Jack Ma used these constant rejections to forge a stronger foundation for Alibaba Group Holding, which he co-founded in 1999. Additionally, it gave him the desire to think strategically and unconventionally, enabling him to transform Alibaba into a Chinese tech conglomerate with a market capitalization of $284.35 billion as of January 2023.

Market observers were not surprised by Jack Ma’s announcement that he would relinquish control of Ant Group, a unit of Alibaba. This action will appease Chinese authorities, who have been increasing their pressure on the corporation to reorganize its intricate organizational structure as per the requirements of the People’s Bank of China.

The business claimed it was changing its ownership structure to guarantee that “no shareholder, alone or jointly with other parties, will have control over Ant Group.” To “further enhance the stability of our corporate structure and sustainability of our long-term development,” the statement stated Jack Ma will now only control 6.2% of the voting rights.

After dealing with opposition from Chinese regulatory officials for over two years, the billionaire had debated separating the fintech from Alibaba for some time.

The situation reached a breaking point in November 2022 when officials abruptly stopped Ant Group’s first public offering (IPO), valued at over $200 billion. This was put on hold after China’s financial watchdogs cracked down on Chinese stocks listed on US exchanges.

So how did China’s most well-known and flamboyant corporate icon lose favour and end up on the government’s bad books?

A tale of rags to riches
Jack Ma, born in 1964 in Zhejiang, China, was an inquisitive child from an early age. However, when he was a teenager and eager to study English, he worked as a tour guide for foreign tourists to improve his command of the language since he believed this was a more effective method than memorizing words from a book.

Later, he attempted to enrol at Hangzhou Teachers College by taking the entrance exam but failed twice. However, Jack Ma didn’t give up, and in 1984 he was accepted into the college. He received his English degree four years later, and from then, he taught English at Hangzhou Dianzi University until 1993.

It is nearly impossible to hold a self-starter down for an extended time. So by starting Haibo Translation Agency in 1994, Jack Ma used his English proficiency to offer translation and interpreting services.

A year later, while on an official trip to the US on behalf of the city of Hangzhou, he observed Americans using the internet to fulfil most of their demands, including communication, shopping, informational needs, and entertainment.

Jack Ma came home and established China Pages in 1995, an online directory for local businesses looking for international clients, after being astounded by how technology could change lives, livelihoods, lifestyles, and the economy. Many referred to it as China’s first indigenous Internet start-up. He, however, departed it after only two years and went on to lead a government-backed Internet business until 1999.

He created Alibaba Group Holding in 1999 as a B2B website to aid in transactions between small firms when the impulse to go it alone won out. Jack Ma upset Applecart business by charging users a small cost to become verified as trustworthy vendors on the network and an additional fee for selling to consumers overseas.

When he once visited a bank, the employees refused to process an online transaction because they claimed it was a financial product. This caused the former teacher to become a technocrat, and he subsequently stated in a lecture, “If a Chinese company didn’t go into payments, some overseas company would come to do it, and we’d end up the victims. So I went to hear Clinton speak about the importance of leadership when I was at Davos. That meant doing something brave that you believe in, which won’t harm your country or your consumers. Then I had my realization, and decided to give it my all.”

As a result, Alipay began operating as a third party in online transactions in 2003. With 1.3 billion users as of 2013, it had eclipsed Paypal’s 377 million users to take the top spot among mobile payment platforms worldwide, ahead of Apple Pay’s 507 million users and Google Pay’s 421 million.

Contrary to trend
Jack Ma focused on the 2003-launched consumer-focused platform Taobao after seeing the success of Alibaba’s B2B website. Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) broke out in China that year, almost decimating the nation’s economy, as the government had to put lockdown to stop the spread of the disease.

His never-say-die attitude showed itself once more. Despite challenges faced by China, he and a core group of techies launched the site after finishing its development at his apartment. This decision turned the company’s fortunes around.

As more Chinese people shifted to online purchasing due to the self-imposed quarantine, Taobao established a solid foothold in the e-commerce industry. By 2006, it had surpassed eBay as the most popular e-commerce site in the nation, and by 2020, it was generating $56 billion in yearly revenue from over 600 million members.

Investors stream in
The expansion of Alibaba was not unnoticed. The year 2005 saw Yahoo investing $1 billion in the business, acquiring a 40% interest, while Softbank acquired another 30% interest. This gave the two firms a place at the table of the internet behemoth that was now well-known throughout China. Jack Ma had finally made it to the big leagues, thanks to this coalition, earning him the title of “China’s New Internet King” in the New York Times.

With the help of these favourable conditions, the e-commerce business raised $1.5 billion when it went public in 2007 on the Hong Kong stock exchange. However, the Chinese central bank published new third-party Internet payment provider regulations in 2010. It stated that these entities needed to apply for and obtain licenses from the People’s Bank of China to continue operating.

Jack Ma kept a 46% share in the financial services company and split off Alipay into a separate company. This led to a protracted dispute with Yahoo, which asserted that his decision to divide the company without informing it beforehand resulted in a sharp decline in the value of Yahoo’s stock.

Despite these developments, visionary entrepreneur-backed Alibaba applied for a $25 billion IPO in the US in 2014. However, there needed to be more clarity regarding the connection between Alibaba and Alipay, and concerns surfaced on how the parent firm would profit from the public offering.

Later, the Chinese conglomerate clarified in its revised draft prospectus that Alibaba no longer had “an ownership interest in or control over Alipay or its current parent company.” In addition, it acknowledged that Jack Ma still owned 46% of Small and Micro Financial Services firm (SMFSC), the parent firm of Alipay.

The Ant continues to march
Jack Ma gained recognition over time as the person who built a tech behemoth and the best brand representative for contemporary China. From former German Chancellor Angela Merkel to twice-elected American President Barack Obama, he embodied the nation’s significant technological advancements and economic prosperity.

The administration at home, though, was keeping a close eye on his expanding political views. Jack Ma attended the Bund Summit in October 2020, and things started going awry for him. In his address, he attacked the Chinese regulatory market, saying, “Good innovation is not afraid of regulation, but is afraid of being subjected to yesterday’s way to regulate.”

The Chinese billionaire may have been attempting to be humorous when he compared the nation to a “pawn market” and accused it of adhering to outdated business practices. But the dictatorial government was anything but amused.

Jack Ma’s comments were an outright rebuke of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s determination to end monopolistic activities to “prevent the disorderly expansion of capital.”

