Racing to the Top: Zak Brown and Jette Nygaard-Andersen's leadership fireside chat

Hello and a very warm welcome to all of you watching. I am delighted to be joined by the CEO of McLaren Racing, Zac Brown, and the CEO of Entain, Jette Nygaard-Andersen. It's a pleasure to meet you both. We're going to get a great insight from both of them about their journeys and their careers to date. So let's start, Zac, with a little bit of an introduction from you for those watching that might not know too much about you. Talk to us about what you do in the business that you run.

Absolutely, great to be here and great to see you again. Yeah, I'm the CEO of McLaren Racing and ultimately responsible for all of our racing activities, which includes our Formula One team, our IndyCar team, our Formula E team, our Extreme E team, and our esports team. So we have quite a few racing teams. We're in the business of motorsports. We have hundreds of millions of fans around the world. We have the best partners in the world. Ultimately, my role is to get the right people in the right roles and give them the resources, the guidance, the clarity of a vision of what we're trying to achieve at McLaren Racing for us, our fans, and our partners.

That's so interesting. And can I ask, how did it start for you? Because you started as a racing driver yourself, didn't you?

I started racing a long time ago, in 1991. I raced professionally from '91 to 2000. But halfway through my racing career, I became good at sponsorship, not only for myself but for other racing teams. So as I started the second part of my career, I started a business which was looking after the end times of the world, so to speak, in all different forms of motor racing. I stopped racing in 2000. That company, called JMI at the time, took off. I sold some of it in 2008, a little more in 2011, the whole thing in 2013, and then sold it to a company called Chime Communications, which was a London PLC. I became group CEO there and ultimately missed being 100% in motor racing because that's what I've done my whole life. I got the opportunity to come join McLaren, and it didn't take me long to say, 'Which office can I sit in?' Brilliant, and here we are today.

That's such a remarkable story. What about for you, Jette? Talk to us about how you got into the industry and how you have come to become the CEO of Entain.

What I find interesting about both of you is that time is probably the most precious commodity we have in life, and you guys are stretched from pillar to post. You're so busy. Talk to me about how you manage your time. How do you find the time to be the CEO of McLaren Racing as well as everything else you have to look after?

Well, McLaren CEO is my number one priority. Anything I do that isn't in that capacity, I do in my spare time. You're right, we all have 24 hours a day, seven days a week. So I spend a lot of time trying to be as efficient as possible in my communications, leaning into the team, delegating. I think technology plays a big role. If I look back at how I started, building a Rolodex, you literally hand-wrote them. That's pretty long and tenuous. Now, with our phones, devices, CRM technology, and Salesforce, I can create a lot of volume of work. But I couldn't have done it without technology. So technology plays a big role in maximizing how much effort you can get out of a 24-hour workday.

I was looking at the schedule. The race day calendar has expanded, and I think it's an unprecedented number of race days now, with six sprints as well. With all of that, it must be extremely busy for you.

Yes, that's just Formula One: 24 races next year. IndyCar has about 17 races. Formula E similar, Extreme E less so. Yeah, pretty much live on the road once the season starts. I think you need to surround yourself with great people and know how to work out of hotel rooms and at racetracks. Then again, lean into technology. With today's technical world, you can work from anywhere, including planes these days. So in many ways, it's a mobile office.

So Jette, for you, I was having a look at the stats and the numbers: 30,000 colleagues you have nearly. I mean, that's unbelievable. How is it from your perspective in terms of managing everything you have to do, especially on a day-to-day basis?

Absolutely, there are a lot of parallels, actually, a lot of similarities between what you both do. In terms of just having time to switch off, do you get that at all? Is it important to schedule that in the diary as well?

I don't schedule it, but I watch a lot of sports, and that's how I switch off. And when I work out in the morning, that's more or less it.

Nobody that's successful in any industry will not have faced challenges and barriers. Zac, can you talk us about a particular challenge you've faced in your career and how you've overcome it?

