Lessons learnt from Meg Whitman

I recently heard a 52 minute online speech of Meg Whitman (eBay) at Stanford GSB on May 23, 2006 and this is what Ms. Whitman had to say…truly inspiring!

1. If you have to go global, go soon & go fassssst!

2. eBay thought normal ordinary people to do business in an auction format.

3. PayPal becoming the wallet of eBay & its vision of being the world’s online payment standard! Skype’s acquisition – WOW!

4. Common theme across eBay – “Expanding their vision, Expanding their market & Expanding their opportunity

5. There is more of e-commerce that takes place today OFF eBay than ON eBay.

6. Lessons learnt:
a) USER EXPERIENCE IS EVERYTHING (it all begins & ends with the quality of user experience. Period.)
b) Art of Strategy = Art of Exclusion i.e. what NOT TO do rather than what TO DO!
c) Anticipate change ALWAYS. The price of INACTION is far greater than the cost of a mistake. Inaction is sometimes a STRATEGY!
d) Mistakes are OK. Just fix them FAST.
e) Build a gr8 team and be fun to work with.
f) NEVER compromise your integrity.
g) Always stay FOCUSED. Pick right people for the right job & have the right strategy & Execute the strategy
h) Have a lessons learnt NOTEBOOK and jot down ALL / MOST IMPORTANT lessons you have learnt (anywhere, anyplace, anytime). Read them.

7. Challenge for eBay – How do you grow BIG and yet stay SMALL?!

To conclude, Ms.Whitman shared her personal philosophy, to quote the legendary A.G.Lafley – “Know thyself. Be thyself”. She said that "The ability to pretend like someone else is not sustainable."