In retaliation, the Chinese antitrust authorities investigated Alibaba’s practice of pressuring vendors to sell exclusively through its platform. Ant Group representatives were called in for a meeting to discuss consumer rights and competition. Additionally, Alibaba found itself in the crossfire of the ongoing geopolitical verbal battle between China and the US, which has been more heated after COVID’s breakout, as US officials began closely scrutinizing Chinese businesses’ listings on their bourses.

To reach investors in mainland China for Ant Group’s initial public offering (IPO), the e-commerce giant said it would add a primary listing in Hong Kong to its New York presence. This came after the e-commerce behemoth paid a massive $2.8 billion fine due to regulatory scrutiny in China.

Jack Ma stayed out of the spotlight after the reaction from the administration and disappeared for a while. Then, according to Reuters, the Chinese financial authorities cautiously approved Ant Group’s request to resume its dual public listing in July 2022.

The man, the prophet
Jack Ma continues to be a visionary in the business realm, and players in the industry and politicians hold him in high regard despite his blunders in the political sphere.

He talked more about wanting to do more than manage a business as he met more fellow thinkers from diverse streams. He had a strong love for philanthropy and innovation, focusing on education in rural China as a nod to his earlier career as a teacher.

“In the future, there will be a competition for creativity, imagination, learning, and independent thought rather than for information. If you think like a machine, trouble will eventually arise,” Jack Ma said.

He also stated in one of his talks that after 20 years of making people more like machines, robots will resemble people in the next 20 years.

Jack Ma formally resigned from his position as Alibaba’s executive chairman in 2019. In an open statement announcing his departure, he said, “I still have many goals to pursue. Those who know me well understand that I dislike being idle. As I am still young and the world is vast, I want to experience new things.”

His decision to relinquish control of Ant Group is just another step in his departure from the vast empire he has created, leaving behind a lasting legacy.

The post Jack Ma: China’s visionary entrepreneur appeared first on International Finance.

According to the Wall Street Journal report, the tech billionaire’s representatives discussed selling up to USD 3 billion in new Twitter shares in December 2022.

Responding to a question regarding the accuracy of the report, Elon Musk said “no” in a tweet.

The Tesla boss borrowed USD 13 billion to close the Twitter acquisition in October 2022 from a syndicate of banks including Morgan Stanley and Bank of America Corp.

As per the report, Elon Musk’s team has informed the people familiar with Twitter finances that an equity raise, if successful, could be used to pay down an unsecured portion of the debt that carries the highest interest rate within the USD 13 billion loan package.

According to statistics from a research company, advertising spending on Twitter decreased by 71% in December 2022 as prominent businesses cut their marketing expenditures on the micro-blogging platform after Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s takeover.

The latest data from Standard Media Index (SMI) comes as Twitter works to stop the migration of advertisers. To win back advertisers, it has launched several programs, including some free advertisements, easing a restriction on political advertising, and giving businesses more discretion over the placement of their commercials.

Despite these months often being a time of higher ad expenditure as firms advertise their products over the Christmas and New Year holiday season, according to the SMI data, Twitter ad spending in November 2022 decreased by 55% from 2021.

According to estimates from another research firm Pathmatics, most enterprises had halted spending in November, the same month that Elon Musk restored suspended accounts and offered a paid account verification that led to con artists posing as businesses.

According to Pathmatics estimates, 14 of the top 30 Twitter advertisers suspended all advertising on the service when Elon Musk assumed leadership on October 27, 2022.

Elon Musk addressed the problem of businesses halting advertisements in a Twitter Spaces event in November and said he understands if marketers “want to give it a minute.”

However, he had also accused activist groups of pressing advertisers to stop running ads on the micro-blogging platform around the same period. It’s worth mentioning that about 90% of Twitter’s revenue comes from ad sales.

According to information provided by a top Twitter ad executive at a recent staff meeting, the decline in advertising caused Twitter’s fourth-quarter income to decline by around 35% year over year.

The post Elon Musk explores fundraiser option as Twitter’s financial health goes downhill appeared first on International Finance.

Alex McKelvie has received teaching awards from Syracuse University, the Whitman School of Management, the EEE department, and his former university in Sweden. In 2020, he was named a Justin Longenecker Fellow from USASBE, the highest honor they provide for contributions to support SMEs. He has worked with many entrepreneurial start-ups across the US, Sweden, and other places around the world.

His research deals with questions regarding two main areas: how and why do firms grow and how do entrepreneurs make decisions with an emphasis on factors such as opportunities, dealing with uncertainty, effectuation, failure, and addiction. Alex McKelvie’s research has received a number of major international awards, including the best doctoral dissertation in entrepreneurship from the National Federation of Independent Businesses and multiple awards at leading entrepreneurship conferences. He has also published his work in some of the most influential entrepreneurship journals across the globe.

In his interview with the International Finance Magazine, Alex McKelvie shares his insights about start-ups, entrepreneurship, social media marketing, finding capital for startups, and much more.

Q) Over 43,000 start-up employees have been laid off across the world since April 1st, 2022. What is your take on this situation?

A) This is not particularly surprising, given the turbulence that the world economy has experienced over the last few years and the dynamic nature of start-up employment. There are many start-ups that pushed through the pandemic but have grown tired of the continued and ongoing adjustments. Global supply chain challenges have upended how a venture can maintain quality. Inflation has eroded margins and earnings. Staff shortages have created frustration. Founder and employee fatigue are very serious issues. There are also many start-ups where the employees have decided to pursue other career opportunities, including starting their own businesses. What is often overlooked is the positive side of this is the large number of new start-ups that have been started during this same period and the employees that those start-ups have hired. In many ways, this is a type of churn as many start-ups disappear and are replaced with other potentially more viable or more lucrative start-ups. So, while it may be shocking to see that start-up employees are laid off, this is part of the normal economic process of ‘out with the old, in with the new’ that drives progress and prosperity.

Q) Over 45% of small business entrepreneurs are between the ages of 41 and 56. Is experience a crucial factor for becoming a successful entrepreneur?

A) There is growing appreciation for the role of prior experience, age, and maturity among entrepreneurs. Many of the benefits of such significant experience include having a network of individuals with whom to work, knowledge of customers, suppliers, and how industries function, ability to attract funding (and with potentially personal savings to use), and greater management/leadership experience. Some of the best entrepreneurs started later in life – and broadly speaking, many slightly more experienced individuals appreciate the quality-of-life benefits of being an entrepreneur. Relatively recent research shows that there is a positive effect of age on entrepreneurial “success” – but it’s not necessarily a linear relationship and where “success” means different things as people age. One of the more interesting findings is that the biggest difference seems to be that older females tend to have much more success than younger females.

Q) Many small businesses fail within the first year. What is the reason behind these failures?

