An Unconventional Leadership Change at iPrice
From left to right: Heinrich Wendel (CTO/CPO & Co-Founder), Paul Brown Kenyon (CEO) & David Chmelar (Executive Vice-Chairman & Co-founder)
“ The bottomline is this: It is the simple alignment that the three of us—Heinrich (Wendel), Paul (Brown-Kenyon) and myself—have, and that is we would do anything that would ensure iPrice’s success.”
Online shopping comparison site, iPrice, was birthed from the pains of online shopping. A platform designed to find the best price of products for online shoppers, it is no surprise the company is staffed by an enterprising, passionate team of perfectionists. It is this culture that has led to a change in leadership that people not in the company may not understand.
Early this year (2020), Chief Executive Officer David Chmelar announced he would be stepping aside for President and Chief Operations Officer Paul Brown-Kenyon to take the helm. To the uninitiated, it would appear as if David had quit but that could not be further from the truth.
Connect One gets to the bottom of the leadership change and the upside that sealed David, Heinrich and Paul’s decision.
(This interview has been edited for grammatical accuracy and clarity.)
Hi David, tell us what triggered the announcement?
David: We announced a change of roles and responsibilities at the leadership level for iPrice. It is not an exit for David or a phasing away. Basically, the three of us, Chief Product/Technology Officer Heinrich, Paul and myself sat down at the end of 2019 and came to the conclusion that this is a right step for the company. It is a decision that all three of us are committed to.
Walk us through the change.
After Paul joined us in 2018, his role became increasingly focused on leading the internal team while I spent more time on the external world dealing with investors and fund-raising. It made sense to us to clarify our roles and responsibilities to the staff. The decision to make Paul the CEO became abundantly clear.
We were allowed to maximise our abilities and focus on what we are passionate about. For Paul, it was about organisation, about Human Resources matters and the teams’ development. I am passionate about our partners, about bringing in new business that accelerates innovation concepts into practice. Heinrich is devoted to product development.
So what is your new role at iPrice?
I’m Executive Vice Chairman (EVC). It is interesting because, while I am a full-time employee and have some reporting lines to Paul, it is a promotion at the same time. The “executive” part of the title shows that I am still completely committed to iPrice. This is not a part-time job; it is not a function where I just commit one per cent of my time. The three of us remain 100 per cent committed to the company.
So you are really, really not starting something new?
No, no, no. I do not have time for that. I really don’t. I want to sleep more. [laughs]
We were prepared for two possible reactions when the news went out: One was with current investors and the other with future investors. Current investors want to know if I am leaving. I said “no”, and they said, “okay, if you think this is a right move for the company, we will back you”.
For the future investors, it is a little bit like when we first started iPrice. Investors then would ask, “what if you leave in six months? Are you long-term in the region, etc”. I have had to defend that a lot. After a time, people see the company growing and they stop asking. As time passes and people see that I am still here, the questions stop.
How did the staff take the news?
It was very positive, because the “new” CEO is not someone new. Paul had already been with us for two years. People knew him, his strength and his commitment.
However, the part which I found amazing was that it became very inspirational for the team. During a discussion with one of our managers, they confided in me that they did not think they were good managers. They told me: “I know I am good at being an Individual Contributor (IC) but I have been struggling as a manager. Is it right that I'm the manager?". I asked, "Hey, where is this coming from?", and they would say, "if you can step down from a CEO role to do what you're passionate about, why shouldn't I be able to do the same? Why should I try to blindly push for something seemingly cool-sounding like a big title, as the head of something if it is just not my passion?". I really enjoyed that discussion.
So, now that you have done this, do you think all start-up founders should follow suit?
That is not for me to answer. If you ask me if leaders at start-ups need to rethink how they can best utilise their skills and passions of the leadership team, then, yes, I think that is a very healthy exercise. Whether the result is that a CEO is not a CEO anymore, that is for them to evaluate. We have a unique setup and this decision made the most sense for us.
If a founder of a start-up were to do this, at what point should he consider stepping away?
I really do not think of this as “stepping away”. It came through a process. The starting point was that we had an enormously strong alignment on the fact that all three of us want the best for the company. Then, at some point we found a comfortable space to start discussing such a sensitive topic—because it is a bloody sensitive topic, right?
Yes, very. Were you able to broach this because you are close friends outside of work?
We are friends but it is not about that. It is about trust, not friendship. That trust is more important.
A long time ago, I had a conflict with Heinrich and we could not resolve it. At some point we talked and I said, "Hey, Heinrich, isn't it just that both of us wants the best for the company?" The reason for the conflict was not because the other person is an idiot but because we were sure our way was the right thing for iPrice. It was not personal; it was an intellectual conflict. As intellectually curious people, we actually started to enjoy it and said, "Okay, so what can we get out of that? What is your position? Why do you believe this is a better way to move iPrice forward? What don't I see? What don't you see?". It's that level of trust and, once you achieve it, these sensitive discussions can happen naturally.
That's interesting. I want to bounce some ideas off of you. There is a common thinking that the founder of a start-up is the “ideas guy” and do not generally perform well in operations. Do you agree with that? Should a founder start a company and move on after three to five years?
I don't think you can generalise that. I would argue that the skills you need at an early-stage of a company is different than in the mid- or late-stage.
Maybe let me put it this way. CEO or VP, that's a title. You can be a CEO of three-people company or head a 50,000-strong company. Your job scope is vastly different. At a smaller company, you need to be that idea generator; that person who gets excited about the vision and who generates ideas, reflects constantly, changes things and so on. It's the Facebook—Move Fast, Break Things—mantra. As the company grows, the challenge changes to one of creating an effective organisation, one able to ensure the product is developed and delivered with a consistent quality.
Now, to your question, whether a CEO of a start-up should step down after three, five years, I think the question is not about timing but when he is not passionate about the new type of task.
What about the job excites you and what do you want to relegate? In my case, I delegated the internal-management part. Some people may not like business development, they may get bored and say, "I don't want to meet the clients again", or get tired of the fundraising process—which is very specific task. So they start looking for ways to outsource it to the team.
In our case, we saw Paul being a way better CEO. Under that philosophy, we allowed each of us to do what we are best at. Making this change is the best thing we can do for ourselves and iPrice.
About iPrice Group
iPrice Group is Southeast Asia’s best shopping companion, operating in seven countries across Southeast Asia namely in; Malaysia Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam, and Hong Kong. iPrice aims to give shoppers the best online shopping experience by providing them a platform that compares products, prices, delivery schedules, and by offering the best deals via vouchers and coupons. Currently, iPrice compares and catalogues more than 500 million products and receives close to 20 million monthly visits across the SEA region.