Michele Tecchia grew up in Monaco and spent his childhood at the École du Parc in the Principality. It was during a first aid competition launched by the Red Cross that Michele Tecchia was already developing his skills as a future growing hacker. He says: “After having obtained the tenth place, which does not sound very good, but which is the best ranking in the history of our country, and after having totally reformed the first aid training, I created the Monaco Red Cross Youth Club. From only two members, including myself, I made this youth club the most important one in the Country during the following years”. At its inception, he promoted the club through Facebook, and implemented a strategy to grow the club. Illustrating the events with photographs, they attract the attention of the young, then the elderly and eventually organize internal parties for the Monegasque Red Cross. For the past 6 years, Michele Tecchia has been developing Sarastar in Monaco where he looks for new ways to develop his clients’ brands. In his projects, he uses his skills in growth hacking, digital marketing and business development that he has acquired through his experiences. Michele Tecchia is first and foremost a digital enthusiast, working in product development, ad acquisition, inbound marketing and the implementation of digital strategies. During these different projects, his objective is to define commercial strategies adapted to each company and each need. Michele Tecchia: “But why at 16 did I want a Polo Ralph Lauren?” Michele Tecchia: “In fifth grade, I would have died for a Ralph Lauren polo shirt. I bought a fake red one, I couldn’t afford a real one at 75€. Why does a twelve year old boy want to have a polo player on his chest so badly? How do brands do this? I found this question fascinating and it helped guide my choice of study. Michele Tecchia : « As a Growth Manager, you help companies grow. A broader task than my previous job as a digital marketing consultant: growth is a goal, digital marketing is just one of the tools you can use to achieve it.” Michele Tecchia soon becomes manager. “It sounds impressive, but there were four of us in total – it’s still a start-up.” And a start-up needs a moment of profitability. “As CEO, I was able to bring in his telecom subsidiary. A beautiful moment.’ The current work of Michele Tecchia Michele Tecchia ends up as a growing hacker in 2019 and eventually becomes a partner. “I can make substantial choices that are about social impact and becoming the best at sustainable growth companies. Ambition and meaning finally come together here. Important lesson – “You have to dare to make smart choices – we recently said no to a big client.”
Michele Tecchia : « In my career, one question has become increasingly important: why? I also became a manager and learned that taking responsibility for your own results is very different from taking responsibility for the results of others. Then I discovered: the best way to get everyone on the same page is to know exactly why you do what you do as a team. My own why has been increasingly characterized by the desire to mean something to others. Sprints & Sneakers is part of this approach; our slogan is to define growth. We try to make this as accurate as possible. We offer our employees the opportunity to buy back shares, so they too can reap the rewards; we donate free work hours to AidsFonds and OceanCleanup; and soon we will only want companies as customers that contribute to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Then, you have to dare to make smart choices – that’s why we recently said no to a big client. Who was my main inspiration? That must be my mother. As a budget coach, she regularly helped cash-strapped families at our kitchen table. As a result, you learn early on that the world is much more than people wearing red Ralph Lauren polo shirts. Michele Tecchia, a heterogeneous CV Obtaining a Master’s degree in Marketing and Digital Strategy from Idrac Business School between 2000 and 2004 allowed him to develop the specialized marketing skills needed to implement a commercial strategy. Michele Tecchia pursued his graduate studies at Sciences Po Grenoble between 2004 and 2006 and obtained his degree in Political Science and Government. His meetings at Sciences Po and Idrac are, according to him, “the best thing” that ever happened to him. In 2012, he left for London to do a year of studies in the Growth Hacking Academy, the first growth hacking academy in Europe, where he obtained a Master in Marketing. This intensive three-month training allowed him to change his way of seeing and approaching his work by collaborating with different people: business analysts, designers or software engineers. After his studies, he first became a communication agent for almost a year for the Expleo Group in Toulouse. This first experience allows him to work in the internal communication of the company for an Airbus project extending over 16 sites in the world, in Asia, Europe and North America. Michele Tecchia: “I’ve always had a growth mindset, but I didn’t realize it until now” Michele Tecchia joined Orange as a business development specialist. He became media sales manager in 2011 at Ebookers Limited where he set up the company’s French sales strategy. Since 2016, Michele Tecchia has been working in his startup as a manager, moderator, marketer, content creator, cleaner, or sales specialist. This experience within his own startup acted as a wake-up call for him: “I always had a growth mindset, but I didn’t realize it until now. Independent growth hacker after having worked for prestigious marketing services such as Ebookers or Orange in France, his experiences in communication in Toulouse and Paris allowed him to develop his skills in the marketing field and are therefore closely linked with his growth hacking activity, the idea being to think about the target audience and the commercial aspect of the contents produced. Michele Tecchia loves his job and describes the purpose of his profession “The main objective of a growth hacker is to conduct experiments to unlock growth opportunities based on an in-depth analysis of milestones and user flows,” and explains that “it’s about finding new approaches to achieve business goals, which involves more strategic thinking and planning.” A growth hacker helps companies acquire and retain customers by analyzing the significant data they have. For him, more than a profession, it is a true state of mind. Michele Tecchia has one motto; “Always learn. Always test!” Although independent, he does not work alone, and regularly surrounds himself with design and editorial teams with whom they conduct experiments to test the CTA or UX design. Michele Tecchia loves her job and believes that clear and professional communication is one of the most important skills for working in a team. The job also involves understanding a lot of knowledge, especially in conversion rate optimization, UX or basic statistics. A growth hacker must also develop multiple skills but must also know how to specialize in some of them. For him, it is also necessary to show a great capacity for self-reflection and to be open to others by taking into account their comments and ideas. He also particularly enjoys working in Monaco, as the Principality is home to many innovative companies with which he works. For those who would like to become a growth hacker like him, he advises them to “always learn and always test”.