A) At the end of the day, small businesses fail because they haven’t figured out how to make the economics of the business work. Now the sources of them not doing that can vary. For many, it’s the obvious thing – a lack of market fit that matches the cost structures and investments of the business. The venture simply isn’t bringing in sufficient revenues or at the appropriate margins to cover all of the costs. That can be a reflection of faulty market research, strong competition, inability to get customers to change their habits, a lack of marketing to build awareness, a lack of buffer capital to survive early struggles, etc. As an entrepreneur, you should be able to identify these issues in advance and devise pathways to mitigate these risks or prevent them from happening. They aren’t particularly surprising causes. For others, it’s a bit different – the organization and team don’t work out. Those can reflect things like not having the right people or skills in place, not having enough of the needed skills, or where founder personalities get in the way. One thing to keep in mind with these “failure” statistics is that it’s more common for an entrepreneur to realize that it’s not working as well as planned and that they have more lucrative alternatives – basically, they can do better for themselves doing something else. And, as a result, they do something else and close up shop. I view that as a positive rather than a failure – they didn’t achieve the performance threshold needed – or didn’t sufficiently enjoy the experience – so they moved to a more viable alternative. That is a smart move by not prolonging an inevitable path toward failure. But closing to pursue another opportunity is sometimes viewed negatively – as a failure – where it’s really a smart move to get out while they can.

Q) In the last two years, many who lost jobs have gone on to become entrepreneurs themselves. How do you see this trend?

A) This is a very normal trend that we have seen for decades. For some, the unfortunate situation they are facing reflects having fewer employment opportunities, thereby essentially pushing them into becoming entrepreneurs. They don’t have many other choices. However, for many, the experience, connections and knowledge of a business and industry make these individuals highly qualified to start their own business. In these cases, the attractive opportunities that they have first-hand knowledge that pulls them into entrepreneurship. Based on this prior knowledge and ability to spot opportunities, these types of entrepreneurs have a higher tendency to start more high-potential businesses.

Q) Finding capital for a start-up is one of the most common challenges an entrepreneur faces. What advice would you give them?

A) I have two pieces of advice as the type of capital available varies greatly and each of those comes with different conditions and constraints. First, determine what you need the money for. Is it to get your first product ready, to invest in physical assets, to hire employees, or to do marketing? Or is it to expand to a new geographic market, scale the venture, launch an additional innovative product, or hit another major growth milestone for the business? Each of these types of funding needs will help govern the financing options that are available to you and the strategies that an entrepreneur might use to attract that type of money. Some of the start-up funding options aren’t the best choices for expansion or growth. Knowing what the money is for is going to impact how you attract the funding that is best for you – and the implications of that funding. That leads to my second piece of advice: know what you want. Funding capital comes at a cost. Equity capital implies ownership. That means having a new boss or a new partner who will have a say in what you do. You are giving up a piece of the business. Are you willing to give up control? Debt capital implies repayment. You maintain control of the business but have other conditions set on you for cash flow and making timely repayments. As a start-up, many of the conditions will not be entirely attractive. The most common source of start-up capital comes from the entrepreneur and his/her family. What can you afford to invest in? Can your family support you? What are your on-going financial needs to help support the business and the rest of the financial responsibilities/obligations for the family? There are some additional sources of capital – grants, crowdfunding, etc. that might be better alternatives, depending on where you are in the level of development of the business. Pursuing those as first options may have fewer ‘strings attached’ than other sources of financing.

Q) Over 40% of entrepreneurs plan to expand or remodel their business in 2022. How important is remodeling when it comes to entrepreneurship?

A) This is actually a very healthy sign! Adjusting to the fast-changing world is a fundamental part of being an entrepreneur and where being in a small venture generally implies working in an environment that is free from the bureaucracy, rules, and organizational politics that tend to undermine efforts to rejuvenate more established ventures. Remodeling – or pivoting – is part of the learning process that all businesses should do but where entrepreneurs tend to have a head start. As a new business, investing in learning and making appropriate adjustments helps in determining market fit as well as ensuring that the new venture’s economic model is sustainable. We know that developing a culture where these types of adjustments are “the norm” also helps to set a trajectory of innovation for the future. Failure to make appropriate adjustments is one of the main reasons why ventures fall behind competitors and even fail.

Q) There has been a huge increase in the number of people taking up entrepreneurship now compared to what it was a decade back. How did this boom happen?

A) This is a trend that has luckily been ongoing for even longer than that, although with some ups and downs over time and with differences across countries. There are a few reasons why this is taking place. First, people are interested in pursuing their passions and their own ideas. They find it more motivating to work for themselves doing what they love rather than doing it on behalf of someone else. This has become even more visible during the pandemic when people began more fully questioning their priorities and desires. Some had FOMO – fear of missing out – and decided that starting their own business was a more desirable pursuit than a corporate or government job. Second, we have new and more accepted models for working. This includes hybrid models where people have cobbled together a “regular” job and a new venture on the side, and where there is an increase in independent contractor type work that allows individuals to be entrepreneurs but almost under the structure of a more established business. Think companies such as Uber, Grubhub, and others that rely on entrepreneurs acting on their own but in support of a corporation. Third, it’s increasingly accepted in society to be an entrepreneur – and in many cases viewed as a desirable and respected employment situation. Governments are supporting these efforts in different ways and with different citizens in mind. Think of the Vision 2030 efforts in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for instance and the greater emphasis on self-employment among Saudi men and women. Those types of efforts have been backed up with training, support, and even access to financing. Combined with the more extreme outcomes such as the rise of unicorn ventures with seemingly endless funding to those elite few, we can summarize these efforts as now being highly attractive to become an entrepreneur.

Q) Is it important to have a Bachelor’s Degree in business to become a successful entrepreneur?

A) I will state that having an education is highly correlated with success among entrepreneurs. Having a degree is not a panacea, however, and there are many high-profile exceptions to that general statistical linkage. However, decades of research have shown that having a higher education is statistically linked to founding more financially successful businesses and avoiding failures. The arguments put forward to why that usually emphasize the ability to evaluate more lucrative business ideas, the ability to attract funding, ability to successfully manage many of the key parts of running a business such as contracts and having a network, among others. One important factor is also that those with Bachelor’s degrees tend to have multiple career options so deciding to be an entrepreneur is usually based on having a potentially attractive opportunity to pursue – or at least more attractive than their current employment situation.

Q) Food and restaurant business are considered the most popular industries for entrepreneurship. What is your take on it?

