Home Region
Carpi, Italy
Undergrad Education
Luigi Bocconi Com University, 2009
Previous Experience
Rocket Internet SE, Shopwings Australia Pty Ltd, Carmudi GmbH
“Real success comes from empowering others. I am no one on my own.”
Born and raised in a small northern Italian town, Enrico Ferrari was the first in his family to attend college. Driven by an entrepreneurial mindset and a desire to write his own destiny, Enrico moved to Berlin, where he joined an ad technology startup. Enthusiastic about the power of data and technology, he spent nights and weekends learning how to code; soon, he started developing his own algorithms to scale and automate digital marketing campaigns, a skill he applied to successfully expand a classifieds business into fifteen new emerging countries in his next job. He then launched a grocery delivery venture in Germany and Australia, which was backed by Rocket Internet, the largest European internet incubator and investor.
Although that founder's journey ultimately came to an end, Rocket recruited Enrico as the youngest member of their own senior executive team. As CMO, Enrico oversaw the growth of a portfolio of more than a hundred companies all over the globe.
Yet Enrico's desire for entrepreneurship did not dissipate. "Someday, I want to launch another company." In the meantime, Enrico applies his expertise to mentor other founders through the Google Launchpad Accelerator program.
Taking the time to do it right
Even with successes under his belt, Enrico still saw investing two years in graduate studies as a necessity. "It takes a lot of energy to run a company. I want to take the time to reflect on where my passions really lie. HBS is a way for me to broaden my perspective and develop new ideas."
"The single most important thing I learned about leadership," Enrico says of his entrepreneurial experience, "is that companies can scale, but founders cannot; real success comes from empowering others. I am no one on my own."
HBS' learning methodology, Enrico believes, perfectly fits both his experience and his ambitions. "I prefer not to learn exclusively from books. Here, it's cases. You're surrounded by lots of brilliant people; you're learning from the compounded experiences of everyone in the classroom. It's intense – every day you're challenged; you're always learning to think about things in different ways."
"In the HBS classroom," notes Enrico, "It's team-based learning. When you come to a solution together, it's multiple times better than a solution you could come up with on your own."
Enrico is planning on testing the venture capital waters during his summer break. "I've been on the operational and execution side, now I want to see the investors' side for a complete picture before I launch my next venture," he says. To add dimension to his perspective, Enrico already completed Startup Boot Camp during winter break and is considering an entrepreneurial independent project during his EC year.
Home Region
Carpi, Italy
Undergrad Education
Luigi Bocconi Com University, 2009
Previous Experience
Rocket Internet SE, Shopwings Australia Pty Ltd, Carmudi GmbH