Andy McKelvey Resigns From Monster
Andy McKelvey resigned as Chairman and CEO of Monster Worldwide this morning. I've met Andy a number of times over the years since I came into this industry almost 7 years ago. He's an amazing entrepreneur, a shrewd operator, and just a polite, gracious fella to me.
Andy led the single best off-line to on-line transformation in the U.S. He took TMP Worldwide, which was 95% yellow pages advertising in 1995, and turned it into Monster over the course of a decade. There have been many along the way who would take a share of that credit -- Jeff Taylor among them -- but I think it was Andy's essential insight that the technology was second to the relationships with the paying users of the systems that truly led Monster to become a multi-billion dollar capitalization, international machine.
I remember working with Andy on the HotJobs deal -- Andy had very cleverly stepped into the breach when the HotJobs board was in turmoil following the ouster of Richard Johnson. Andy's offer of a great price, and the strategic ability to get the major competitor in his stable, were, typically, very well thought out. It was his deal team's execution, particularly outside counsel's handling of the anti-trust clearance, that hobbled him.
I also tried to persuade Andy to do an LBO of Monster in 2002 when the stock price sank to $8. His response: "I'm too old to get a new boss now," was probably wise, though his estate could be worth 4 or 5 times what it is now if he had pursued that path.
And when I started TheLadders.com, I remember dropping in on Andy and Paul to pitch the idea as a way of revitalizing the dirt-poor user experience on ChiefMonster.com, Monster's entry in the high-end business. Andy was very perceptive about where opportunity lay in recruitment advertising -- he felt it was in the low-end, the blue-collar market. He almost channeled Clayton Christiansen (my HBS prof and author of "The Innovator's Dilemma") when he pointed out that there was a $5 bn market for blue collar recruitment advertising, while my high-end market was wholly speculative; so he'd go fishing where the fish are, thank you very much. He did offer me the chance to come on board at Monster as the head of M&A, but I had my own dream to pursue.
So while I'm happy that we drove Monster out of our business (they had to shut down ChiefMonster.com last May because we were beating them so badly), I'm certain that Andy's decision, for where Monster was then (and is today) was actually the right one.
It is strange for a young industry like ours to have most of the "founding fathers" already gone -- Andy; Jeff Taylor (eons.com); and Richard Johnson (in North Carolina last I heard) have all moved on. In fact, of the major job boards (over $10 mm in revenue), I am now the CEO with the longest experience in the business!! I never meant to become the gray beard!
But it's a position that I do enjoy, as what we in the online recruitment business do is so cool -- we take all the advantages of something cold, hard, dead, and logical: the internet, PCs, and software, and turn it into something that helps real, live, breathing, warm people by getting them into a position where they can use all their amazing human skills and talents for good. Amazing!
All in all, I suppose, this is a form of an elegy for Andy McKelvey, the man who brought us here. When he expanded into the recruitment advertising agency business from his core yellow pages business, he did not have a lot of pre-conceived notions about HR, or recruiting, or job-seeking. But by being aware of what the end-customer really needed, and providing that through TMP Worldwide, he eventually discovered Jeff Taylor at MonsterBoard. It was Andy's company's muscle power that made Monster into the great, world-dominating business that it is today, and it was Andy's insight to the value of distribution and brand that drove them there.
So here's a cheer to Andy McKelvey, and a toast to his health. Our great industry pioneer has moved on, and it is up to those of remaining to carry the torch. We have a big job to do, so let's get there!