A) The reason for this is quite simple: the barriers to entry in these industries are low and aspiring entrepreneurs seemingly have the highest prior knowledge (and confidence) in these areas. Everyone seems to have a “better idea” for a restaurant or food – people use these every day and so seemingly think they have a high level of competence to be an entrepreneur in this area. You can also add gyms or fitness firms to this list as well. The downside of these low barriers to entry and high (perceived) prior knowledge is, of course, this is where the largest number of start-up failures also exists. Profit margins are limited, competition is fierce, customers are finicky, and in many cases – especially for restaurants – there are significant start-up costs that aren’t overcome in time. And, more recently, we can add staff shortages and food supply chain issues to this list. Basically, the high costs of starting up, such as getting new kitchen equipment, designing the dining area to build the right ambiance, etc. end up being a significant investment. These fixed costs need to be balanced with sufficiently high margins, recurring revenue streams, and loyal customers – while also dealing with the ongoing business operations such as staffing, quality menus, getting the right ingredients, credit card payments/fees, securing appropriate licenses, and insurance, among other issues.

Q) The biggest challenge for small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs is the lack of cash flow. How can they overcome it?

A) Managing cash flow is a complicated question as having enough cash is a reflection of a number of issues. For instance, does the firm have enough start-up cash? Entrepreneurs can be smart with managing upfront costs by bootstrapping and making decisions to lease rather than buy, borrow or lend rather than lease, and pay founders in equity rather than cash. There are also the ongoing operations of the business. Answers to how they manage those cash issues might be different than those of ongoing operations. For those types of issues, factors like pricing and customer acquisition come in. Are they a sufficiently high price to cover the variable costs? Is there a sufficiently high margin to cover the fixed costs? Are there recurring revenue streams – like subscriptions or loyalty programs – to keep customers coming back? And there are even money management issues that can help address cash flow challenges. Can they use credit and in good conditions (like 90 days with no interest) to buy supplies but be paid in cash when they make sales? Do they need to offer cash discounts to ensure they receive cash payments on time? What is their banking relationship like – do they have a line of credit to help offset the ups and downs of business? Hiring a good accountant or someone with the strong financial savvy to work with the entrepreneur is highly likely to be worth its while to help avoid some fundamental issues that entrepreneurs typically face.

Q) Majority of companies actively invest in social media marketing. How has social media marketing helped start-ups and young entrepreneurs?

A) There are so many ways that social media marketing has been effective for start-ups. One of the most important ones is presence – it has allowed relatively unknown businesses to be seen and have a voice in the world. Many of the tools that allow start-ups to really reach their target market have made this even easier to do – they can pay to get in front of a more well-defined group of individuals. And these individuals are more welcoming to this type of marketing – they have basically signaled via their ‘likes’, ‘follows’ and other connections showing what they are interested in. Social media marketing, in this way, helps entrepreneurs stand out from a lot of the mass marketing that takes place by larger businesses that tend to focus on broader audience segments and high-visibility media. One of the other important areas is connection. Social media marketing can be especially effective for start-ups that invest in building relationships with their customers. They have the opportunity to build a community – basically a group of highly supportive customers – to help maintain contact. This helps with loyalty, returning customers, and even getting feedback on new ideas. I would, in some ways, describe social media marketing as one of the better ‘equalizers’ for new businesses and where they can be smart with their potentially constrained limited marketing budgets.

Q) What would you like to tell a 22-year-old youngster who wants to get into entrepreneurship?

A) My advice would be simple: do it. But to maximize success, think about three things. First, know what kind of entrepreneur you want to be. Do you want this as a hobby business or a side hustle? Do you want to have a traditional small business? Or do you want to have a high-growth, unicorn type of business? Each of these has a different set of risks, resource needs, expectations, strategies, and paths that you will follow. So, determining that will help chart your course ahead. Second, how much demand is there for your business? Can you prove that there is a need to be addressed and a customer problem that needs to be solved? How do you know this? Have you spoken to customers? Showing unmet needs or demands is the most fundamental question that an entrepreneur will need to answer, especially a young entrepreneur. Without an answer to that, the remaining questions – such as how you will solve that problem or address demand and the skills/resources needed to do so – will be moot. Third, how much can you afford to lose? There may be opportunities to try out the solution in a relatively inexpensive manner to test whether this is worthwhile. Or there may be a way to act as a hybrid entrepreneur – keeping your day job – as you work through things. Or work in another start-up to gain capital. I mention this as I have seen the long-term financial implications – ruined credit, exhausted savings, hurt family relationships, etc. that come from going in too soon without determining how to manage costs and potential losses. Consequently, thinking about the costs and affordable loss may lead to a smarter pathway to determine the best entrepreneurial process moving forward.

The post Some of the best entrepreneurs started later in life: Alex McKelvie appeared first on International Finance.

As a fallout of the restrictions introduced during the pandemic, there has been an unprecedented proliferation of online services across industries. But even after the peak crisis was dealt with, life as we knew it could not be brought back to normal instantly.

The airspace remains closed and many areas were subjected to lockdowns. People were deprived of regular medical check-ups and specialist consultations. The restrictions imposed as part of the lockdown had caused mental hardships and posed a thorn to general wellbeing. This was an opportunity for setting up remote infrastructure for health care and patient consultations.

Telemedicine, as we know it today in the wider world until this point, was a niche textbook possibility in Kuwait without any existing player. All of a sudden there was a need for a hard pivot overnight to ensure safe interaction of doctors and patients and stop them from falling prey to the rising infections.

Dr. Yasmin Abdulghafour, Chief Operating Officer of Central Circle, the largest medical distribution company in Kuwait, saw this challenge as an opportunity.

She and her four colleagues set on their sails to set up the first virtual healthcare facility ‘MSHFA’ (available as a mobile app) in Kuwait that would provide virtual consultations, and investigations and also work as an online pharmacy during the peak of the pandemic.

With this goal in mind, the hunt for a practical solution led to numerous meetings with web developers. The changing nature of the pandemic in the form of different variants dominating the infection cycle made the challenge harder than earlier perceived.

But the team led by Dr. Yasmin remained adamant in the face of adversity to ensure that the MSHFA platform sees the light of the day. Dr. Yasmin’s idea was to give access to the best medical care to patients from the comfort of their homes. This was the key thought behind the platform.

Through the app, users can schedule consultations with and receive evidence-based guidance from qualified practitioners in Family Medicine, Behavioural Health, Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Internal Medicine, Paediatrics, General Surgery, Neurology, Dermatology, Ophthalmology, ENT, Dentistry, Nutrition, Rehabilitation, and many others. Other than this, they can also seek lab testing appointments and delivery of medicines to the doorstep.

