Facing 50, Fred Luddy lost his job and his fortune. But in applying the lessons of his failures, he made ServiceNow the most innovative company in America—and himself a late-career billionaire
Vegas being Vegas, fans have crammed the Venetian Hotel for selfies with a greying celebrity working his way through the scrum: Fred Luddy, the 63-year-old founder of ServiceNow, America’s hottest IT-services company. Neither Wayne Newton nor Celine Dion, Siegfried nor Roy, has anything on Luddy in Sin City this day, at least among the 18,000 customers, vendors and employees in town for Knowledge, ServiceNow’s annual developers’ conference.
“When all of these people are happy to see you, honestly you feel like a rock star,” says the sparkly-eyed Luddy, having booked extra time between appearances to grip-and-grin with the adoring hordes. “It’s kind of an undeserved feeling, because they were the inspiration. You folks had all of the ideas. I just wrote them down and thought about them.”
Forgive Luddy such indulgences. Fourteen years ago, he was pretty much broke, having seen a $35 million personal fortune vanish overnight in the midst of accounting fraud at his previous company.
Thirteen years ago he was a one-man shop, tinkering with ServiceNow’s core product from his home. Even after the vindication of an IPO six years ago, the company was worth a modest $2 billion.These days ServiceNow, of Santa Clara, California, maintains a $30 billion market cap, has 6,000-plus employees—and is ranked 1,640 on the Global 2000 list. Its more than 4,000 customers include 850 of the Global 2000. Last year it had revenues of $1.93 billion, and growth is expected to be more than 30 percent this year. More than 500 companies spend at least $1 million annually on Service Now’s products.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der July 6, 2018-Ausgabe von Forbes India.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der July 6, 2018-Ausgabe von Forbes India.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
Home-Cooked Meal Is Now Greatly Valued
The pandemic has also brought with it an improved focus on hygiene, use of technology in dining, rise of cloud kitchens and resurgence in popularity of Indian ingredients
Paytm 3.0 - Reaching Near Breakeven In Two Years
As of 2020, Vijay Shekhar Sharma’s super app for financial services had run up losses in thousands of crores. Now, as digital payments gets yet another boost courtesy Covid-19, he’s hopeful of reaching near breakeven in two years
THE PANDEMIC HAS CAUSED WOMEN GREATER LABOUR PAIN
Covid-19 has shown that women are more likely to face the brunt of job losses than men, and find fewer opportunities when they want to resume. That apart, several have to deal with increased hours of unpaid work at home and even domestic abuse
LEADERSHIP WILL BE ABOUT SEEING THE BIGGER PICTURE
Leaders must not only guard their teams first during a crisis, but also deal with stakeholders with respect and dignity. And apart from pursuing business goals, they should remain committed to our planet and the environment
PHILANTHROPY SHOULD BE HUMBLE, BUT NOT MODEST
Apart from building a flexible and resilient framework for the future, philanthropists, civil society and the government must work in tandem so that every rupee is absorbed on the ground
INTEGRATED HEALTH CARE, TECH WILL DISRUPT SECTOR
While clinical research will get a boost, having a skilled workforce and public spending on health care will be challenges in the near term
DIGITALISATION WILL HELP IN VALUE CREATION
As the pandemic brings technology and innovation to the core of business and daily life, the next decade will see about 150 million digital-first families in India
Industry 4.0: Climate Revolution?
Augmenting sustainability alongside digital capabilities is an economic, competitive and global opportunity for India’s businesses, but regulations need to reflect intent
EV Dream Still Miles Away
Electric vehicles have remained a buzzword in India for years. But not much has moved on ground due to high upfront costs, range anxiety and charging infrastructure
Living Waters
A virus has caused us to scramble for oxygen but our chokehold on the environment is slowly strangling the very waters that breathe life into us. The virus is a timely reminder: We are merely consumers, not producers of life’s breath on this planet
