Each month, we turn the spotlight on the leadership teams in our portfolio to find out what drives them, who inspires them, and the biggest lessons they’ve learned.
This month, we chat with John-Paul Savant, CEO of Auction Technology Group (ATG), a global leader in online marketplaces and auction technology. Since joining ATG in 2016, John-Paul has led the business through a period of significant transformation, growing its impact on the circular economy while scaling operations to facilitate over $13 billion in annual sales.
John-Paul shares what motivates him, his thoughts on leadership, and the one rule he expects his employees to live by.
Q: Which one rule do you expect your employees to abide by?
Be honest. Whether it be within my exec team or within our overall team of 600, I want people to tell it as it is and to give me the reality. I’m not saying I take what everyone says without challenging whether their truth is THE truth, but I want people to tell their truth. Without that, it leads to a cascade of other issues, not the least of which can often be a cascade of bad decisions. Colleagues, the management team, and the Board cannot make good decisions unless what they hear is truth, so yes, my one rule is Be Honest.
Q: What motivates you?
Seeing the full picture of what I envision become a reality. I’m a fairly intuitive person and I love seeing potential in things that others may overlook whether it be people, buildings, objects, or whatever. But when I see the potential in something, often a whole picture of “what can be” emerges in my mind at a gut level that feels right, and then I start looking for data, people, and other elements that can help me make it become reality. But the motivation is building something that encompasses the fullness of what I envisage and turning it into a reality.
Q: What are you most proud of in your career?
I would have to say it’s what we’ve achieved at ATG over the last 8+ years as it’s been a financial success but also is doing something good for society as we are massively accelerating the circular economy. In 2016, when ECI hired me, we facilitated the sale of just over $1 billion, had ~$20m of revenue and $3m of profit and I think ATG was valued at about $30m.
Today, we facilitate the sale of over $13 billion, we have $180m+ of revenue with over $80m of EBITDA and is valued at ~$850m. So we make a bigger impact on the environment and are more successful financially. I feel more proud of what we’ve done at ATG than having been part of the team at PayPal that built PayPal Europe from $0 revenue to $1.8 billion over 10 years.
At PayPal you always wondered if it was really YOU making the difference. And if you have any humility at all you realise that maybe you made a bit of a difference but that it was a great idea at the right time and you were lucky to be part of the journey. But with ATG, I think the staff and the management team and I, especially Tom Hargreaves, Richard Lewis and Badr Khan in the early days and now my current exec team of Meghan Nally, Jeremy Stewart, Darren Ali, and Richard Lewis (still!) are the ones who can truly say we’ve led this transformation and made a difference.
Q: Who do you admire / who inspires you?
My father. He was a true Renaissance Man in that he loved and was capable at everything – great sportsman, lauded university professor, published poet, excellent musician, great public speaker, and also great with building things with his hands, as he basically built half our home as we grew up.
He was also a great grandfather – lying on the ground with my kids for 4 or 5 hours at a time. But above all, what I respected was that he always saw the best in people and people knew that and were drawn to him. He focused on what he saw that was good in people versus what he didn’t like. He was authentic. What you saw on the outside was how he behaved at home as well. He used to say he was a French peasant at heart because of his love of manual labour and working with his hands, but I always saw him as someone who had natural nobility in him.
Q: What do you think makes a good leader?
I think to be a leader requires passion and belief in what you are doing. As leading by definition means you’re taking others in a direction. And you don’t get paid to lead because it’s easy. So you have to have belief and passion to give you the energy to see you through the hard times, the times when things are not clear on what to do next, the ability to give others faith that you can reach where you’re heading, even if there’s doubt and doubters around you.
Strategy, hiring well, prioritising, the ability to sell your idea, and setting up solid processes are all important but if you don’t have that next level of belief, I don’t know if you’ll be able to lead through the hard times or when things don’t go to plan. When you have it, it’s what sustains you and also helps you remain focused on doing what’s right for the company regardless of short-term obstacles.
Q: How has leading a publicly listed company changed the way you approach leadership?
Since ATG went public in 2021, I think what’s changed most for me in how I lead is really two things:
1) Seeing truly the importance of hiring far ahead of the curve at the exec level to get the talent I need for the next level of aspiration for ATG. One great exec in a key role makes a huge difference and they are worth the money.
2) Needing to learn how to bring a public Board along my thought journey and how to better support the education process by sharing the right information and thinking further ahead on key questions.
I’ve worked with many good board members but I’ve learned the most from our Chairman, Scott Forbes, about seeing how all elements of running a public company – from Remco, Nomco, Auditco, ESG, Board meetings, Trading Statements, to Earnings Calls – can be run and organised and what you can achieve with each to the benefit of the company.
Q: How do you switch off from work?
Lots of things help me switch off. Primarily time with my kids as each of the 4 of them want and need different things and I enjoy the variety of it. But when it’s purely for me, it’s probably thinking about our home I am restoring in the Savoie region of France where my family is from or talking about it with my eldest son or younger ones. And, closer to home in London, I enjoy gardening and hiking or any National Trust property with the family.
Q: What item do you own that you would you never put up for auction (no matter the price!)?
Our family home in France. Someone could offer me 20x the actual value of it and I’d not sell it because it means too much to all of us. Closer to home, probably the plaster imprints of the kids feet from when they were babies.
Q: Favourite film?
Lots of good films. I can’t really choose. But something I can watch over and over again? Probably any of the Super Bowls of the 49ers where Joe Montana was quarterback.