The company does not want to make its mark as not only one of the first movers in the segment that offers these novel services, but it also intends to have a lasting impact on the health outcomes of the population it serves.

“The goal is to provide pioneering medical services which can reflect greatly on the health outcomes of the population we serve. The idea is to allow everyone access to exceptional medical professionals, ensuring early diagnosis, management, and preventive care,” says Dr. Yasmin.

She adds, “MSHFA represents the next generation healthcare industry business model, which is an example of a platform-like business where value is created through the interaction between independent stakeholders, like leading e-commerce businesses such as Facebook, Uber, or Ali Baba, but in the healthcare market.”

While online facilities have been the prime focus, the company did not fully stop its physical services wherever it was possible. MSHFA established clinics as work on the software platform was ongoing. While online services remain a focus, the company wants to establish a firm ground among the public.

In the coming days, MSHFA will launch more physical clinics in Kuwait and neighbouring Gulf countries while ramping up its online presence at the same time.

A void to fill
Market research initiated by the shareholders of Central Circle found that the existing national and regional healthcare systems did not meet the rising demand for chronic disease management, mental healthcare services, and medication reconciliation. The study found that while the value of the global telemedicine market was estimated to be $40 billion, the market in Kuwait and adjoining countries were not yet developed to adequate levels.

According to industry analysts, the telemedicine industry was valued at approximately USD 38,289 million globally in 2020, and it is expected to witness a revenue of USD 168,396 million in 2026, with a CAGR of 28% over the forecast period 2021-2026.

This is the void that MSHFA is keen on filling under Dr. Yasmin’s stewardship. In the short term, the company wants to focus on Kuwait and gradually build a presence in the adjoining regions of the Middle East and North Africa.

MSHFA feels due to certain demographic factors, the region will be an ideal springboard for the budding enterprise. The MENA, especially the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, have an aging population and are suffering from a high burden of chronic illnesses. At the same time, there is a dearth in the quality and quantity when it comes to the presence of health care facilities. This imbalance in the demand and supply leaves ample opportunity for innovative, technology-based solutions to positively contribute to the betterment of the entire landscape. MSHFA aspires to be a value-based healthcare delivery organization, promoting efficiency, and effectiveness.

Privacy in focus
Dr. Yasmin describes the platform as an innovative product in the regional telemedicine market which can improve access to essential high-quality healthcare services at affordable costs. MSHFA is poised to bridge the existing gap in the field of healthcare, particularly for those from the weaker economic sections vulnerable individuals who are unable to access medicine due to various barriers.

While MSHFA prioritizes giving its users the best possible healthcare facilities, there are no lacunas in the platform about cyber security. But the team at MSHFA is committed to giving health care service the same importance as it does to the privacy of its users.

In a short time in the market, MSHFA has established itself as a unique, innovative, telemedicine delivery platform where various stakeholders can interact and exchange services safely and effectively without any privacy scares.

Being a remote-first entity, MSHFA wants to expand itself as a global player and soon it wants to cater to patients around the globe and not limited to MENA.

MSHFA operates with the philosophy of its CEO which is that healthcare being a fundamental human right is the prime pillar of any community. Given that any member of the community is equally vulnerable to illness, disease, and accidents, adequate healthcare and management are critical for the long-term health of society. This, in turn, will also contribute to a stable economy.

Dr. Yasmin’s early career
Before donning a corporate hat and becoming the first woman to do so, Dr. Yasmin was part of the public health system of Kuwait under the Ministry of Health. Her experience in the public sector helped the company assist the government with the distribution of PPE, COVID-19 tests, and oxygen supplies during the peak of the second wave.

She has two decades of experience as a family physician after she completed her Bachelors of Medicine & Surgery in 2000 and found her place in the board of family medicine in 2008, with an appointment as a member of the UK’s Royal College of General Practitioners. She recently finished her Master’s in Healthcare Administration in 2020.

At the start of her career, she was involved with the working of Kuwait’s Ministry of Health and work on public healthcare initiatives right from the start. She understood the importance of policy.

During her career at the government, she functioned as Director of International Health Relations, which dabbled in health diplomacy and liaising with external departments like the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to facilitate dialogue between domestic and international companies and promote excellence in the sector.

Later in the health ministry, she also worked in conjunction with the World Health Organization during her tenure at the Directorate of Planning and Follow Up assigned with the task of reforming the health care set up in Kuwait. It was during her role in this capacity, that she realized that technology was not well incorporated into medicine within the GCC, not to the extent that could revolutionize medicine.

It was in her role at the helm of Central Circle, that she found the gaps in the market which were more prominent in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. She found that accessing medical services became both dangerous and difficult. This also triggered her mind to explore the concept of home-based medical solutions and she decided to initiate and develop the idea of the first virtual healthcare facility, within the State of Kuwait.

Even before the onset of the pandemic, she came to know about various advancements in the international healthcare equipment market and the advent of emerging technologies in the pharmaceutical and medical technology sector. She developed a special interest in leveraging technology to advance the cause of healthcare and felt that there was much more needed to be done to ensure that the medical industry adopts and embraces technology like other industries.

As MSHFA continues on its growth path, International Finance Magazine sat down for an exclusive interview with Dr. Yasmin, where she talks more about the company, herself, and her thoughts behind steering the change in the healthcare space.

Q. You have been a practicing doctor, then an administrator, and now an entrepreneur. How does all of this align?
I had a keen interest in medicine from childhood. The ability to treat a person and cure specific ailments is what triggered my passion for medicine. I was also an academically inclined child, with a natural competitive edge and flair. So, medicine seemed a natural career path.
Today medicine is advancing at unimaginable speed. The incorporation of information technology, especially artificial intelligence, interests me the most. This hybrid model of medicine fascinates me. So, my roles over the years may seem incoherent, they are all part of the same arc.

Q. You started your career in the public sector. What prompted you to shift?
I was contacted by Central Circle Company, the largest distributor of medical equipment and medicine, within Kuwait as they headhunted me for the role of Chief Operating Officer. I was apprehensive about taking up the assignment, but the prospect of learning new skills, managing a team, investing in people, and the State of Kuwait encouraged me to apply. Additionally, the appointment was one that few women had been offered.

Q. Was there anything in particular that you were looking forward to?
I was fortunate to be one of the first few female COOs in Kuwait who was asked to lend expertise and assist in implementing change. The company was keen to tidy up its operations and invest in its existing and future staff. I was apprehensive at taking the opportunity, but the prospect of learning new skills, managing a team, investing in people, and the State of Kuwait encouraged me to apply. Additionally, the appointment was one that few women had been offered, I was, therefore, keen to avail myself of this opportunity.

