JP Caffrey, CEO of Ramp Global, initiated the business in 2010. Photo: Ramp Global
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Recruitment technology entrepreneur John Paul Caffrey is the creator and CEO of Ramp Global.
As a SaaS recruitment platform specializing in technical roles, Ramp Global plays a crucial role in the global competition for software and digital talent. It presently employs around 30 personnel, has a turnover of £20m, year-on-year growth of 130%, and supports customers in 60 countries. The total value of fees posted on the platform for roles exceeds £1bn.
Pete Gwilliam noticed me at a young age and had the chance to support and educate me in my early twenties. He also provided me with the opportunity to establish my first company.
His approach was something like “you steer your own ship, I am there to support, not to dominate”. It’s a powerful thing. Prior to that, I worked at the large staffing agency Michael Page; It had a structured and goal-oriented environment, so now I had to navigate and figure things out independently. I had to develop a business plan from an implementation standpoint. It was both challenging and exciting.
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Pete and I each had our own shareholdings, and if we achieved a goal, I would have the majority of the business, which is exactly what happened. They provided me with financial collateral, we shared the same building, and there was a sustainable start and connectivity in building the plan.
I learned about confidence in my decisions as well as taking ownership of those decisions. To be successful, I really had to support my own plan instead of relying on someone else’s plan. Pete is a big personality from Wolverhampton and always lets his character shine. Pete and I are still close friends today, and it was about bringing a natural, personal relationship into the equation rather than just a business transaction.
Ramp Global expects employee turnover to double over the next 12 months. Photo: Ramp Global
It’s quite unique if you look at standard, performance-related investor relations. His approach was fresh then and still is today: supporting the individual, and if it doesn’t work, there’s nothing to lose and nothing to gain. This definitely gave me confidence and reduced my tendency towards failure.
At 19, while having a young child, I initially worked nights as a porter at Hilton International to support the family. I became a trainee manager and also started my first venture called Bite to Enjoy. It was during the early stages of the Internet, but it did not have scalability at that time.
Today, Ramp Global’s acquisition platform enables large global clients to hire talent from anywhere in the world. We are a digital-first platform and thus address scalable and talent-related issues to make employers’ lives much easier.
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My background is not in technology but rather focused on product. The way to mitigate this and enhance your knowledge is by building a great team. If you are a non-technical CEO, it is important to incorporate technical expertise at all levels of the business. Where CEOs fail is when they have technical resources dependent on a small group. If that group becomes disruptive, the business becomes vulnerable quickly.
If you examine industry news, you would know that the condition of the technology market is unfavorable and companies are experiencing losses. There are underlying reasons for this, notably overinvestment based on overvaluation. The problem is that those investors are anxious and are reducing funding.
If you observe the general commentary, there is less discussion about the rapid growth of companies at very high percentages, especially among investors who want to understand the path to profitability. There is more practicality concerning the plan.
I read that approximately half of the Fortune 500 companies were established during a bear market, which probably indicates that the market isn’t as dire as people think.
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Source: uk.finance.yahoo.com
