Tuesday, January 10, 2012

JCB grabs his soft briefcase from car and we walk in Hublot

I know start-ups. I live in San Francisco and have visited my share of them. Based on JCB’s management style, the loose arrangement of job titles and duties, and the quick decision making, Hublot doesn’t fall-outside of the term. Whether it is a start-up or not, it has the feeling of one. A highly profitable, widely know, and individual product start-up. The thought crosses my head that Hublot is the eBay of watch companies. Hublot has a good system for keeping interesting and sales high. The tough part for any CEO is maintaining that. Like a proud CEO, JCB spits out a few important selling points about his company. Profits that would make most watch brands this size red in the face and shamed at their performance comparatively, no debt, no loans, no leases, no liabilities, no BS. It is un-believe how easy this man makes it all seem, running and growing Hublot. He has in incredible talent for persuasively communicating a plan or an idea. He has the type of charisma that would make mowing a lawn or sitting in traffic sounds like the best way to spend an afternoon. He has used this talent to sell the idea of Hublot to the world, as much as the products themselves. JCB’s reputation is built on his ability to be a good business person in an industry notorious for not having the best business people. But at the same time, his rock-star status is built on how he goes about it.

Unless you know Jean-Claude, it might not occur to you that he is a good listener. Perhaps surprisingly he is, even humble in many ways. He is remarkably receptive to ideas and advice — at least when it comes to listening them. JCB likes to mention that he makes quick decisions doesn’t engage in the typical long and drawn out Swiss process of deciding how to do things. As Swiss as his cheese making is, JCB isn’t a typical Swiss manager. His thought process is much more cerebral than it is committee based.

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