Leading a business in a stable market is management. Leading a business when the market is collapsing and reinventing itself? That is transformation.
Many established businesses today are facing their “Netflix Moment”—the need to pivot to digital without killing their core cash flow.In this interview, Richard Spilsbury talks to Robert Price, a veteran CEO who has navigated exactly these waters. From driving a 50% contribution growth at Fox UK during the collapse of physical DVD sales, to leading the IPO of Amcomri Entertainment, Robert knows how to steer the ship through a storm.
Richard: Robert, your background reads like a history of digital media disruption. You were at Future plc building global brands like TechRadar, and then at Fox navigating the shift from physical media to digital. What is the biggest trap for CEOs trying to “transform” an established business?
Robert: The biggest trap is protecting the legacy at the expense of the future.
At Fox, the DVD market was declining, but we managed to grow profit by 20% over 3 years. We did it by aggressively embracing digital platforms (Apple, Amazon, Sky) rather than fighting them.
You have to be willing to cannibalise your own revenue streams before someone else does it for you.
Richard: That requires a lot of nerve, especially with investors watching. You recently led the IPO of Amcomri Entertainment on the CBOE Canada. How does that “public market” discipline apply to private scaling businesses?
Robert: It comes down to Predictability.
Whether you are IPOing or selling to Private Equity, investors hate surprises. They want to see that you have a “Strategic Plan” and that you are hitting your milestones.
When we prepare a company for a transaction, we look for that “Cognitive Layer”, the strategy that connects the tech to the commercial result. Right now, with my work in AI at enSmaller, we see the same thing: Tech is great, but only if it solves a commercial problem.
Richard: That’s the “Link Stone” approach in a nutshell. We often see founders who have great tech or great content, but the “Corporate” wrapper, the governance, the forecasting, the board structure, is missing.
Robert: Exactly. You need the creative spark, but you also need the Commercial Rigour. My role now, whether as a Chair or Advisor, is often helping founders build that bridge. You can’t scale a “hustle.” You have to scale a business.
- Embrace Disruption: If your market is shrinking, don’t cut costs to survive—innovate to grow.
- IPO Readiness: Even if you don’t plan to go public, running your business with public-company discipline (governance, forecasting) maximizes your private exit value.
- AI is a Tool, Not a Strategy: As Robert notes from his AI ventures, technology must serve a clear commercial goal.
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