2020 was an excellent 12 months to be within the tech and digital enterprise, and a troublesome 12 months to be within the conventional company world.
That’s in response to You & Mr Jones founder David Jones, who introduced Tuesday (January 12) his firm raised $260 million in a sequence B spherical accomplished by UK funding agency Merian Chrysalis, bringing its valuation to $1.36 billion.
“The outdated class of promoting providers companies misplaced $60 billion in market cap over the previous few years. The brand new class has corporations doing nicely from a income and valuation perspective,” he mentioned, pointing to corporations together with S4 Capital and The Commerce Desk.
To handle this development from a folks perspective, You & Mr Jones has employed Paulette Forte, previously senior director of human providers on the NBA, as its first-ever chief folks officer. The agency has grown from two staff at launch in 2015 to greater than 3,000 staff across the globe.
You & Mr Jones, which shuns the phrase “company” in favor of being known as a “model tech group,” introduced the information on the again of a powerful Q3 with 27% year-on-year natural development to “a number of hundred million {dollars}.” Jones mentioned. That compares to the sagging fortunes of the foremost holding corporations, which have all skilled declining natural development in mild of COVID-19.
“What folks get improper is that they assume we’re constructing a new-model company,” Jones mentioned. “We’ll by no means personal an advert company.”
As an alternative, You & Mr Jones focuses on content material creation at scale, powered by know-how, in addition to information technique and analytics for international manufacturers—together with Unilever, Fb, Adidas, Goal and Nissan Renault.
The group owns corporations that use tech platforms to scale entry to expertise, together with manufacturing firm Mofilm, which connects manufacturers to greater than 10,000 international content material creators, information firm 55 and Oliver, which helps manufacturers in-house content material studios.
You & Mr Jones additionally takes minority investments in tech corporations, together with a $20 million funding in Pinterest 4 years in the past, in addition to a stake in advert tech agency Beeswax, which not too long ago offered to Comcast’s FreeWheel for undisclosed phrases.
“All of our income is in digital or cell,” Jones defined. “All the [holding companies] have been constructed throughout or after the TV revolution. We have been constructed after the cell revolution.”
You & Mr Jones will use the brand new funds to proceed to broaden the enterprise globally. The corporate operates in North America, Europe, Asia and Latin America, however sees alternatives to bolster its capabilities within the latter two markets.
Having a world presence is essential with a purpose to work with international manufacturers as they shift their enterprise away from the standard holding firm mannequin, Jones mentioned. “In the event you can solely function in a single nation or metropolis, you might be a part of the issue.”
You & Mr Jones will even put money into development areas together with e-commerce, influencer advertising and marketing, information and digital media. The corporate is presently hiring for 300 open positions, half of that are in e-commerce.
Expertise technique
As You & Mr Jones continues to scale, Forte will formalise its strategy to expertise. “When you’ve gotten that scale of development in a compressed time interval, plenty of the programs, processes and procedures in place round expertise aren’t there,” Jones mentioned.
In her position, Forte will even give attention to variety, fairness and inclusion, on which, like most corporations within the trade, You & Mr Jones has a renewed focus after a tumultuous 12 months. Half of the corporate’s board is represented by females, however “we are able to and must be doing extra when it comes to racial variety,” Jones mentioned.
You & Mr Jones not too long ago invested in Blacktag, a Black-owned content material creation platform for Black creators. Jones additionally pointed to corporations like MoFilm which can be capable of faucet into a large bench of world, distributed expertise to make sure administrators, expertise and filmmakers characterize BIPOC audiences.
“A part of the benefit of a people-powered market like that’s you’ll be able to faucet into expertise that’s as various because the individuals who purchase their merchandise,” he mentioned.
As for a secure return to the workplace, which many main companies are grappling with, Jones mentioned most of his folks don’t come into the workplace anyway as they both work distant or on web site with a shopper.
A ‘structural decline’
Whereas a $1.36 billion valuation might sound excessive for a providers agency, Jones argues it’s as a result of the corporate shouldn’t be in the identical class because the holding corporations.
You & Mr Jones has folks to work together with shoppers, however the execution piece might be performed fully by know-how, permitting the agency to make use of fewer folks and cost for some components of its work on a SaaS-like recurring income foundation.
“We’re hybrid,” Jones mentioned. “There’s a purpose the valuation could be very completely different from a standard promoting firm. Traders perceive it is a completely different class.”
Like many ex-holding firm executives, Jones, who ran Havas from 2009 to 2014, sees the trade as dealing with a structural decline, and likens the standard holding corporations to Kodak throughout the cell phone digicam revolution.
“What you are dwelling via is the structural decline of an trade and the creation of a brand new class,” he mentioned. “Most main international manufacturers have been saying ‘We have to speed up our digital transformation,’ however 2020 pushed them over the sting.”