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Prolific innovator John Kearon plans to grow researcher BrainJuicer from an $8m turnover business today into a $500m one in just ten years. Is he nuts?

 STARRING 

• John Kearon, CEO and founder, BrainJuicer
• Michael Warren - michael.c.warren *at* btinternet *dot* com (Host)
• Rod Connors, ex. Nike UK, and Jan Harley, Unilever Ventures (Contributors)

PODCAST
Back in 1999, a couple of clever guys had a really good idea. They created a system for getting people quickly to the information they wanted. They created Google.

At around the same time, John Kearon was embarking on a similar quest for marketers. Getting in-depth research fast was widely viewed as an oxymoron.

To say that BrainJuicer’s seven-year journey was full of ups and downs is an understatement - a rollercoaster ride would have been smoother. And at one point, John’s dream was close to being shattered.

This is real edge-of-the-seat stuff. So if you want to understand what it takes to build an innovative research organisation designed for the 21st Century then take a listen.

Sound: We apologise for the below-par audio quality.

TIMELINE [33m35s]
00m00s Introduction.
01m46s What makes BrainJuicer distinctive.
02m16s The thoughts of a client.
02m44s Why John decided to start a business.
04m06s Why John switched from his first business to start BrainJuicer.
05m13s The origin of the BrainJuicer name.
05m51s Performance in the early days.
07m26s The barriers to early growth.
08m33s The turning point.
10m14s A rare animal - marketer turned researcher.
12m16s BrainJuicer’s first client - Nike UK (Rod Connors).
13m57s Securing funding from Unilever Ventures (Jan Harley).
16m23s Arriving at a fair valuation of the business.
18m42s Was it worth giving up a 40% stake in the business to Unilever Ventures?
19m37s Advice for potential entrepreneurs.
21m34s Example of an innovative project (for Nicky Boud, Cif, Unilever).
24m35s Better NPD forecasting using ‘Predictive Markets’.
26m58s The role of marketing in BrainJuicer’s success.
28m03s What next for BrainJuicer.
28m55s Barriers to growth.
31m11s When will John know whether the mission has been fulfilled?

SOME QUOTES (not indicative of the whole podcast)
On being distinctive: “We’re a quantitiative agency that can actually deliver qualitative understanding.”

On the decision to leave a larger business: “I’m much more creative than I am a politician!”

On the decision to start a business: “I seem to have gone from a large successful company (Unilever)…to a small startup…I’m rather hoping that my career will be a parabola and start to build something larger again.”

On developing revenues: “Somehow at Brand Genetics, my first company…it felt easy [to generate business]…it seduced you into the fact that setting up a company was easy…but at BrainJuicer what was supposed to take four months and 40,000 pounds, in reality took two years…and 400,000 pounds.”

On pioneering: “It was completely new, no one had every done this before…the natural question..had my whole career been in software development, would we have got there quicker and made less mistakes?”

On the launch of BrainJuicer: “I’d set out with great hope before the dotcom bubble burst…it burst five months later and that was a pretty shaky moment, but we ploughed on in our garage.”

On the turning point: “[My wife said] Darling, I know you’re a genius but could you get one of those high paid jobs you used to have…a genius who’s earning is preferable to just a genius.”

On the appeal of research: “I was, and remain fascinated by trying to tell the truth…it’s as much about the people I’m trying to hire…people who are very good at working a problem.”

On the first client: “[Rod Connors, Nike UK] is a very innovative guy, he takes risks and he took a big risk with BrainJuicer…Nike do very little research…and it needs to be very innovative.”

On the funding - Jan Harley, Unilever Ventures: “John had said he could feedback very, very quickly…so I said if you are that good, can you by the end of the day get feedback from everybody…he came back with a presentation…from about 50 people!”

On the funding negotiations: “…[at one point] we were diametrically opposed and there was a stony moment where everyone could see the deal disappearing…I just laughed!”

On becoming an entrepreneur: “I gave a talk to some students…I spent 20 minutes trying to put them off.”

On a recent innovative study: “We started off with something that we pioneered, Predictive Markets [based on the theories of James Surowiecki]…to see if it was more accurate than current monadic testing…in seven out of seven tests…the [Predictive Markets] crowd is getting the perfect result.”

On BrainJuicer marketing: “…let’s just say that it’s much less thought-through and planned than it might seem.”

On the future: “There is an opportunity to change the way market research is done…we’re a 4million pound company…we can actually compete with the very largest research companies…the internet is a disruptive force.”

On the barriers to growth: “The biggest barrier is convervatism…buyers and sellers are perfectly evolved to suit each other.”

On meeting the mission: “BrainJuicer will be a $500m total business…ten years from now [from $8m today].”

On the future of research: “MR as a total category could be twice the size it currently is.”

Music Theatrimus and The Blue Mile from the PMN

Thanks to KD Consulting for sponsoring this podcast.

Series:Sponsored