Luke

"OR A FEW WEEKS, the goldfish bow] was the nerve centre of boo.com. It was here that Luke had set up his operations room. ~ Stuck up on the glass walls on long strips of paper, one above the other, were charts that represented the major issues that had to be addressed, with all the sub-areas of responsibility clearly defined. Order fulfilment, for example, was broken down into returns, supplier payments, invoicing, and so on. These subdivisions were"

"Like Jay, Luke had a clear philosophy about what he wanted from boo. “There are three things this company can offer me,’ he said to me over a drink one night. ‘Power, fame and money. You have all three. That’s OK because you’re the boss. I only want power and money.’ -"

"‘OK,’ said Luke. “But if we’re to turn this round, you need to let me have more authority.’ The plan that Luke went on to lay in front of me was ambitious, even by his standards. He wanted to project-manage the entire launch process. This meant mapping every single thing that needed to be done. Not just in technology, either — in all parts of the business, from marketing to logistics. ‘We need to see how all the pieces fit together,’ he said. ‘It’s the only way we can seta realistic launch date.’"

"The organisational changes ushered in a new age of office politics. I had hoped that we would be spared this, but it was an inevitable part of our growth. While my announcement of Luke’s new role contained no hidden agenda, the same could not be said of Marina Galanti’s ‘promotion’. Our former vice-president of global market- ing, I announced, would henceforth be Senior Advisor to the CEO for a six month period. “This will involve Marina reporting to me on how to focus the business for upcoming marketing opportunities, as we guide our external agencies world-wide in the development of our strategy and brand for the oncoming year.’ In other words, her contract for her role as the vice-president of global marketing had been terminated."