Oh, there have been a lot, some within our control, some out. Certainly, COVID was unprecedented for all of us. That was a problem we all inherited, and you needed to react. You couldn't draw on past experience. Furloughing was a term I'd never heard of before. Sending a thousand people or 1,100 people home on reduced pay was just crazy. I'm really happy with how we handled it. We were the first team to lean into it. My view was if we were the first team to lean into it, we would be the first team to get out of it, and that's exactly what happened. Communication was critical, and all the team members were awesome. They understood this wasn't just on McLaren's doorstep but on all of our doorsteps. We were trying to protect the company and therefore protect our people. So we made tough decisions and had tremendous support. That one leaps to the top of the list in terms of size and magnitude. Then, working with our partners, all of them stood by us. When we came back to racing, we were racing without fans. Every one of our partners had the same challenge. I'm very proud that through that journey, we didn't lose any partners. We worked with all of them. At the end of the day, while it's absolutely tragic what happened, from a business standpoint, I think we are a healthier business today going through that challenge because it forced us to make some tough decisions.

What sort of decisions?

The size and shape of the organization and how to get maximum efficiency out of the team you have. Decision-making process, it really sharpened up the organization. The industry and the sport did a great job jumping on the situation. If I look at where McLaren is now and where the sport is, it's extremely healthy. Some of the decisions we had to make during that period were good long-term decisions, though difficult short-term ones. I think there was long-term benefit.

I think it's probably the same for so many people that experienced it because we didn't know what to expect during the pandemic. What about for you, Jette? Your business, Entain, has just gone from strength to strength. How have you coped with any challenges you've faced over the years?

I bet it is. And in similar fashion to what Zac said about the pandemic changes that happened, they've sort of kept implementing now. Has that been the same for you? Are there any changes that came about that you've stuck with because when you were stuck at home, you could do two things: you could watch sport on TV or play new games. So new games became popular. How did that shape things?

Now you've both mentioned technology a number of times. So let's talk a bit more about technology. How have you kept up with how technology has been evolving and kept in touch with it in terms of your business?

Technology touches every part of our business. There's the technology on the race cars. In Formula One, it's cutting-edge technology: what we're developing around sustainability, safety, crash structures, performance. Then there's fan engagement. This is where we work closely with Entain and our partners that talk to millions of consumers. We used to broadcast the sport to people, and it was a one-way communication. You'd find out later via TV ratings or merchandise sales how you did six months ago. Now the fans can tell you lap by lap how you're doing, what they like, what they don't like. Technology has enabled us to have a two-way, instantaneous conversation. We do that directly and through our consumer brand partners. Then there's technology on ways of working, working efficiently, databases, email, texting, etc. So I think technology cuts across everything we do, whether it's engaging with fans, developing race cars, working with employees, or partnering with our partners.

Same for you. I mean, technology is at the heart of what you do at Entain. But how have you managed to keep adapting as technology keeps growing and advancing?

Have you both always been tech-savvy?

I'm not tech-savvy, but I've got a lot of tech-savvy people around me. I'm okay when it comes to the communication side of technology, but you don't want me designing anything that goes on the race car.

Such a good point. And now, you both know each other very well, and there is a relationship and partnership between Entain and McLaren Racing. Talk to us about how that came about.

Jette and I have known each other for some time. We've built a fantastic relationship. She's a great supporter. We got started a few years ago. You look at our partner base: it's kind of 75% B2B and 25% consumer brands. That's how the sport has historically been. One reason is that prior to the new ownership with Liberty Media, five or six years into owning the sport, it was a broadcast. While we have and always have had hundreds of millions, billions of viewers over the course of a season, I don't think the sport has historically been great at engaging with fans. We've been fortunate that our sport is so exciting that we kind of retain the fans without being as good to them as other sports like the NFL, baseball, or football. When I came in and Liberty came in at the same time, I'm a huge fan of motorsports. I know the impression it has made on me over the years. I tried to take an approach of opening up McLaren and letting people on the inside. Where that ties back to Jette and Entain is that our B2B partners help us make the car go faster. But I also wanted to dial up the consumer brands we were associated with because they can help us drive real engagement with fans, bring in new fans, more diverse fans from around the world. So the partnership has been very exciting for us because there is a similar demographic and psychographic between an Entain consumer and a McLaren fan. That's been a real effort for us: to bring more consumer brands in. Now that the sport is more inclusive with things like Netflix, it has attracted consumer brands that haven't been around before. That's why we're trying to lead the charge. Ultimately, if we can keep our fans happy and engaged and bring new fans in, the rest of the ecosystem starts to take care of itself. So we lean into our partners like Entain to help us increase our fan base.

