Giovanni Lo Faro
In this regular series, we talk with alumni from the Europe and CIS region about their experiences after IE. In this installment, we speak to Giovanni Lo Faro of Italy.
What have you been doing since completing your degree at IE?
After completing IE’s 2005 MBA class, I joined Modo’s headquarters in New York as Director of Marketing and Business Development, with the objective of developing the company’s brand portfolio and international presence. In 2008 I founded the European subsidiary of Modo in Milan, which I currently lead as Managing Director. Modo is a niche eyewear company serving leading fashion and optical retailers across 50 countries.
How has your IE education influenced your career?
IE’s approach to entrepreneurship helped me to acquire the skills required not only to start a new company, but also to successfully run it across an ever-increasing range of challenges. The opportunity to apply what I learnt arises every day. I also believe Entrepreneurship is a mindset. It does not only mean to start something from scratch – it’s getting more and more common for big enterprises to look for candidates that face business challenges with the eyes of an entrepreneur.
What would be your advice be to current and future IE students?
Every day it’s more important not only to acquire new skills, but above all to create a strong network with current students and alumni that will help you during the job search. This network is closely tied to the “real world”, so keeping a good relationship also with them can help quite a lot. To future students: we live in challenging times, so the choice of the school will play a pivotal role. My advice? Besides looking at the “official” rankings, come up with your own ranking, based on your values and the ones of the school. The cultural fit is paramount. At IE those values are Innovation, Diversity, Corporate Social Responsibility and Entrepreneurship. Other schools offer a different approach. Not worse nor better, just different.
About the author
With an Engineering background and experience in consulting, Sergio Negri completed his MBA in 2004, after which he joined Metro News as a Business Development Manager. Since 2008 he has been the Manager for IE in Italy, finding new job opportunities for IE alumni and advising potential candidates. He’s also Adjunct professor at IE, in the field of IT management.