Non executive Board positions
InnoVaud : President of the board - February 2013 - onwards
Wecelebrated our 10 years Anniversary. The association has now a recognized position to influence the resilience of the local economy.
InnoVaud is the access key to innovation in the canton of Vaud. It focuses on all businesses that bring into being innovation projects – from start-ups and SMEs to giant multinationals Objectives and services:
- To serve as a gateway to innovation in the canton of Vaud
- To attract companies and individuals to establish themselves in the canton of Vaud
- To bring organizations together in a wide network to support innovation and to enhance their offerings
- To accelerate the execution of innovation projects and maximize their chances of success
- To highlight the triumphs of innovation and of the seven technology parks dedicated to innovative companies
InnoVaud has eight technology parks within its network. They are thus an excellent springboard for innovative projects.
InnoVaud helps businesses to find funding solutions. It also provides indirectly financial support. We co-founded together with IMD the ScaleUp education program. With its team of experienced innovation consultants, InnoVaud supports projects and businesses for the long-term. It organizes some networking events and participates in others.
www.innovaud.ch I have been re-appointed 5 times by the Conseil d’état.
CGN: President of the board - May 2012 to December 2019
Local Navigation Company on the Geneva Lake. I represent the Canton de Vaud major shareholder of the navigation company. I have been appointed by the Cantonal Minister of Transport.
www.cgn.ch
Was the representative of EHL in the AISTS board a Master program in Sports Management.
Executive positions
EHL : since 2010 Member of the Executive Leadership Team in several positions
Since the 1
st of September 2022 I run the new Growth department focusing on Marketing and Sales as well as Talents. On the concept “you grow the People, you grow the Company”.
January 2017, I was in charge of the innovation strategy of EHL Group. We are looking at our 125-year-old institution and designing a pivoting strategy.
www.ehl.edu
I was previously director of operations and administration of EHL since 2010 and then Campus Development Director from March 2012. In charge of Infrastructure and Purchasing. The new campus design was under my authority. We invented Crowdsourcing in Architecture; “ a campus designed by students for students”.
Fleur de Pains CEO - 2005 to May 2010
I started the company and acted as Managing Director. I launched this bakery chain from scratch. I designed it and then implemented the plan. The concept was to create a strong local brand. This venture focuses on retailing. The proof of concept is now finished. Based on a strong strategy, the idea of developing a new bakery chain was made possible due to a market evolution and local investors. A huge focus was on developing a strong culture. We managed to reach 10 stores around Lausanne and I raised the company in 5 years from CHF 0 to 12M turnover.
EHL visiting Professor: 2005 to 2010
I taught entrepreneurship at EHL. I focused on MHA students where my expertise as a practitioner is mostly appreciated. I used a methodology that led the students to improve their analytical skills. My teaching was based on building experiences.
UNIL HEC Lausanne visiting Professor: February 2010 to 2020
I have been teaching Entrepreneurship and SME’s Management Tools to 3rd year bachelor students at HEC.
Create Switzerland Managing Director - 2002 to 2004
I was the Managing Director of Create Switzerland, an association formed to help young entrepreneurs to set up their businesses (since 2002). During this time, I developed and implemented a new content and identity for Create Switzerland that permitted a rapid and efficient recognition of the association throughout Switzerland. Under my leadership, Create Switzerland grew from an activity limited to Suisse Romande to a national program employing up to ten people.
A second activity was to design a tender offer for a national program on entrepreneurship in Switzerland (2004), to complement the initial Create Switzerland budget of 27M for five years. The concept I developed was approved by two partners (the HSG in St. Gall, and the Konferenz fur Fachhochschulen), presented to the BBT as a consortium, and received strong support from an executive board of well-known entrepreneurs.
Axe Communication Founder and Managing Director - 1989 to 2002 Interactive strategy
I created Axe Communication to be part of the major changes that did occur in the communication world. My company surfed on the progress of digital imagery. During the early years, I and a graphic artist colleague produced visual aids for conferences. The company grew rapidly, with its own cash flow, and eventually achieved a 4M turnover and 35employees.
Axe, for example, designed the first interactive kiosks for the Olympic Museum (then under construction). Swisscom gave Axe the mandate to organize the platform content for an interactive TV trial in Grenchen and Nyon. Other interesting projects included the development of innovative solutions for MPEG3 digitalization of films, as well as the first e-commerce shops for Nestlé (Easyshop) and Coca Cola. These early e-commerce experiences led the Auchan group to turn to Axe in developing the software solutions used in their e-commerce activities in France and Spain.
From these experiences, I initiated and co-founded the concept of
After more than a decade of successful operation, however, Axe Communication fell prey to the bursting of the internet bubble.
Education
I graduated in 2017 from Stanford Business School for the
Stanford Executive Program 2016. This is highly intensive course led me to enhance my strategical thinking and gave me access to the huge alumni association.
I received a
NEOMA from the CESEM program of the Rheims School of Management (Equis-accredited). Two of the four years of study were carried out in London at London Polytechnic. I have kept since by attending one class per year either in the States or in Europe.
Personal
I am 65, married and the father of twins. I hold Swiss and French citizenships. I participate regularly in long-distance competitions in cross country skiing and mountains running, and compete in orienteering. Other interests include photography and developing a collection of paintings.
Publication: “Dieu et la Pub”