Why I’m Joining the Board of TechWolf

I’m pleased to announce that I’ve joined the board of Techwolf, a Belgian HR tech company backed by a slew of top venture capital investors including Harry Stebbings’ 20VC, Future of Work boutique Acadian Ventures, vertically-focused SemperVirens, and European-focused Felix Capital, Notion, and Stride.vc.  They also have world-class strategic investors including SAP, ServiceNow, and Workday.

I love when a process works.  This started with an introduction from a trusted friend and category expert, Thomas Otter.  I met with the founders now and again over the years, via the odd Zoom or a coffee on California Avenue when they were in town.  I like this go-slow approach because you get to know the team and the company.  You watch them grow.  You stay in touch.  And then one day an opportunity to work together more formally appears.

Now, let’s talk about what I like about Techwolf:

• The founders, Andreas, Jeroen, and Mikaël.  Independent directors (known in Europe as non-executive directors) are more about coaching than governance.  Thus, you need great chemistry with the founders.  Your skills need to complement theirs.  And they have to want to learn from you. 
• The story.  Three computer scientists meet in college, win a hackathon together, found a company for recruiting, realize it doesn’t work, then pivot to a successful strategy around skills management.  C’mon.  Goosebumps.  I love every element of it.
• The space.  The skills-based organization is a powerful and transformative vision for the future of work.  It’s one that takes technology to implement.  And it’s a great use-case for AI, starting with the problem of building an inventory of skills for the people you have already — before hiring hundreds or thousands of new ones.  It’s a win/win vision because it means companies can do more with less all while providing employees with better growth paths and more stimulating work
• The validation.  More than my opinion, I was impressed that experts like Jason Corsello (former head of corpdev at Cornerstone), Thomas Otter (former head of product at SuccessFactors, and former Gartner RVP covering the space), and Andy Leaver (former head of EMEA at Workday) all seemed to love the idea, too.  Not to mention the implied endorsements of SAP, ServiceNow, and Workday.
• The data-centric approach.  Rather than building a classic app that simply links a UI to a database (and leaves the heavy lifting to someone else), the founders cut straight to heart of the problem.  Skills data is a data problem.  And the best data doesn’t live in HR systems; it lives in operational systems and external data sources.  Solve that and the rest is somewhat trivial by comparison.
• The timing.  I believe this company is in precisely the right place at exactly the right time.  The skills-based organization is a white hot trend in HR and you need technology like TechWolf’s to realize it.
• The board and investors.  They’ve built a great team here to support them on their mission.  And raised over $55M to pursue it.
• The fit.  Ever since I moved to Paris to work at Business Objects, I’ve been working with European companies on growth strategies and US expansion.  Thanks to my operating experience in Europe, my board experience at companies like Nuxeo, and my EIR work at Balderton, I feel pretty qualified to help with this sometimes thorny problem.

Thanks to Thomas for introducing us, and thanks to Andreas, Jeroen, and Mikaël, for welcoming me onto the team. 

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