Additionally, I was keen to experience the other end of the spectrum i.e. logistics, supply, partner relationships, distribution, and the overall management.

Whilst working in the public sector, I developed my knowledge of policy and procedures so, naturally, the quest for further insight triggered the jump.

Additionally, healthcare technology was an area of significant interest. I observed that technology was not well incorporated in medicine within the GCC, not to the extent that could revolutionize medicine. So, my fascination with artificial intelligence, public sector exposure, and the opportunity to work as a COO presented a perfect progression.

Q. What has been the highlight of your career so far?
My tenure at Central Circle was intense, particularly as COVID-19 began during my first few months after accepting the appointment. People were afraid of something that they were unable to comprehend. At the start of Covid19, testing kits, rapid and PCR tests, and PPT equipment became invaluable to prevent and protect against the spread of the virus.

I was fortunate to have access to a huge team who worked with me to facilitate the distribution of such medical equipment during the height of the first wave. It was a challenging time, although, it was a unique opportunity to do something different. I worked with several internal departments and the main objective was to distribute mass testing kits within Kuwait. I headed the logistics efforts. We fought to get rapid testing kits into Kuwait — an effort that made a significant difference in early diagnosis. To date, this has been one of my career highlights. Collaborative efforts and teamwork can build an effort that is resilient and life-changing. Making sure that all medical supplies reached hospitals promptly.

Q. What was the exact pain point that triggered the idea behind MSHFA?
While working at Central Circle Company, I found a gap in the market, COVID-19 made accessing medical services both dangerous and difficult. The concept of home-based medical solutions was sparked and I decided to initiate and develop the idea of the first virtual healthcare facility, within Kuwait, and MSHFA was born. Working for CCC exposed me to various international healthcare equipment, pharmaceutical, and technology companies. I had a special interest in technology and healthcare and felt that the healthcare sector is always shy to integrate technology, unlike other sectors.

Q. How do you envision the identity of the company?
MSHFA is an innovative product in the regional telemedicine market that can improve access to the needed high-quality healthcare services at affordable rates. MSHFA will bridge the gap in healthcare, particularly to vulnerable individuals who are unable to access medicine due to various barriers. While it will make healthcare more affordable, the MSHFA platform provides the highest levels of cybersecurity for its users and will guarantee confidentiality for them coupled with medical excellence without compromise.

Q. What is the post-pandemic focus for the company in the short and medium term?
In the next 5 years, MSHFA will expand its services into the GCC. Our primary vision and purpose are to make sure that medical professionals are accessible to all and also to promote virtual healthcare, whilst ensuring that the advice and services offered are truly exceptional. Our goal is to remain pioneers in the medical sector, whilst upholding medical excellence.

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We know very little about the correlation between personality traits and financial success. There is no shortage of popular “how to get rich (quick)” books, but hardly any academic studies have been published on the subject. I wanted to get the ball rolling with this book and hope that it will inspire further research into this topic. Academics have carried out extensive research into poverty, but we know so little about the rich and their personalities. I had the opportunity to speak openly and at length with 45 ultra-high- net-worth individuals. They also completed a psychological test. This research led to my book, The Wealth Elite (http://the-wealth-elite.com/.) Incidentally, the book has been particularly successful in China, where people are very interested in the topic of wealth. In fact, I just came back from a promotional tour of five, major Chinese cities.

What is the one compelling trait seen across the wealth elite that you’ve profiled? Please shed some light on the same.

There is no SINGLE personality trait that all members of the wealth elite, without exception, have in common. Even the rich and the super-rich are different, in the same way that not all people at the other end of the social spectrum are the same. There are, however, some patterns among the rich that do repeat themselves and I would like to mention just three of them here: The rich and the super-rich are so wealthy because they have acted completely differently from most other people. They acted differently because they thought differently. They don’t have the slightest problem with swimming against the current of majority opinion, and many of them even enjoy doing so – they are nonconformists.

A second point: They deal with defeats and setbacks differently than most people. Most people tend to claim the credit for their successes and blame others for their failures: competitors, society, the market, etc. This is not the case at all among the wealthy people I spoke to – they accept all of the blame for their defeats, failures and setbacks. And that gives them a feeling of power.

A third point: Most of them are excellent salespeople. I don’t just mean sales in a narrower sense, i.e. selling products. As one of my interviewees put it: Everything is sales. Many of them gained experience in sales or as entrepreneurs while they were still relatively young. It was these implicit learning experiences that formed the basis of their implicit knowledge – in everyday language we often speak of ‘gut feeling’ or intuition. And this is a key characteristic of people who are extremely successful financially.

How do these wealthy people approach wealth building? How is it different from those who work regular jobs and make a fixed income?

Almost all the super-rich have built their fortunes as entrepreneurs or investors. This is not only true for the people I spoke to, you just have to take a look at any list of billionaires and multi-millionaires, e.g. the Forbes 400 list. Almost everyone on the list is an entrepreneur, and if they are not entrepreneurs themselves, they inherited their companies from their fathers, who were. There are very few employees – CEOs of large companies – who earn millions every year. We talk a lot about these CEOs because they are the subject of intense public attention. But that’s a small minority of the rich and super-rich. There are also very, very few people who have become rich through stock market investments.

If you want to become rich, you have to be a successful entrepreneur. And to be a successful entrepreneur, you have to have certain personality traits. That is what my book is all about.

Largely, how do the uhnwi get there and more importantly, stay there?

It is important to distinguish between how someone got rich and how they stay rich. Most of the super-rich people I spoke with were very willing to take risks. This is usually a prerequisite for building wealth. Mostly, however, they significantly reduced their risk profiles as they got older, when they were already rich. In my opinion, this is an important factor in staying rich.

What is it really like to be an uhnwi? Generally speaking, how is their life on an everyday basis?

Work, a lot of work. None of the people I spoke to NEED to work. They all have so much money that they could easily sit back, relax and live quite comfortably. They are all financially independent, which means they never actually have to work again in their lives. But they all work very, very hard, even the UHNWIs who are over 60 or 70 years old. The media often paint a very one-sided picture: You see the rich living ostentatiously, drinking champagne, lounging around on yachts, driving expensive cars, etc. TV and magazines need such pictures. Otherwise, it would be pretty boring to show the rich in their offices at work. But that’s the reality.

What according to you, is the biggest fear uhnwis face? How do they cope?

