page 1 confidential material please do not reproduce or distribute without the permission of...

Confidential Material

Please do not reproduce or distribute without the permission of WordStream Inc.

CORE VALUES – BOSTON COLLEGERALPH FOLZ, CEO WORDSTREAM

September 8, 2010



Outline

Introduction – Who am I? Core Values – The early years (@

Molecular) Core Values Revisited Stories, experiences Core Values – Making them real Core Values – New Entity



My Career

Co-Founder and CEOInternet Consulting Firm

1994 to 2007

Global Chief Operating Officer

(Isobar Acquired Molecular)

2007 to 2009

Chief Executive OfficerSaaS software for Search

2010 to Present

Core Values – The Journey of Molecular

Copyright © 2006 Molecular, Inc. | www.molecular.com | Linked by Isobar 5

A Brief History of Molecular

History• Founded 1994 – Distance Learning Focus• Caught the Internet Wave• High end Internet Consulting Firm • Raised $20M at the peak of the bubble (April 2000) from CMGI• Survived the dot-com crash• Ranked as a top-5 firm nationally• In 2005, sold the company to one of the largest media services companies in the world (Aegis)


3500

104

40

staff

offices

countries

A global network of world-class agencies

Americas EMEA APAC

http://www.onedigital.com.au/default.asp

http://www.freestyleinteractive.com/index.html

http://www.netthink.es/

http://www.molecular.com/index.aspx


Core Values – late 1990’s

• Challenge• Learning

(that was it!)


2000: Core Values

• Nice, but 18 of them?• No focus on enacting

the values• Raw – Bulleted lists• Created in a

brainstorm


Revised Core Values - The Process

• I created a draft (after reading articles from Bob!)• Circulated to the Executive Team + Advisors / Mentors• Created a committee:

• Long time employees• Short term employees• Senior staff / junior staff• Every department• Dozen people in total

• Rankings by Exec Team• 7 iterations of the values, with multiple meetings for

discussion.• 8 to 12 week process

Presentation to Staff - Excerpts


Values

Communication Respect

Integrity Excellence

Can anyone guess what company’s core values these are?

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.chez.com/econline/images/enron.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.chez.com/econline/actu%20sur%20la%20scene%20mondiale.htm&h=358&w=358&sz=20&tbnid=PEbbuqnqg0UJ:&tbnh=117&tbnw=117&start=1&prev=/images?q=Enron&hl=en&lr=&rls=GGLD,GGLD:2004-22,GGLD:en&sa=N


Core Values

• Our values must truly represent our company and mean something (not hollow – like Enron)

• We will weave our values into everything we do. Recruiting, performance reviews, orientation, decisions with clients, etc.

“Core values are the deeply ingrained principles that guide all of a company’s actions; they serve as its cultural cornerstones…… they can never be compromised, either for convenience or short-term economic gain” – Harvard Business Review


Transparency

We believe in fostering a culture of

transparency. We are committed to promoting

open, two-way communication, where every

person knows where we stand, and where we

need to focus our energy to improve the

company.


Customer intimacy

We work diligently to build customer

relationships based on mutual trust and respect

with every client and work hard to make them

successful. Our belief in customer intimacy

means that clients can count on us to

understand their goals and motivations and

success criteria, as we strive to exceed

expectations with every interaction.


Authentic

Our people are authentic and adhere to the

highest level of ethics and integrity. We believe

in doing what is right for our people, and clients

and we have the courage to address any issue

in an honest and open manner.


Molecular’s Core Values

EmbracingChange

Transparency

Authentic

ExceptionalExecution

CustomerIntimacy

ThoughtLeadership

Teamwork

http://www.molecular.com/index.aspx


Result of Engaging Staff, Advisors, Mentors

Early Draft Final Version

Ethics / Integrity Authentic

Communication Transparency

Continuous Learning Thought Leadership

Customer Intimacy Customer Intimacy

Performance Driven Exceptional Execution

Teamwork Teamwork

Quality Embracing Change

Core Values – Making them real


Making core values real – Stories!

• Real stories• Prominently displayed• Submitted by staff


Making core values real – MVP Awards (Staff Recognition)

Customer Intimacy• Client trust, respect, partnership• Business development• Ongoing growth and improvement opportunities for all

Teamwork• Team member growth opportunities• Regular feedback• Time and dedication

Exceptional Execution• Experienced Consultant• Organizationally savvy• Completely committed and accountable

Traveler Extraordinaire• Fluent in Flight Attendant speak• Mentor in United Mileage Plus and Hilton Honors management• Ambassador - Red Carpet Clubs

“I’ve never seen someone balance the line of consultant so well – he delivers at such a high level to both of our organizations.” -- Marc Gunning, Content Integration Services, HP


Making core values real – MVP Awards (Staff Recognition)• By taking on new projects, new roles, learning new skills

and developing new tools Devin is a huge part of the Endeca practice and is a key contributor in every area where we’ve been successful.

• Borders: • The largest record-set Molecular has worked with: 7 million• Only A graph implementation for Molecular, very few at

Endeca overall

• Premiere Farrell/ Newark InOne:• Tech lead/ sales engineer: Developed sales deck onsite that

led to engagement and potential add on work. • "Devin has made a significant and positive impression

on both the business and technical teams here at Premier Farnell. He is the primary reason we feel we've made the right choice by going with Molecular.“

Jeremy Higgins, E-Commerce Team Leader• Endeca Practice

• Driving the development of a relevance ranking testing tool we can use to display our technical & thought leadership

• Creating tools to ramp up Molecular Engineers on Endeca• Not afraid to wear an orange poster board and sing in front

on the whole company.

Embracing Change!


Making core values real – Additional mechanisms

• Part of every Sales presentation• Core value mugs for clients• Core value Calendars for clients (show)• Core value cups for coffee (show)• Intranet• ……. Wherever we can


Summary

• One of the most important things we have ever done• They can’t be fake. You are your core values, your core

values are you.• Engage your staff – at all levels• Make them real (KEY) – Live the core values.

Confidential and proprietary to WordStream, Inc.

Next Chapter – What is WordStream?

Keywords are a company’s most strategic marketing asset.

WordStream’s product suite helps you manage and act on this valuable, proprietary data, significantly impacting your ROI from search engine marketing.

Confidential and proprietary to WordStream, Inc.

Where WordStream Fits



WordStream - Next Steps

WordStream does not have any documented Core Values

The company needs to form a strong culture (void of this today)

We will do a core values exercise later this year (I need to live in the company for a bit first)

page 1 confidential material please do not reproduce or distribute without the permission of...

Documents

molecular core values

companys core values

experiences core values

revised core values

core values nice

brainstorm slide

present slide

week process slide