Case Study

World of Books, GM North America

International expansion of a PE-backed eCommerce pioneer

Brian O’Connor, General Manager, North America, World of Books

Service

Direct to Consumer

Ecommerce

Executive Search

Industry

Consumer

Private Equity

Location

Boston

New York

Situation

  • Founded in the UK in 2005, World of Books became a pioneer in the “recommerce” space by creating an online marketplace for used books and supporting the charitable groups that collected them as donations. In 2018 the company became a certified B Corporation®, an award granted to businesses meeting the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance 
  • Backed by private equity firm Livingbridge, WoB looked to expand its footprint into the US market via an acquisition of company with a similar direct-to-consumer business 

Challenge

  • Finding a US-based General Manager who could lead the operational integration of the newly acquired business and establish the World of Books brand in a critical new market 
  • Evaluating potential candidates both for their functional skills in ecommerce operations, marketing and general management as well as for their fit with the company’s mission and values as Certified B Corporation® 

Result

  • World of Books hired Brian O’Connor who had previously served as COO and General Manager of Uncommon Goods, a DTC ecommerce company that also is recognized as Certified B Corp. Brian had previously held senior strategy, supply chain and business development roles for Pitney Bowes and Lucent Technologies.

 

 

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