The Ninety-Day Sprint

{Q} What was the most important lesson that you learned in dealing with Wall Street?

{A} I think Wall Street is a fascinating game, because once you understood who you were talking to, you are now trying to meet their needs. If you are talking about strategy, you’d better have the facts that meet their model, or it’s meaningless. So if I knew Lawson’s growth wasn’t going to be the same as SAP’s, I knew I had to have some other dialog, whether it was profits for that quarter or for the next five years or a new market I was going after or an acquisition. Once you learned their game and how they were measuring you, it was a huge advantage in making our messaging more succinct. Once I did that, then it was a matter of performance.

{Q} What about your own time commitment?

{A} It changed dramatically—especially when we neared the end of a quarter. I’d need to spend much more time with the board and individual board members. There was significant time spent preparing for our quarterly earnings announcement, and then very intense time commitments for the earnings call and individual follow-up calls with analysts. I found I was spending a lot of time marketing the stock in addition to marketing the company.

{Q} Where you surprised by anything that happened during the road shows?

{A} For me, it was an adjustment to adapt my style to what Wall Street was looking for. My style was always, give me five slides and let me go. I was forced into having to memorize a 30-minute presentation and even though it wasn’t my style, I realized they were 100 percent right.

{Q} Do you think your sales ability and your energy had an effect on stock price?

{A} I think it help[ed] me to communicate. [It wasn’t] a struggle for me to get up in front of a group or be on the phone selling Lawson. I don’t think it helps the stock, because the stock is still based on the strategy, models, and performance.

{Q} What impact did Sarbanes-Oxley have on you?

{A} Sarbanes, in my opinion, drains your energy as a CEO. I don’t think it provides any real value to customers, employees, or even Wall Street. It was designed as punitive legislation, and it’s heavily influenced by accounting and auditors, which means it’s slow and laborious and it bogs you down. The auditors got a hold of it and then they implemented even more disciplines and processes than what the initial law was intended to be.

{Q} What was your biggest frustration in being public?

{A} You have to work hard to keep your values and your culture even as all your expectations change. As a public company, you’re on a clock and you’re watched. And as a new publicly held company, the markets are going to hold you to a pretty high standard, and those comparison points force you into execution and tactical issues that are a lot harder than if you were private.