Uit de oude doos.....echtpaar Godijn:
TomTom, still trailblazing after a decade
The TomTom founders on saving marriages, surviving the recession, and their ambition to develop a new product to rival the satnav
TomTom chief executive
Harold Goddijn, chief executive of TomTom, pioneered satellite navigation systems
TransferWise, the smart new way to send money abroad
Freedom, transparency and no more hidden bank fees. TransferWise is the new, transparent and cost-effective way to make money transfers around the world saving you up to 89%
Sponsored by TransferWise
Louise Armitstead
By Louise Armitstead, Chief Business Correspondent
6:00AM BST 12 May 2014
Comments15 Comments
The bosses of TomTom reckon they’ve helped save 13m marriages. Far-fetched as the claim might be, at least they have some experience: Harold Goddijn and Corinne Vigreux have been married more than two decades, co-founding the iconic satellite navigation device company en route.
Last week the couple celebrated 10 years since the first TomTom went on sale. It was the fastest selling technology device ever, clocking up one million sales more quickly than even the mobile phone.
Since then, 75m devices have been sold in 35 countries, guiding drivers over 175bn miles – and, according to the anniversary bumf, “helping 13m couples avoid navigation arguments in the car”.
Even so, it’s not been a smooth journey. After bursting off the grid, the company nearly came off the road during the financial crisis. The shares, listed on the Amsterdam stock exchange, show the bumpy road.
From a standing start, the stock soared to a high of almost €13 in 2007 before slumping to €2 in two years. Analysts hailed a 60pc rally last year and another 10pc jump after last week’s results, but, at around €5 (£4), it’s a long way from the peak.
Related Articles
United Europe crucial for business, says tech boss 12 May 2014
TomTom shifts gear from satnavs to smartphones 26 Aug 2012
Police use satnavs for speed traps 28 Apr 2011
TomTom sat navs suffer 'leap-year bug' 03 Apr 2012
Buy a Munch, Picasso or a handbag at an auction online Sponsored by Barnebys
The stomach-churning ride would strain most business leaders – and their marriages. But the pair, who have two teenage children, say the unconventional management structure has been a benefit.
“A lot of people can’t believe it, but it’s amazing how well it works,” says Goddijn, the Dutch chief executive of the group. “Corinne and I have been through such a roller-coaster in our professional life but it’s fantastic we can share it and live it together.”
French-born Vigreux adds: “We’re very different, we complement each other. It’s a big adventure we’ve been through. During those moments when things are tough, we help each other, there’s a lot of strength in that partnership.”
Even tougher times lie ahead if TomTom is going to stay on the road for the next 10 years. “The market has changed beyond recognition,” says Goddijn. “When we launched in 2004 with a boxed product, it was the only way to get mobile navigation.
Now it’s all built into every smartphone and there’s a range of navigation solutions which has put a lot of pressure on us. Satnavs are still doing well but diversification is vital. We’re having to work a lot harder now and business has become a lot more complex.”
Vigreux adds: “Everyone thinks we’re not doing very well when actually we have a €1bn turnover, we’re profitable and we employ 3,600 people and 800m people around the world use our technology every day. We are not as big as we were before but we are still alive and kicking.”
As she points out, TomTom is the only global consumer electronics brand to come out of Europe and still be European-owned in the past 15 years. But despite all its achievements, and profitability, it’s still not seen on a par with the tech behemoths such as Twitter and Facebook.
The problem, says Vigreux, is that TomTom is still too associated with its flagship satnav. It needs a new blockbuster product, or several – and as boss of TomTom’s consumer division, it’s Vigreux’s responsibility to find them.
Sitting in a cafe in rain-soaked London, Vigreux says the inspiration first time round came from the capital. “It all started here,” she says. “All of us founders worked at Psion, the UK tech company.”
Brought up in “a pretty rough area” of Lyon, the daughter of a buyer for a chemical company and a pharmacist, Vigreux says she was always encouraged to work hard. “My parents wanted me to study, they had a big thing about social mobility.”
After focusing on physics and maths at school, Vigreux went on to Paris business school where she finally had the chance to live in Berlin and then London. After starting at a French games firm, she moved to the UK to Psion, which was at the time a FTSE 100 giant and technology powerhouse.
“I chose London because I fell in love with an Englishman, you know how it is, but mainly I loved the job,” she says, her French accent emphasising the matter-of-fact. “Actually, the English guy was a bit irrelevant, I was travelling most of my time. I loved it.”
As the only foreigner at the time – it was the mid-1980s – she was tasked with Psion’s technology internationally.
Meanwhile, Goddijn, who read economics at Amsterdam University and started work for a venture capital firm, had come across some of Psion’s handheld computers and organisers and was impressed.
He contacted Psion with the idea of distributing the company’s products in the Netherlands through a joint venture. The pair met because Vigreux was sent to negotiate for Psion.