As an International Accelerator Manager and as a Talent Scout for Entrepreneurs, I've been advising more than 100 Scale-Ups on how to build their business and raise funds. I joined Makers' Academy so that I could build their Products too. I love working in highly entrepreneurial, innovative and fast growing organisations. I lived, studied and worked in 5 countries so far, learning to speak 4 Human languages along the way. Thanks to Makers', I now speak 4 Computer languages too - and as a newly trained Full Stack Developer, I am incredibly eager to learn more.
| Title | Timeframe | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Recurrio | 2 weeks | IoT device using Arduino + Bluetooth Low Energy Module. App developed in Swift |
| Lemmings | 1 week | Lemmings game revisited with Javascript and Matter.js |
| Bank Account | 2 days | Simulation of a bank account using pure Ruby |
Throughout my career, I challenged myself multiple times in order to keep learning subjects that were outside my comfort zone.
I pursued Classical studies in secondary school (Latin, Greek, Philosophy, History), went on to study Mechanical Engineering at University. Completed the course with a high 2:1, despite no previous background in maths and science. A few years later, as my career was progressing towards leadership roles, I felt the need to formalise my business education with a MBA. I studied the languages of every country in which I lived. I have now completed my coding bootcamp, in order to update my skillset and stay relevant in the Tech industry. I continuously adapt to new subjects and I rapidly apply what I learn.
Despite my technical background, I have a strong interest in client-facing roles and business development. As the European Business Development Manager for Solyndra inc, a Californian startup focused on solar energy, I pursued deals and projects for solar infrastructure, delivering a turnover of more than 12 MEur in the first 18 months in the job.
Whenever I have the opportunity to lead a team, I always strive to provide meaning to our mission.
- As Product Manager in a Fortune 500 Corporation, I was tasked with turning around a loss making business unit. I put together a cross functional team and re-designed our commercial policy, leading our salesforce towards stretch goals. Ten years later, my ex-colleagues and ex-managers still remember the reason why we achieved our goals.
- The team I was leading recovered 1.4 MEur in 18 months, bringing the business unit back to profitability.
- The result was so significant that the Company invested in my MBA, as a one-off bonus
More recently, I put together a team of fellow Makers, with the mission of designing and building an Internet of Things device. We are exploring commercial applications of the product. You can find more information at Recurrio
In the 16 weeks at Makers' Academy, I had the opportunity to learn and apply best practice in Software Design. The focus was on learning skills rather than techniques, and therefore I have been trained in OOP, TDD, BDD and SOLID principles. Thanks to the imprinting received, I am committed to TDD and to the idea of crafting software that is clean, readable, maintainable. I learned to live and work by XP Values and follow Agile processes. During the course I built projects using:
- Languages: Ruby, Python, Javascript, SQL, jQuery, Swift
- Frameworks: Rails, Node.js
- Testing Frameworks: RSpec, Jasmine, Mocha/Chai, Capybara
- ORMs: Datamapper, PostgreSql
- HTML, CSS
- Libraries: Matter.js, Canvas
- Deployment: Heroku, AWS, Travis CI
- Version control via GitHub
- Arduino & Arduino IDE
- Awarded HEC Excellence scholarship
- Elected President, MBA Entrepreneurship Club
- Received Deloitte Certificate in Energy & Finance
- Selected for TEC (The Executive Committee) Programme
- Core modules: Entrepreneurship, Venture Capital
- Core interests: Clean Tech & Tech
- Erasmus Scholarship
- Core focus on Industrial Engineering
- Final Thesis: Analysis of a Fuel Cell Bus System
- Final grades: 106/110 (equivalent to high 2:1 in the UK)
Tools used during my studies:
- Design: Solidworks / Autodesk Fusion 360 / Autocad
- Maths and Stats: Matlab / SPSS
PA Consulting (March 2015 to April 2017) - London / Beirut / Dubai
International Accelerator Manager
UK Trade and Investment (August 2013 to March 2015) - London / Tel Aviv
Talent Scout for Entrepreneurs - Sirius Programme
LightSource RE (June to August 2013) - London
Asset Manager
European SMEs (Sept 2011 to June 2013) - London
Country Manager
Solyndra Inc (Feb 2010 to Sept 2011) - San Francisco / Munich / Milan
Business Development Manager
HEC Paris (Sept 2008 - Jan 2010) - Paris
Full time MBA studies
Air Liquide Italia (Jan 2004 - Sept 2008) - Milan
Product Manager
Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Specialist
When I am not coding or changing nappies, I love spending my time doing any of the following:
- Sailing (started a sailing company in my 20s)
- Reading books on education matters
- Cooking with wood fired ovens (beware, I can talk about the subject for an entire day)
- Learning to play the piano with my daughters. I massively recommend Hoffman Academy
- Writing in my blog Medium
- Building a treehouse for my kids in the garden (pictures coming up soon)