Interview: Jeff Taylor

INTERVIEW: JEFF TAYLOR, CFO, MONSTER.COM
"Our Mission Is To Empower Workers"

At 39, he's not very young by internet standards, but he's got tonnes of attitude-he flew the Monster blimp over Coke headquarters even as the company was laying off 2,000 employees-and hopes to be US Labour Secretary one day. Meet Jeff Taylor, the maverick CEO of the world's largest online jobs company. BT's Roshni Jayakar did, and these are some of her notes:

Q. Jeff, Monster remains amongst the top 100 sites, in terms of visits, despite operating in the crowded online jobs domain. What makes it tick?

A. Monster had first-mover advantage; it was the 454th dotcom. We started Monster in the December 1993 and launched it in April 1994. We started the whole industry: we were the first website to have a searchable jobs database on the internet; the first to have a resume database and a patent on it. The first-mover advantage has stood the test of time. We attract six million unique visitors daily.

What's the secret of Monster's continued success, especially at a time when most dotcoms are faltering?

We were a profitable company before it was fashionable for dotcoms to be so. In the last quarter (of 2000) we did $142 million in sales and 24 per cent profit(ability). We had committed to the Street that at the $500 million sales run-rate there would be 25 per cent profit(ability) and at the $1 billion run-rate, 38 per cent. We have met the $500 million (sales) target that we set in 1996.

One of the things about Monster is that employers pay to post jobs and to search the resume database. Worldwide, we have hit 9 million resumes; this is growing by 32,000-33,000 resumes a month. So we should hit 10 million resumes by May 15. We provide asp (Application Service Provider) services and private label solutions to corporations whereby they can post jobs and search resumes on their website. Our revenue break-up is 53 per cent from job postings, 36 per cent from resumes, and the balance from private label solutions and ads from companies.

Monster earns less than half of its total revenue percentage from banner advertising. Our business model is (built around) the recurring transactional (activity) of making thousands and thousands of small deals, which will be one of the few surviving business models on the internet.

Monster got into business early-well in time for the boom. But the career market has changed. How has your site changed to keep pace with this?

We have had 13 versions of our website since the launch. Monster's mission is to empower workers in a changing job market. Our strategy is innovation. We come out with innovations, and while others are (busy) copying what we have done, we come out with newer ones. One of the recent ones is Chief Monster, launched in September 2000. We created an area for CEOs, CFOs and VPs and have had 210,000 executives sign up. Then there is Monster Mover, a moving and relocation portal, specifically targeted at 20 per cent of (the worker) population that is moving. That includes everything from negotiating with moving companies to mortgage rates.

Why did you decide to enter the Indian market now?

India is our 16th country, and has been on our plans for the last three years. When I went to Harvard Business School and graduated in August 1999, there were about 11 executives from India. It was then that I thought of expanding to India. In India, Monster's goal is to reach the population that is interested in working in a professional environment. Over time, we may expand to non-professional or semi-professional segments.

Even brick-and-mortar placement companies don't earn too much. So, where's the scope for a site like monsterindia, focused exclusively on online jobs, to succeed?

Monster is a primary source of candidates for employers and executive search firms. It is an alternative to traditional mediums such as newspaper advertising. It also becomes an intermediary between buyers and sellers and our version of buyers and sellers is job-seekers and employers. In India, we are first focusing on the information technology and financial services. We are not trying to be overnight success story.

You've done some crazy things to promote Monster. The Coke thing, for instance.

Our business is growing quickly. As a result, we have the ability to not only do the traditional advertising that we do on TV, but also to do non-traditional advertising. At Monster headquarters we have two blimps, Trump and Skeeter; we own a hot air balloon in Europe;, sponsor the Olympics; and have a large deal with AOL. All are ways to bolster our consumer branding effort.

I believe that in the new economy a CEO's personality needs to come through. I look at Bill Gates of Microsoft or Larry Ellison of Oracle as one style in which CEOs can brand themselves. I look at Richard Branson as-mentor may be too strong-an example of someone who does this differently. For a CEO of a company like Monster, you have to be out there.

Are you looking at acquisitions?

We are profitable, have $500 million of cash in the bank, and the stock price, though off a bit since January, is a good enough currency to make acquisitions, (but) we haven't focused on general competitors for acquisitions. We have focused on tools and services that we think can enhance facilities for our job seekers and employers. We recently bought, Haring Tools, which has a web-based builder that helps companies build job descriptions and a set of questions that can be attached to those job descriptions. We are actively looking for additional tools.

You've expressed an interest in becoming the US Labour Secretary...

I have an interest in labour. Looking at the kind of information that we get from our polls and from our close to 14 million members, I think we have the beginnings of what could be a new Bureau of Labour Statistics. As our database becomes more relevant and (our) community (site) more vibrant, I may have an opportunity for a larger voice in the future of labour in the country.

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