時代公司新掌門揭秘

????過去四個月里，時代公司（Time Inc.）的員工們一直在猜測，明年早些時候，這家雜志出版商將被拆分成一家獨立上市公司，屆時，誰將出任公司新掌門？今天，這個問題終于有了答案：他就是曾在時代公司及時代華納公司（Time Warner）擔任首席財務官的喬?里普。過去八年里，他一直在領導多家企業對企業電子商務信息公司，如登卓國際（Dendrite International）和OneSource信息服務公司（OneSource Information Services）。

????里普將在美國勞動節（九月份的第一個星期一）之后正式上任，屆時他將辭去在OneSource的職務。2011年，OneSource被私募股權公司GTCR收購之后，里普加入OneSource公司（之前，里普曾與GTCR公司合作建立了一個投資平臺，重點為數據傳送信息與營銷服務公司）.

????今天早些時候，我們電話采訪了GTCR合伙人和OneSource董事會成員菲利普?坎菲爾德，希望深入了解一下里普，以及作為筆者的新老板，他會有哪些舉措。以下為采訪內容摘要：

《財富》雜志（Fortune）：GTCR當初為什么希望與喬?里普合作？

坎菲爾德：對于信息服務和市場現狀，喬有許多非常有意思的觀點，而我們對于那個領域的平臺也有一些想法，包括OneSource公司在內。所以我們在一起討論了許多不同的B2B軟件和內容公司，而且，我感覺我們可以一起找到一些符合大家共同想法的東西。我們還掌握了大量報告，其中包括喬在過去如何創造價值，以及他招聘英才的能力，這些后來都得到了驗證。他是一位優秀的領導者，以后仍將在OneSource公司董事會任職。

他之前在美國證券交易委員會（SEC）曾遭遇會計問題，并最終被迫支付150,000美元。你們如何評估這種風險？

????我們確實圍繞那件事的事實和具體情況做了大量工作，包括許多獨立的工作，結果令我們非常滿意。因為喬是一名誠實的經紀商，他只是恰好遇到這種糟糕的狀況，實際上這種狀況的出現與他沒有任何關系。對他和他做事的原則，我有百分百的信心。

你們在不到一年前才收購了OneSource。他這么快就要離開OneSource，你們感到失望嗎？

????當然了，我們對他的離開很遺憾。但這是一個備受矚目的巨大機遇，我不知道我們當中是否有人曾想到過，這份工作會落到他肩上。但看看這次機會，我非常能理解他為什么想要得到它……喬給我們最大的幫助之一是，他幫助打造了一個優秀的團隊，包括會暫時任職一段時間的一名總裁兼首席運營官。他的招聘能力讓我們不論是從外部還是內部尋找他的永久繼任者都有一定的回旋余地。

過去八年，里普一直在運行B2B平臺。你認為他會如何完成向B2C公司的轉變？

????我不知道我有沒有資格評判，因為我本身也一直在B2B領域，從未與他就B2C進行過深入交流。但我能看得出，他是一位非常出色的戰略思想家，他能同時看到事情的正負反兩面，而且從來不會害怕解決負面問題——鑒于B2C內容提供商們所面臨的種種挑戰，這種能力將很有幫助。

他之前離開的那家時代公司和即將加入的新公司之間存在巨大的差異，就是數字媒體的崛起。OneSource是一家數字公司，就他對數字用戶體驗的理解，你有什么看法？

????正如前面所說，我的觀點都是從B2B角度來看，所以我認為，在B2B領域，用戶體驗幾乎都體現在工作流當中，或者說怎樣讓用戶的工作變得更輕松。我認為，喬在這方面非常擅長，也有很多想法。我認為B2C應該與此有些不同。

????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.