Abstract

This case study is about new media entre-preneur Steve Leach (Leach) who won the ‘Entrepreneur of the Year Award’ at the European Business Awards in 2008. The case study focuses on how Leach set up a winning team at Bigmouthmedia Limited (Bigmouth-media). Bigmouthmedia, leader in the digital marketing industry, was initially started in 1997 in a basement in Edinburgh with just three employees had grown to become a €140 million annual turnover company in 2008 spread across three continents. Setting up and managing a team in a new industry was not an easy task, but Leach achieved this feat by focusing on creating a strong brand and setting up a unique culture at Bigmouthmedia. He also appointed talent scouts to source the right kind of talent and to promote the digital marketing industry as a viable and rewarding career option. By early 2009, Leach had also put a strong senior management team in place as he prepared to grow aggressively in the digital marketing space. Experts felt that Leach’s entrepreneurial flair, vision, determination, and drive helped him set up the company and grow it into a hugely successful one. As important were his leadership skills and ability to set up and develop a winning team. The case also discusses the dilemma faced by many entrepreneurs in ‘letting go’ as their roles change in the organization with the growth of the organization.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• Understand the issues and challenges in managing a winning team (issues such as sourcing talent, putting in place a team, etc.). Understand issues and challenges in setting up a new team in a new industry. Understand how Leach put in place and unique cult

Keywords

Entrepreneurship, Team management, Leadership, Delegation, Culture, Recruitment, Selection, Sourcing talent, Employee retention, UK's 50 Best Workplaces, Internet marketing, Digital marketing, Search engine marketing, Search engine optimization, Bigmouthmedia