On 20 August 1851, the 100’ sloop America won the Hundred Guinea Cup when it beat fifteen British yachts around the Isle of Wight, marking the beginning of the America’s Cup. The Americans defended it 24 times before a remarkable regatta in 1983 when, Australia II, skippered by the charismatic John Bertrand finally broke the spell, and with it the longest winning streak in any sport. The last time a British team raced for the America’s Cup was in 1964, despite many qualification attempts.
As you may have seen, Sir Ben Ainslie, and fellow Gold medallist, Dylan Fletcher and team broke this hoodoo on Friday when they won the Louis Vuitton Cup, and with it the right to race the Kiwi team for the “Auld Mug.” For the first time in my lifetime a British team has a shot at winning the oldest international competition still operating in any sport.
So, what has changed? I do not consider that the current team is intrinsically more talented than the generation before when my peers were trying to win this thing 21 years ago. Nor do I believe the answer lies purely in Jim Ratcliffe’s millions, Peter Harrison put in plenty of cash and INEOS’ current competitors have not lacked resources. I think the difference lies in, persistence, teamwork, collaboration and targeted investment rather than raw talent and funding. Overlaid on this is great leadership (see our blog on what makes a great CEO) and sound independent advice.
This is Ben Ainslie’s’ third time leading the British team, and the performance has improved on each occasion (let us not forget he won as tactician for the USA in 2013). But in the first two campaigns rumours of an unhappy ship were rife, with rivalries etc as Ben delegated far less. This time there has a broader leadership team with specific responsibilities and from the outside it all feels rock solid. However the magic of a great leader remains, on Friday we saw GB’s lead in the final race get eroded by a small mistake and they looked a little wobbly as the Italians capitalised, we then heard the reassuring voice of Ben calming it down and refocusing the team – Britannia settled and pulled away to win, exhilarating stuff. Surely it cannot be a coincidence that this success also follows on from Ben calling on the sage advice of John Bertrand. Experience counts!
Collaboration with the Mercedes F1 team has undoubtedly helped drive not just design aspects but, I suspect more importantly, the collation and interpretation of data that has seen performance steadily climb. Onboard Britannia, mostly invisible to the naked eye, are around 1,000 sensors which feed data directly back to the design team through over 6,800 data channels. Together, that means every single day the sailors go out on the water, the design team interprets over one billion data points. As in business, it is one thing to collect data but what sets apart the winners is having the team with the ability to interpret and provide insight, and a formal monitoring and feedback process to deliver continuous improvement.
We in business can learn a great deal from sporting successes, be that following David Brailsford’s marginal gains philosophy, taking leadership coaching from an overseas Olympic medallist such as Jonathan Lobert, or the great work done by INEOS Britannia sailing team.
Success demands hard work and dedication. Behind anything that looks effortless, are thousands of unseen hours spent planning, preparing and being focused on the things that will make a difference. On 2 December Polestar CF will be hosting a seminar in London for owners, senior management and founders of software companies to come and hear what buyers and investors believe makes the difference in terms of value. Invitations will be sent out shortly, but if you know you want to join us, drop me a note and we will hold a place. In the meantime I hope you enjoy our white paper in which we explore current SaaS valuations and what sits behind them.
As Roger Federer (a man who looked like nothing would phase him) recently said:
“The truth is, I had to work very hard to make it look easy. I spent years whining, swearing, sorry, throwing my racket before I learned to keep my cool…I didn’t get where I got on pure talent alone. I got there by trying to outwork my opponents. I believed in myself. But belief in yourself has to be earned. “
Ben and his team are not in Barcelona to win the LV Cup, they are there to win the America’s Cup. We can be sure that after a night of celebration they are back to their processes, earning that self-belief. If INEOS Britannia succeeds then finally sailing will have come home after 173 years of hurt!
