About

Team size: Three

Major legal advisers: Lewis Silkin, CMS, Ashfords

What are the most important transactions, litigations or other major projects that you have been involved in during the last year?

Despite the lockdowns, the what3words legal team has had a busy year in 2020. We had to assist the business in negotiating and closing several innovative deals around the world. Among others, we launched partnerships with the emergency services globally and what3words is now used by all emergency services in the UK and Scotland, and we have since expanded to Australia, Canada, Germany and the US. We also started a partnership with TataMotors in India and had to support a 1000% increase in ecommerce use of what3words, which lead to closing key ecommerce deals with Hermes and AO. Developing as prompted us to secure IP protection for our technology and brand on a truly global basis – in more than 20 countries.

It will come as no surprise that the Covid-19 pandemic has had an influence on our work. Throughout the year, the legal team assisted the company to navigate the ever-changing covid rules and guidance issued by the UK government and in other territories. This involved informing our management as to when to close offices and advising on the steps we needed to take to ensure our employee’s health and safety; this across several countries.

We also planned for the future and participated in what3words’ ESG efforts. Along with other tech businesses, the company has pledged to be net zero on all greenhouse gases by 2030 and established ethical use policies to ensure our technology is used in the correct way.

Finally, what3words launched a joint media campaign on Channel 4 and received corporate fundraising income from several large strategic investors.

What were the main difficulties your company faced during the initial Covid lockdown?

We already used Zoom, Slack and other similar software prior to the pandemic. They kept us operating but moving to a fully remote setting was initially a challenge. At the beginning, everybody was still working out what their response to the pandemic would be, and we found that some of the projects that had strong momentum suddenly slowed down.

In this remote work setting, we also struggled with ensuring that our culture was maintained, in particular for those joining the business completely remotely. We quickly brought significant improvement, though, with innovative remote social events, such as companywide quizzes, kitchen table wine tasting, and even a Zoom rock, paper, scissors contest.

The idea behind your company is ingenious. Could you explain the business model, and how you generate revenue?

Thank you! What3words belongs to the geocoding industry. It represents a multi-billion-dollar market, and it is growing. Essentially, what3words, charges businesses that are converting three-word addresses to coordinates at high volume. Three-word addresses helps these businesses gain in efficiency as they are far more accurate than traditional street addresses. So whenever one types their address in online, to receive a delivery, for instance, someone gets paid. We’ve designed a model which also ensures that our technology is free for consumers, emergency services and NGOs.

How have you and your team found working from home, and is this a work practice you intend to carry forward post-pandemic? How important is face-to-face interaction for a legal team to function well?

One of the team members joined the company during the pandemic, meaning that she did not physically meet the other members for months. She has been incredibly proactive, though, which proves that it is possible to be efficient while working from home. Post-pandemic, we will move to a hybrid model, however. As to the legal team, specifically, we will be in the office approximately two days a week, with the possibility to work remotely the rest of the time. We noticed office distractions have an impact on people’s work, and that it is easier to get on with complex work while working from home. Nonetheless, it is also important that the team meets in person for brainstorming and problem-solving sessions.

How do you feel the pandemic has changed the world of work for in-house counsel and the function of the general counsel?

The pandemic has changed the way we work, and this period can be an opportunity for us to ‘build back better’. General counsel can play a huge role in their company’s ESG initiatives and moral compass. The role has expanded beyond the strict ‘legals’ even before the pandemic. I have no doubt that our remit will keep expanding post-pandemic. I think that GCs will also be charged with ensuring their companies can navigate through the world’s increasingly complex geopolitical landscape and that they will need to be as innovative as ever in doing more with less.