO - Tom Thimot
My Experience
I have spent 34 years in leading edge technology from my early days as a DBA at Accenture; through two dozen quarters at Oracle; to CEO of 6 high tech companies (two public, two venture backed and two private equity backed). I am a proven leader that understands the Digital Pivot. As a CEO you have one responsibility... increase shareholder value. Pivoting to a more aggressive use of machine learning increases the speed of value creation. One of my board members called it: "creating the knee in the curve"
My Approach
Transforming your business requires a combination of careful planning, and lightning fast execution. You must examine the market, not as it exists today, but how you envision it can be tomorrow. You must account early for culture and change management as pivots and transformations can be scary to the top performers you need to retain to ensure success. I combine approaches I've learned from leaders here in Silicon Valley (Apple, Google, Facebook, Open AI), with the pragmatism of someone born and educated in the Midwest USA that has done business on six continents.
Lead from the Front
Once the course is set, you must lead from the front. If you need your team to embrace the corporate turnaround or a new way of doing business, you doing it first is critical. Transparency throughout is paramount to success. Failing fast in one or more aspects is to be expected. Rather than dwell on the failure, admit the mistake and pivot again. I sign most emails "Carpe Diem" because I truly believe you must seize every moment in every day. The true test of your passion for an idea is whether you wake up before the alarm clock goes off. If you are hitting the snooze button, it is time to pivot.