Jacob de Geer is a serial entrepreneur. Recognised as one of the most influential leaders in fintech, de Geer is co-founder and CEO of iZettle, a business headquartered in Sweden and named by The Financial Times as one of Europe’s most innovative and fastest growing companies.
Prior to launching iZettle, de Geer co-founded movie sharing firm, Ameibo, and Tre Kronor Media, an award-winning communications agency. de Geer was the first employee and helped to grow the advertising network to become one of the largest in Europe before its listing on the Swedish stock exchange in 2005.
What was your first management role?
I took my first management role after studying at the Stockholm School of Economics. I decided to start my first company—a marketing agency with a couple of friends—in 1999. We developed the company from only the four of us to a company with 800 employees across 24 European countries. It was listed on the Swedish stock exchange in 2005.
What has been your biggest challenge?
I have faced many challenges throughout my career. First, when the dotcom bubble burst in 2000, it severely affected all of our company’s clientele, and we lost 95 percent of all of our customers. Our revenue barely increased. Fortunately, two months before the crash, we had managed to have the company funded, and since we had money in the bank, we were able to adapt to the situation and survive at that time.
A second challenge arose during the financial crisis in 2010. I was running another business, and there was no capital available. It was a difficult period, but we eventually managed to bootstrap the company and sell it.
A third challenge was the entrepreneurial journey itself. At so many times I tried to challenge the industry but did not manage to achieve what I wanted, and it kept me awake at night.
What are some important leadership lessons you’ve learned over the years?
People are keen to have more than simply being told what to do, which is especially true about the up-and-coming generation of millennials. They want to understand the purpose of what they do instead of simply earn a monthly salary. I would say that, underlying the vision of company, the purpose of the company is far more important and a fundamental component of leadership. With that in mind, you also need to both inspire and invite people to become part of the journey but ensure that they can make the decision for themselves and are allowed to fail without being punished for failing.
Leadership today is challenging. You have to be able to articulate a vision of the future that inspires people to get on board. It is also difficult if your company is growing rapidly and has many new people joining it. In those cases, maintaining the company culture and that type of leadership is complicated.
How do you hire?
The most important stage in a company’s life cycle is the initial hiring phase. When you hire people, they need to be entirely committed and smarter than you, because eventually you want people smarter than you to hire the next generation of people. If you are not careful enough during initial hiring, then you end up hiring mediocre people who also hire mediocre people, and then the company is in bad shape. Initial hiring phase is vital. Hiring top, dedicated talent and continually hiring others who share your vision and mind-set—your way looking at leadership and defining the corporate culture—is by far the most important aspect.
Is micromanagement always bad?
Managers try to avoid micromanagement as much as possible, but it becomes unavoidable at a certain point. You have reached the micromanagement point of no return when you have said too many times that the company needs to focus on something important but nothing happens. Eventually, you have to micromanage some decisions. The question then becomes how much micromanagement is necessary. If micromanagement becomes too much a part of your management style, then you will face major problems either with yourself as a manager or with your employees.
What advice would you give a first-time entrepreneur?
Apart from getting the business started, is to experiment with whatever idea you have. Most of your trials will fail, but one in 100 will work. If you view problem solving as a way of increasing the value of the company that you are building, then you are off to a good start.
I always enjoy starting companies with other people. Launching a business is like a roller coaster, and having someone to depend upon when everything is down can be a great asset, both personally and for your business. Enjoy solving problems and have a good co-founder: Those are my greatest pieces of advice to first-time entrepreneurs.
This interview has been condensed and edited.
This post is part of “CEO Talk” series, which features leaders around the world speaking about their journeys. What does it take to become a successful entrepreneur or CEO? What is the path to success? What challenges did people face and how did they overcome them? Lan Anh and her guests answer all these questions and much more. To view the entire series, visit here.