Going digital is a strategy most businesses are relying on to power through uncertain times. According to Statista, global digital transformation spending is expected to reach $2.8 trillion USD by 2025. While technology plays a vital role in a company’s ability to transform, what really matters to investors looking to disrupt in the modern age?
CG Tech is an investment holding company taking a unique approach to its investment strategy. With a modus operandi for infiltrating traditional industries and using technology innovation to disrupt, the company continues to expand globally, with interests in a variety of industries including oil and gas, power and energy, construction, events, sound stages and metaverse technologies. Chairman Niall Carroll and CEO Jason English are adept at working in tandem to recognise synergies across the portfolio, combining investment strategies to power a collective that is stronger than the sum of its assets.
Whether it’s engineering, virtual reality or the staging of live events, CG Tech is operating in competitive fields and using the strengths of one company to help to disrupt the entire industry of another.
We brought Carroll and English together to explore more of what goes into the CG Tech formula and the takeaways they’ve learned through their respective careers.
- Set long-term goals
Starting with the endgame in mind is a crucial part of a solid investment strategy. For Niall Carroll, the chance to create CG Tech came after years of honing his trade in the investment banking and corporate advisory realms. When it came time for his next move, Carroll was eager to use his experience to build a group that spoke to his interests in the community and create something that would last well into the future.
While many venture capitalists subscribe to the shareholder model of investing, Niall Carroll takes a more holistic view.
“For me, it’s got to be about the people as well as the larger community. I’m not clever enough to get in early and get out quick. We look for companies that are specifically run by owner-operators because they have ‘skin in the game.’ They are financially and emotionally committed, want to succeed as much as you do and are willing to work hard for it because they’re part of the upside. And we try to be trustworthy partners to them.”
As it happened, CG Tech’s first investment was in a South African oil and gas services business headed by Jason English. “Jason is an outstanding leader and is particularly strong in driving positive cultural and operational change”, explains Carroll.
By choosing long-term success over short-term gains, CG Tech utilises a purpose-driven approach that places people before profits. Interestingly, the approach seems to usually end with profit and is helping CG Tech to realise its vision of being a more valuable portfolio that has a significant social impact by 2030.
- Invest in your ecosystem
It might not be a word you’re used to hearing in relation to the business world, but ecosystem is a fundamental ingredient in CG Tech’s success. So much so that Jason English has adopted the title of Chief Ecosystem Officer.
“Most people ask me, ‘Why an ecosystem?’ The answer is simple – by ensuring the overall health of your entire ecosystem, you are better setting yourself and your team up for success,” explains English.
“An ecosystem doesn’t simply refer to your organisation, it also encompasses the clients you work with, suppliers, regulators, opinion formers, the communities you operate in and even the competitors in your industry.”
“We are aware of competitors, but try to avoid benchmarking ourselves against them. Of course we need to be efficient and price-competitive, but we are also always looking to add value to our clients in unique ways, often through a combination of culture and technology” says Niall Carroll.
For Jason English, this is made easier when leaders are able to take a “helicopter view” of their operations. By taking flight off the ground and looking at the group as a whole, the CG Tech leadership is better equipped to recognise valuable links between their companies, as well as gaps that need to be filled.
“Sometimes you can get overwhelmed with what’s right in front of your face. Problems seem insurmountable and anxieties form. But by taking a step back and taking the time to look at the bigger picture, what once seemed like a huge obstacle can suddenly seem smaller and easier to manage,” says English.
Perspective, it would seem, is key to context.
- Create a positive culture within your teams and beyond
The pair agree that creating a solid company culture and instilling that throughout the portfolio is vital to establishing trust between and across teams. The ability to create strong connections within an organisation is proven to have a positive effect on productivity, and ultimately profit. According to research by adpri.org, employees who are strongly connected are 191x more likely (yes, you read that right!) to be highly resilient at work and 75x more likely to be fully engaged at work, compared to those who are not connected.
Company culture is something Jason English values highly, moving as far as to codify his method in an upcoming book entitled “The Oros Effect.” Oros, a popular South African orange concentrate squash that is added to water, is a metaphor for how leaders can distil their values, beliefs and ideas (their Oros) into those around them (the water), to create a new culture.
“Corporate culture is vital, especially in times of change or growth,” explains English.
At its crux, the Oros Effect is about moving teams to understand a leader’s vision, infusing them with distilled knowledge and empowering them to make decisions and act in the best interest of the company.
“If done correctly, your Oros should permeate throughout your organisation and out into the wider communities in which you operate,” explains English.
As the former CEO of Prommac, an industrial services company now under the CG Tech umbrella, Jason English employed this technique to take the business from a small local player to a leading industry supplier employing over 2,000 people.
“I was adamant that as we grew, I didn’t just become some figurehead at the top, looking at the numbers. I wanted to ensure a connection with not only the Prommac employees but also within the outlying communities,” says English.
“I had my personal phone number listed on the website, along with others. If there was a problem in the middle of the night, you could call me directly. Sometimes it was a local looking for a job opportunity. I encouraged this line of open communication and would put them in touch with the right person in HR.”
For Jason English, open communication and leading by example both play a major role in establishing trust. It’s a philosophy that’s fortified by Niall Carroll and works well within the CG Tech ecosystem.
- Redefine failure
Taking a different view of failure is also something that Niall Carroll and Jason English apply throughout the group.
“By cultivating a failure-tolerant environment we give teams the space to innovate. Failure isn’t an issue as long as it doesn’t involve a breach of our key values and something is learned from it, and we take care to not repeat the same mistakes again.” explains Carroll.
For Jason English, it’s about understanding that people aren’t numbers. They make mistakes, they take chances and sometimes they just have a bad day. But with a strong Oros, companies are better prepared for setbacks. As teams align and creativity is allowed to propagate, innovation and the ability to disrupt become second nature.
“Not everything we do will be a home run. But as leaders, we understand that and empower our teams to continue pushing experiments without fear but mindful of purpose. Yes, something might fail but what we learn from that failure could be the exact thing we needed to power the next big idea. Sometimes we win, sometimes we learn, but we never lose,” says English.