Some of the UHNWIs I interviewed told me that they are afraid of losing it all and slipping into poverty. It reminded me of an interview with a bodybuilder who had 120 kilograms of muscle mass and was afraid of wasting away. That’s certainly not rational, but it does play a role for some people. Some also worry about political developments, because history shows us that the rich have always been the victims of the politics of envy, which has either been aimed at stripping them of their wealth completely (i.e.confiscated) or to a large extent (through excessive taxes).

It appears that these people get more done in a regular working day than others —what kind of unique advantages do they have and how do they manage time?

They are masters of efficiency. The key to wealth is not to work hard, but to work efficiently. And that means above all: delegation, delegation, delegation. The rich understand that each task consists of two components: The first component requires experience, knowledge, contacts and creativity. The second component is all about routine work. High added value can only be  achieved with the first component. Unlike most other people, rich people are masters at breaking down all processes into these two parts. They do the things that depend on experience, knowledge, contacts and creativity themselves. Everything else they delegate to others.

Is money the sole motivation for rich people? Is there something more they seek?

Money is not an end in and of itself. In order to better understand the motives of my interviewees, I asked them what money actually means to them. They associate money with very different advantages in their lives. The motive of “being able to afford the finer things in life” (i.e. expensive cars, houses or travel) played a role for some, whereas others were not interested in luxuries in the slightest. On this subject, my interviewees were very different. There was only one motive on which everyone agreed: they associate money with freedom and independence. They are almost unanimous in associating wealth with freedom. In fact, no other motive was rated as highly.

How are these people influencing communities and impacting world economies?

As I have already mentioned, mos tof the super-rich built their fortunes as entrepreneurs. Their companies naturally influence the lives of all of us. After all, as consumers, we have all made them rich. You build wealth primarily as an entrepreneur, and as an entrepreneur you become rich when you develop products that other people want and need. One of the UHNWIs I spoke to is worth about five billion euros. He became rich because he made more out of milk than others before him. He developed new dairy products, such as yoghurts, and transformed a small company with four employees into one with over 20,000 employees. Yoghurt buyers made him rich, in the same way as Jeff Bezos’ wealth is the result of people buying everything under the sun from Amazon.

The post How the rich become rich, and stay rich – the real story appeared first on International Finance.

Italy prides itself on a grand caffeine-induced history and is still remembered for archaic cafes. In the 16th century, Venice was marked as one of the first European ports in coffee bean imports and two centuries later, Italians met in the northern part of the country Turin to distinctively create coffee shops.

According to a coffee historian from the University of Hertfordshire Jonathan Morris as reported on Quartz Media, Italy’s celebrated coffee culture is owed to Milanese inventor Luigi Bezzera. In early 1900s, Bezzera conceived the recipe for espresso: by pouring pressured water onto a handful of ground coffee to produce a dense drink in the size of shooters. The name is derived from the preparation which is super quick.

Morris in his essay: A History of Espresso in Italy and the World fathoms how Italians took their coffee at home made from an electric coffee maker called moka pot engineered in 1933—and is now of great significance in Italy.

In 1983, espresso was willed into America by Howard Schultz during his first business trip to Milan, where the curious tale of Starbucks began. After exploring the espresso bars in the city “I started realising that this is a third place between home and work. But the beverage was the draw,” Schultz said. After all, espresso is a fancy among the high-class Americans with so-called tasteful palate.

Italy’s unspoken love for coffee and taste for quality is their culture, and soon became the Starbucks formula, which hugely altered the American coffee business that stirred “the feeling of uneasiness” in Italians like novelist Italo Calvino in 1959, who spent six months in the US and discovered an absurd rising trend in New York City.

This speaks of Schultz’s ingenuity. In fact, it’s compelling to know how Starbucks plans to sell its Italian-inspired American version of lattes and espressos’ in Milan for its first foray—where the original was made. “Now we’re going to try, with great humility and respect, to share what we’ve been doing and what we’ve learned through our first retail presence in Italy,” said Schultz.

The Starbucks coffee houses as we know today enjoy stardom in most parts of the world. They have been treated as the epitome of sophistication and high-quality taste. Yet. Italians dislike American-style coffee. This is because the country’s fresh attempts to recreate variants of Italian espresso and other beverages, is usually what the Italians consider dull and boring.

A regular at Caffè Talmone in Turin after moving to New York was disappointed by the marketing techniques the Americans drew to sell espresso. “You must choose from a long menu, in which every coffee is accompanied by its ingredients and sometimes a few historical notes,” he wrote. “‘Roman Espresso’: Italian coffee served in a glass with a lemon slice. ‘Caffè Borgia’: Italian coffee and milk foam covered in imported grated chocolate. ‘Cappuccino’: a preparation of hot milk and cinnamon is added to the espresso.”

So, the question is—can Starbucks really match the original beverages in taste and quality as other local coffee bars serve in Milan?

Starbucks has chosen a primitive structure on one of Milan’s grandiose squares. The company has zeroed in on a high-end address—former post office in Piazza Cordusio, near the Duomo, reported The Guardian. And it’s only a matter of time before critics jot reviews for or against the American chain.

For now, the American coffee bars pale in comparison to the ones in Italy hugely romanticised with artists, writers, readers, musicians, professors and others, who enliven the place through exchange of performances and conversations. In contrast, the Americans have sped up the make of espresso beyond necessity—where people dispose mannerisms true to the drink and not so eager to spend time at the cafe—as it should be.

There are plenty of reasons that might roughten chances for Starbucks in the face of its Milan peers. First: The price range is different in New York and Italy. In New York, the average cost for an espresso varies between $2 to $3 while the price of an espresso in Italy is between 78 cents to $1.23.

Second: the challenge for Starbucks is to reinvent Italy’s cafe culture. Back in 1960, referring to the New York cafes, an Italian regular wrote: “It seems to me that no mental task is more complex than erasing any memory of what Italy is, like these guys do.

“And then inventing an unreal Italy, which corresponds to what Americans expect it to be.”

Starbucks would have to compete with other bars on Piazza Cordusio serving coffee beverages for years on end. But the bright side of the Milan foray is—the coffee bar can serve contemporary Italians…American signature flavours that is new and enriching.

On a more welcoming note, Paolo Nadalet, the president of the Italian Espresso National Institute, said: “We are really happy that a large company like Starbucks is coming to Italy, because we think that the coffee it serves is not like an Italian espresso but is still coffee that tastes good.

“And Milan is the right place to start: it’s close to fashion and other Italian ways of living, and for us, coffee is a way to live. Starbucks is doing its own job with its own philosophy, but it’s still very close to our culture in ensuring that its consumers have good coffee in their cups.

“Big chains are using our coffee machines worldwide, so this could be a big moment for the Italian market. Foreign companies want to open in Italy and we have to let them.”

