时代公司新掌门揭秘

    过去四个月里，时代公司（Time Inc.）的员工们一直在猜测，明年早些时候，这家杂志出版商将被拆分成一家独立上市公司，届时，谁将出任公司新掌门？今天，这个问题终于有了答案：他就是曾在时代公司及时代华纳公司（Time Warner）担任首席财务官的乔•里普。过去八年里，他一直在领导多家企业对企业电子商务信息公司，如登卓国际（Dendrite International）和OneSource信息服务公司（OneSource Information Services）。

    里普将在美国劳动节（九月份的第一个星期一）之后正式上任，届时他将辞去在OneSource的职务。2011年，OneSource被私募股权公司GTCR收购之后，里普加入OneSource公司（之前，里普曾与GTCR公司合作建立了一个投资平台，重点为数据传送信息与营销服务公司）.

    今天早些时候，我们电话采访了GTCR合伙人和OneSource董事会成员菲利普•坎菲尔德，希望深入了解一下里普，以及作为笔者的新老板，他会有哪些举措。以下为采访内容摘要：

《财富》杂志（Fortune）：GTCR当初为什么希望与乔•里普合作？

坎菲尔德：对于信息服务和市场现状，乔有许多非常有意思的观点，而我们对于那个领域的平台也有一些想法，包括OneSource公司在内。所以我们在一起讨论了许多不同的B2B软件和内容公司，而且，我感觉我们可以一起找到一些符合大家共同想法的东西。我们还掌握了大量报告，其中包括乔在过去如何创造价值，以及他招聘英才的能力，这些后来都得到了验证。他是一位优秀的领导者，以后仍将在OneSource公司董事会任职。

他之前在美国证券交易委员会（SEC）曾遭遇会计问题，并最终被迫支付150,000美元。你们如何评估这种风险？

    我们确实围绕那件事的事实和具体情况做了大量工作，包括许多独立的工作，结果令我们非常满意。因为乔是一名诚实的经纪商，他只是恰好遇到这种糟糕的状况，实际上这种状况的出现与他没有任何关系。对他和他做事的原则，我有百分百的信心。

你们在不到一年前才收购了OneSource。他这么快就要离开OneSource，你们感到失望吗？

    当然了，我们对他的离开很遗憾。但这是一个备受瞩目的巨大机遇，我不知道我们当中是否有人曾想到过，这份工作会落到他肩上。但看看这次机会，我非常能理解他为什么想要得到它……乔给我们最大的帮助之一是，他帮助打造了一个优秀的团队，包括会暂时任职一段时间的一名总裁兼首席运营官。他的招聘能力让我们不论是从外部还是内部寻找他的永久继任者都有一定的回旋余地。

过去八年，里普一直在运行B2B平台。你认为他会如何完成向B2C公司的转变？

    我不知道我有没有资格评判，因为我本身也一直在B2B领域，从未与他就B2C进行过深入交流。但我能看得出，他是一位非常出色的战略思想家，他能同时看到事情的正负反两面，而且从来不会害怕解决负面问题——鉴于B2C内容提供商们所面临的种种挑战，这种能力将很有帮助。

他之前离开的那家时代公司和即将加入的新公司之间存在巨大的差异，就是数字媒体的崛起。OneSource是一家数字公司，就他对数字用户体验的理解，你有什么看法？

    正如前面所说，我的观点都是从B2B角度来看，所以我认为，在B2B领域，用户体验几乎都体现在工作流当中，或者说怎样让用户的工作变得更轻松。我认为，乔在这方面非常擅长，也有很多想法。我认为B2C应该与此有些不同。

    For the past four months, Time Inc. employees have wondered who will lead the magazine publisher once it is spun out into a standalone public company early next year. Today we got our answer: Joe Ripp, a onetime Time Inc. and Time Warner (TWX) CFO who has spent the past eight years leading business-to-business information companies like Dendrite International and OneSource Information Services.

    Ripp doesn't officially take the reins until after Labor Day so that he can wind down his responsibilities with OneSource, which he joined in 2011 after it was acquired by private equity firm GTCR (with whom Ripp had previously formed an investment platform focused on data-enabled information and marketing services companies).

    Earlier today we spent some time on the phone with Philip Canfield, a GTCR partner and OneSource board member, to learn more about Ripp and how he may fare as my new boss. What follows is an edited transcript of our conversation.

FORTUNE: Why did GTCR originally want to partner with Joe Ripp?

CANFIELD: Joe had some really interesting ideas around information services and what was going on in that market, and we had some ideas about platforms in that space, including OneSource. So we met and discussed a bunch of different B2B software and content companies, and felt we could find some things together that fit within that general thesis. We also had a lot of respect for what Joe had done in the past in terms of value creation and his ability to recruit top talent, and all of that had proven to be true. He's a great leader, and will remain on the OneSource board.

He had a prior accounting issue with the SEC, which resulted in him settling for $150,000. How did you assess that risk?

    We did a tremendous amount of work around the facts and circumstances of that situation, including a lot of independent work, and were satisfied that Joe is an honest broker who got caught in the middle of a bad situation he didn't really have any part in creating. I have 100% confidence in him and the principles he operated under.

You bought OneSource less than a year ago. Disappointed to see him go so soon?

    Oh sure, we're sad to lose him. But this is a very big and high-profile opportunity, and I'm not sure any of us would have imagined this was a potential job for him. But looking at the opportunity, I can certainly understand why he wanted it... One of the great things about Joe is that he helped bring a great team into that business, including a president and COO who's going to do the job for a while. His ability to recruit gives us some flexibility in terms of finding his permanent successor, whether that's an internal or external candidate.

Ripp has been running B2B platforms for the past eight years. How do you see him transitioning back into a B2C company?

    I'm not sure how well positioned I am to judge that, since I'm a B2B guy and I haven't had any depth of conversation with him about B2C. But I can say that he's a very good strategic thinker who sees both the positives and negatives and is not afraid to address the negatives -- something that will be useful given the challenges that all of these B2C content providers have ahead of them.

One big difference between the Time Inc. he left and the one he is joining is the evolution of digital media. OneSource is a digital company, so could you provide your thoughts of his understanding of the digital user experience?

    Again, all of my observations are through B2B, so I'd say that in B2B-land the user experience is almost always couched within workflow, or how you make the user's job easier. I think Joe is very good and thoughtful about that. My sense is B2C is about something else.