Class of 1984: 40 years on, a reunion full of memories...
A KEDGE Alumnus is in charge of exporting to Canada a French company, started by...another KEDGE Alumnus!
Yohan Vernet (ESC 2012), a KEDGE Alumnus, joined Pricing Assistant in 2014. The company, which was started by another Alumnus of the school (Martin de Charette), is now off to conquer North America!
Hello, Yohan! To start with, can you tell us about your educational background: what did you study at KEDGE, and before attending KEDGE?
Hello, I always wanted to work in sales. After my BAC, I decided to pursue a DUT in sales techniques, then a Bachelor's in Business & Management in Edinburgh (Scotland), before finally joining KEDGE in Marseille, where I had the opportunity to participate in an exchange programme in Pittsburgh (USA). I mostly concentrated on business studies, marketing, and entrepreneurship and tried to travel as much as possible! That's why the custom-made programme at KEDGE worked perfectly for me.
Tell us about what you've done since graduating: where have you worked? What have those positions taught you?
Once I received my diploma, I joined EXTIA, a consulting company in Paris, where I worked as a Business Engineer. I learned how to negotiate contracts, and recruit and manage a team. It was a very formative experience and I left after two and a half years to join Pricing Assistant in 2014. I joined the company, which was just a start-up at the time, as the Sales Director. The founder Martin de Charette, a KEDGE Alumni (class of 2014), placed a lot of trust in me and that made all the difference! When I joined the company, the software was already complete technically-speaking, but we also had to launch the commercialisation of the product, which was my mission for the next three years.
Today, you are going to develop Pricing Assistant in Canada.
Yes, exactly. We just opened a branch in Montreal, and I just moved here to take over the management of the branch. The goal is to replicate the success we had in Europe in North America. The desire to move abroad has always been in the back of my mind since I graduated, so naturally, I accepted the position. For a little more information on the company: Pricing Assistant is a software that enables e-businesses and brands to track the prices of its competitors on the internet and increase their traffic on google shopping. This data helps them decide the optimal price to maximise their sales margin and revenues.
What are your objectives for the future?
Pricing Assistant's objective is now to expand abroad as fast as it did in Europe. That is why we opened the office in Montreal, to first reach the North American market, which represents a huge potential for us. The objective to reach the same revenues we have in Europe over the next two years. We will most likely expand to other continents in the future.
How did your time at KEDGE Business School help you? What advice do you have for young graduates from your school?
KEDGE taught me to be autonomous and efficient and gave me a real taste for entrepreneurship. Without this, I would have never joined Pricing Assistant.
To all of the young graduates: don't hesitate to join a start-up that is in the development stage if you believe in the idea and the founders! It will provide a wonderful opportunity to learn quickly, have responsibilities and a real impact on the company's results.
For more information:
0 Comment
You must be logged in to leave a comment.
No comment