Source: Useless Daily

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Anne Mulcahy once confessed the description stems from the fact that she was never conditioned to be the boss of Xerox Corp.

So starting in 1976 and two decades later, it was Mulcahy’s first senior job at Xerox as Vice-President of HR and then, she became the Chief of Staff for former CEO Paul Allaire. At the time, many including Mulcahy did not foresee her window of opportunity with Xerox to transcend boundaries for both: the company and her career spanning the male-dominated corporate force.

Her relentless efforts and sharp organisational skills was in the spotlight, but they did not document the profound experience of a CEO. Of course, most CEOs carry inherent leadership traits. Many of them have a vision. But are they all capable of reviving a debt-heavy company, like Xerox?—Anne Mulcahy was.

In early 2000, Xerox’s poor growth was seeking a positive turnaround. The company’s stock slashed from US$63.69 to US$4.43, prompting some of the brightest minds to quit. The following year, Xerox struck a US$17bn debt for the sixth year in a row. Its previous sales plan was a hard fail and the Mexico unit was under Securities and Exchange Commission investigation, unzipping an unconventional leadership change in the century-old company history: to name Anne Mulcahy as the first woman CEO.

Everything about Mulcahy was unorthodox. She was not the typical MBA graduate the world would second-guess. Mulcahy studied English from Marymount college and devoted 16 years of her work experience in the company sales—not the sort of resume that Wall Street would confide in to reform a tanked corporate giant.

After investing 24 years in the company, her working relationship with Xerox was deep and familiar. For a long time, Mulcahy contemplated on leaving the company to spend quality time with her children. But a chain of events compelled her to stay.

Her predecessor Paul Allaire, who spent 33 years in the company retired as CEO in 2001. In a few months since Allaire, Mulcahy became the President and the CEO-in-waiting. And she was forced to encounter Wall Street’s hard-hitting questions. The chance to encourage IBM CFO Rick Thomson to succeed Allaire seemed more like a responsible choice for columnists of daily news journals to flash a more powerful morning headline. Afterall, Wall Street loved him.

Anyway, in the same year the fated meeting that determined her leadership role took place in the presence of her family, top chief executives, auditors and a few significant others. Mulcahy’s husband Joseph Mulcahy was there accompanied by their two boys in blue blazers, who eagerly awaited to watch their mother create a rewarding moment for them all. During the day, some retirees asked her questions, but nobody evoked an unpleasant boardroom scenario. And in August she was formally announced the CEO of Xerox and chairman in January 2002.

There was nobody more surprised than Mulcahy herself. To this day, her tenure in Xerox inspires many women leaders on the global business front. At the event series View from the Top, 2004-05, recalling her first instinct “I took on this position feeling equal parts of excitement and dread,” she exclaimed.

Director of Corporate Finance Analysis Joe Mancini Jr. recalls his time with Mulcahy, when he assisted her through the company’s US$30bn balance sheet, and talked about debt structure, taxes and currency moves. All of this was done to help her understand the company mired in great financial shock. Mulcahy says, “It was an unusual situation for him—tutoring the CEO.”

In an interview with Discover Your True North, she narrates how the Xerox crisis stoked confusion and anxiety in her: “…it felt like being on the deck of the Titanic. It was a true crisis. To make it worse, my background was not in finances, or even in R&D. I was a salesperson first, and then worked my way into an executive role, but when it came to a crisis of this nature I really needed help.”

After a string of fiscal crisis, Xerox was blanketed in bankruptcy, and was advised to appeal for legal immunity from creditors, but Mulcahy opposed the idea. There was very little hope to bring back its financial stability, let alone firming up its global presence in the long run. In what would quickly become a disaster, she formulated a sensible direction and executed it perfectly.

Undeterred, Mulcahy led discussions with more than 100 top executives to assess their capabilities. “When there are no logical reasons to stay, it’s good to have some illogical ones” she says. “Reasons like ‘I can’t abandon the ship’ or ‘If I left now, what would my team think?’” Before she could reach the finish line, Xerox stock fell to a historic low of US$4.30.

Years later, no one could believe Mulcahy made it. She became the cure not only to end the financial trouble, but also to ignite a new beginning. Xerox, in three years reached US$91mn earnings from loss of US$273mn in 2000. By 2004, the company sales profit climbed US$859mn, and its stocks rose to 75% recovering from a loss of six percent for the Dow Jones Total Stock Market Index, as put in The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania report.

But in this mission Mulcahy was not alone. Another Xerox loyalist, Ursula Burns, the then senior vice-president of corporate strategic services, who started her career with Xerox in 1980 as an intern got roped into the situation to neutralise its complexities. Together, Mulcahy and Burns found themselves waist-deep in the company’s financial dispute.

Picking up on this kind of a catastrophe, Mulcahy spoke to bankers, re-assured customers and informed employees. As Burns remembers, Mulcahy travelled three cities in a day to level the situation. She said, Mulcahy was perseverent: “‘If this place is going to fail, it’s not going to be because Anne Mulcahy slept.’”

Her long-term vision for growth plan squeezed the essence of a true strategist. She prioritised 30% cost cutting, stressed on productivity increase every year, swiftly settled the company’s SEC litigation and emphasized on heavy R&D funding, according to the book Strategic Management.

Mulcahy’s loyal leadership was hard to ignore, especially in a company known for its traditional management. Once, a company CEO’s over-enthusiastic suggestion to rework the culture, angered Mulcahy: “I am the culture. If I can’t figure out how to bring the culture with me, I’m the wrong person for the job,” she replied.

Always straightforward and logical, Mulcahy had the courage to debate on Wall Street’s narrow views. Many CEOs will agree to disagree on her comments. The tension from Wall Street is ‘a huge problem’ that may disable companies in the future, she said in reference to its next quarter’s report: “I talk with a lot of CEOs, and quietly to each other. ‘I’d love to say that I just don’t care and I’m just focused on the long term, but the pressure is extraordinary,’ I hope the next generation of leaders can reshape the way we interact with the financial community.”

As Burns recalls, Mulcahy’s realistic thinking and kind gestures appealed to all employees. For example: she taught them to “save each dollar as if it were your own,”—and finally, there she stood as one of America’s top business leaders, disproving The Wall Street Journal.

“You have to live the mission…love what you do”

Strap: Reflecting how the years in Xerox made Anne Mulcahy an unforgettable CEO

• 1976: Sales Representative

• 1992-1995: Vice-President for Human Resources

• 1997: Chief Staff Officer

• 1998: Corporate Senior Vice-President

• 2001: Chief Executive Officer

• 2002: Chairwoman

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