This article was written by Bob Sechler and originally appeared in the Austin Business Journal. This story is part of ABJ’s special coverage of the 2024 Best CEO Awards. See the other articles here.
It turns out the skills required to help build a new business can be equally useful when it comes to reversing the fortunes of an existing company fallen on difficult times.
Take the case of Michael Osborne, who took the helm of Appriss Retail in March 2023 and, less than 18 months later, has already made substantial progress turning it around.
Osborne, who has a background in electrical and computer engineering, previously played a key role at Austin-based startup Bazaarvoice. He joined as vice president of sales in 2006 — the ninth Bazaarvoice employee at the time — and departed in the wake of its successful IPO in 2012 as senior vice president of worldwide sales, chief revenue officer and chief customer advocate.
He subsequently honed his knack for scaling up businesses, serving on the board of a number of tech companies and also as a mentor at Techstars Austin, where he provided financial and advisory help to budding entrepreneurs.
When he became CEO of Appriss Retail, which uses AI-driven analytics and other systems to help retailers mitigate theft and fraud while also providing positive experiences for consumers, the company was stagnating and its customer churn was high. Since then, Appriss Retail has returned to strong year-over-year growth, several leading brands and retailers have become customers, and churn is near zero.
As a leader, Osborne is known for his focus on transparency, honesty and integrity. He also believes in moving fast — “time kills all deals” is an adage he holds dear — to capitalize on opportunities as they arise. Another — “perfection is the enemy of done”— also helps form the basis of how he steers Appriss Retail and communicates with his team.
Osborne has become an industry thought leader during his tenure at Appriss Retail, establishing credibility as a go-to expert for media ranging from CNBC and Business Insider to NBC News and Forbes. In addition, Appriss Retail is a voice within the retail industry advocating for fraud prevention and best practices, and it publishes annual reports in conjunction with the National Retail Federation regarding the overall scope of consumer returns across the sector.