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Case study: Ring 2 - telecoms company

Case study: Ring2

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Engineers in the San Francisco office of Ring2 recently fancied seeing the latest Indiana Jones movie. But instead of organising an outing after work they headed off for a matinee performance.

Michael Hughes, co-founder and co-CEO of Ring2, says this is typical of the company's attempts to strike a life-work balance. It's an approach that also helps to foster commitment.

"When they got back to the office about 6pm there'd been a billing problem and they all stayed until around 11.30pm to fix it."

Mobile audio-conferencing

Ring2 claims to be the world's first audio-conferencing company to offer remote control of calls from a mobile device. It believes this means improved visibility, security and control for its customers who include Wyevale Garden Centres, Northfield Information Services (providers of risk analysis services to investment managers and others customers in the finance sector) and environment specialists, ADAS (previously part of the UK's Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food).

The environmental benefits of conference calling were important to ADAS which was concerned that staff were travelling too much. Ring2 supplied it with a '24/7' service that users don't need to reserve in advance. ADAS has also made Ring2 part of its corporate social responsibility policy.

Hughes helped to found Ring2 in 2003 with Michael Flavell, who had previously launched industrial auctioneers, GoIndustry. Both have MBAs from Stanford University in California. The Sainsbury Management Fellowship funded Hughes's.

The business grew out of their experiences of working for start-ups that were then taken over by larger organisations. Hughes had previously helped launch Pagoo, an internet call waiting service that took voice messages when someone was using the internet and sent the message to their computer while they were online.

Pagoo broke even within nine months and secured 30,000 sign-ups per month but problems arose when it approached outside investors.

Free-thinker

"In many ways it was the worst professional experience of his life" Hughes says. "Within three months I was fired for being too much of a freethinker."

Hughes, whose first job after graduating from Imperial College was working for a firm of management consultants, said what happened at Pagoo made him realise that he wanted to be in a job where he could "change things that day".

Unusual funding

The initial funding to start Ring2 came from a friend-of-a-friend who agreed to invest in the idea over a game of cards in Los Vegas. His confidence in the idea brought in other investors and they raised $10 million - $6.5 million from 'business angels'.

"We have a very, very unusual capital structure which brings with it emotional constraints. It means we will see it through; we don’t have the option of walking away."

Several staff from Pagoo have joined Ring2 and Hughes says this has created a special bond at the business.

"People say don't do business with your friends. The only way to do business is with your friends."

His other advice to anyone considering a start-up is:

"'Don't worry if your idea isn't perfect. Just get started."

Ring2 began with five full'time employees and now has over forty in an office in the City of London and San Francisco. As the organisation has grown it has had to work hard at maintaining a team spirit ' especially since the two offices are separated by the Atlantic.

"We've tried to create an environment where people feel really comfortable."

This appears to have paid off and staff retention is high. Ring2 uses a variety of techniques to make employees feel part of a team and to stress the organisation's ethos. This includes planning the office lay-out so that no one can hide away from other colleagues.

Relxed atmosphere

In the San Francisco offices bikes are parked at the front of the building to encourage staff to cycle to work. The conference room is used as a venue for band practice on a Friday night and ties are conspicuously absent from photos of the executive team on the Ring2 website.

Hughes acknowledges that it may be easier to foster this relaxed atmosphere in California but he stresses that the tone is set by the 'email banter' that flies backwards and forwards across the Atlantic.

See more about the company on the Ring2 website, http://www.ring2.com

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