Fans are at the heart of what you both do, so they're the most important. What is it that makes the partnership work so well, Jette?

You mentioned the internship initiative. I've been reading about it. I think it's unbelievable, brilliant. I think all organizations should have something like it. Tell us for those people that don't know what it actually is about.

Wow, it's such a great initiative because so many women in any industry, I feel they, I mean I've just had a baby four months ago, and I think for many women it's quite daunting going back to work. So to help stagger that process or help them get back into it is such a great thing to do. How has it been working from McLaren Racing's perspective?

It's been awesome. It's a big priority for us. When you talk about partnerships and fans, fans are number one priority, but having a great workforce is going to give your fans a better experience. So it's all tied into making the world a better place, providing opportunities, making both of our companies better. Our workforce is about 20% underrepresented, and that's climbing. We'd like to double that by the end of the decade. Personally, I like having diversity of thought, whether that's religion, country of origin, gender, or age. Diversity of thinking makes better input and therefore better output. I'm very proud of what we're doing together. We have a few people in here now that are working for us, and you have the same at Entain. Finding good people is hard. Part of what we need to do is provide opportunities and give people the confidence to go for it. They'll benefit, we'll benefit, and ultimately the fan will benefit because we'll put together better opportunities and a better workforce.

That's such a good point. And with the fact that you mentioned those in STEM careers, after studying there's sometimes a drop-off rate between studying the subject and then going into that particular career. Why do you think that happens?

Conversations like this and hearing from two powerful leaders within industry is so helpful for anyone watching, talking about equality and diversity, which I think we talk about so much more than ever, which is again a really good thing. Why is it important in your industries?

For the reasons I just outlined: diversity of thought, perspective, experience. If you look through a single lens, you're a bit naive as to how the world takes in what you're providing as an experience or what people want out of a workplace. People are all different in what gets them excited and what motivates them. You have to have diversity of thought and contribution to be able to make sure that all of your fans and employees – different things get them excited. You want to customize as much as possible, and that's where you use technology to customize the experience for your fan or employee. It's not one size fits all. If you're only looking at something through one lens, you'll get kind of one output and alienate a lot of people.

What gets discussed quite a lot in my industry and in the media is that you have a lot of diversity happening at sort of the lower levels, but as you climb up the tree to those in decision-making positions, there's not enough diversity. Have you come across that in your industry, and how is Entain changing that? Obviously you're a great example in itself, but there are not that many of us.

Okay, and on a final note, how does all of this tie into your shared organizational values, and how does that also tie into your personal approach?

I can start. I think shared values: we have a common approach to technology and innovation. None of our organizations could exist without technology and the understanding of massive amounts of data, whether you need to have the best performing car or develop the best digital entertainment. When it comes to values, we share values around safety, responsibility, and sustainability. And then it's all about the fans. For us as well, being an entertainment company and understanding that you create excitement for fans and customers out there. Now, for me personally, throughout my career and in everything I do, I believe in doing the right thing, whether for the customer, for colleagues, or for communities. Therefore, I also believe in having partners with shared values because we can do so much more. The returnship program is an example of that: when you have shared values as partners, you can get together on other things as well.

Brilliant stuff. It's been so fascinating hearing from you both. We're now going to have a bit of fun: quick-fire questions. You up for it? Ready for it?

Absolutely.

Good. Okay, Zac first of all, what's your most entertaining moment or memory from Formula One?

Winning Monza in 2021.

Well, you might say that. What about for you, Jette?

Amazing. Okay, besides the obvious, what is your favorite sport and why?

Baseball. I grew up playing it, and I wanted to be a baseball player.

Did you? I love baseball. How far did you get along in that?

Through high school. I still watch it now.

What about for you, Jette?

You play any other sports other than basketball?

If you had to pick one icon from the world of sport, who would it be, Zac, and why?