VanillaPlus: What was your first job?
Alan Coleman: My first job was working for Morgan Stanley as a graduate in their IT department. I worked on their Swaps derivative desk…It was a real eye opener to the world of high finance in the late 90s.
VP: What led you into a career in telecoms?
AC: Fate ! I joined a start-up after Morgan Stanley and they were focused on the Investment Banking market until they pivoted. Then we ended up launching some early WAP applications and finally we were selling a solution to remove the scratch card form the pre-pay market.
Without naming and shaming, tell us about your worst ever boss.
AC: I have been pretty lucky with people I have worked for. However, I have been at the end of some dubious management decisions. Once I ended up in a pitch for a project where it was decided we did not need slides…that was not quite what the client had expected….there were quite a few long uncomfortable silences!
What has been your worst business travel experience?
AC: Easily the time I caught a 24 hr gastric flu while in transit from the mid-west US to Ireland. I made a series of unfortunate decisions as to my fitness to travel. The repercussions of which were shared both by me and the unfortunate gentleman I was sitting beside!
What has been the proudest moment in your career?
AC: I am immensely proud of growing Brite:Bill from a sketchy business plan into a fully functioning category leader in the area of bill presentation. It has been very challenging at times but, with the help of the talented team we have built, we are maturing into a successful thought leader in the area of helping carriers engage more meaningfully with their customers.
Where do you see yourself in five years?
AC: My journey will be driven by where we drive Brite:Bill over the next 5 years. We have some very exciting new offerings that we will be launching Q1 2016 that we be as transformative to customer engagement as our offering in bill presentment has been. We are also beginning to explore opportunities to bring our offerings to other verticals.
