A chat with…Andrea Scotti Calderini, Co-founder & CEO Freeda
Endeavor talks about… is a monthly column created to explore relevant topics for the Italian startup and scaleup ecosystem, share data and let you know the amazing people who give life to the Endeavor network as entrepreneurs, board members, and mentors.
This month we had a chat with Andrea Scotti Calderini, Co-founder & CEO of Freeda Media, the #1 media brand for entire generations of women, which inspire, represent and speak to them through unique content.
Tell us about yourself: where are you from? And tell us a bit about your background.
I have always been a big fan of media and creativity, I started working very early, mainly in talent management, in various sectors, from art, to entertainment, to sports. I was lucky enough to work with Australian manager David Brown, who managed Naomi Campbel, Monica Bellucci, Roberto Bolle… From him, I had the chance to learn the discipline of work ethics and the right approach to building an artistic career. After this experience, which I cherish with all my heart, I went on to Fremantle Media, where I was in charge of successfully intertwining creative and marketing decisions, then branded content and content marketing for TV shows like X-Factor, Got Talent, and so on. Here I learned about the cross-over between creativity, marketing, and branding. After four years, I went on to Mediaset Publitalia, where I was in charge of the special initiatives department, again branded content, where I had the opportunity to work with the big TV networks and the big authors of Mediaset. In September 2016, I founded Freeda, my editorial project.
Freeda is the company you joined Endeavor with. How did it come about and what was the spark that convinced you to throw yourself into this venture?
Freeda was created from the observation that in the traditional media there was and still is a lack of representation for the new generations. This was especially evident with regards to the female world, which is where we chose to start from, then extended our voice to an increasingly diverse audience - and one that is defined less and less by gender - over these first five years.
In my opinion you can’t really invent anything: you have to look outside your comfort zone and be inspired by others, changing that 3% that makes the product yours only, special.
Freeda is managing to build an alternative business model, in a sector that is currently in crisis and traditionally resistant to innovation, such as publishing. What has been, for you, the key?
The solution can be summed up in three words: listening, curiosity, courage. We started by listening to the users, to the people we want to talk about and represent. We asked ourselves how can we build a brand that will have a positive impact, because the new generations want companies to express themselves on certain socio-cultural issues. To do this, we have been investing in technology and marketing skills from day one, so that we can create specific content that addressed specific interests and needs. Then we chose not to have a website and to remain solely on social platforms, something that at first was incomprehensible to most. All ideas started from listening.
Then I mentioned curiosity, because in my opinion you can't really invent anything: you have to look outside your comfort zone and be inspired by others, changing that 3% that makes the product yours only, special.
Finally, courage: no one will tell you before you set off that this is the right choice, you have to throw yourself into it, and you have to learn faster than you make mistakes. If I could add a fourth point, I would say people: the selection of talent has been crucial.
Reality has its limits and boundaries, but the world of imagination doesn’t; you have to work on that, imagine and then present what you’ve imagined with professionalism and enthusiasm because that has a very strong persuasive power.
Early in the journey, how did you get investors to trust you? What were your strengths?
Reality has its limits and boundaries, but the world of imagination doesn't; you have to work on that, imagine and then present what you've imagined with professionalism and enthusiasm because that has a very strong persuasive power.
It was also crucial that both me, my co-founder Gianluigi Casole, and the people we brought with us at the beginning, all had their own rich personal and professional backgrounds, and the union of these experiences gave us strength. It is also important to find people with the same interests and courage that we had.
Our first investors were Lorenzo Mieli and Mario Gianani, two of the most famous Italian television and film producers, and Ginevra Elkann, a person with great artistic and editorial skills.
At this stage, Freeda is focusing on differentiating the business with a social branding platform. Tell us a little bit about that?
Freeda Media was founded on the business of branded content, that is, creating the best possible content that would build a connection between brands and the younger generation. At some point Michelle Hunziker and Artszana asked us to help them create a new brand, Goovi, by creating a platform based on Freeda's model. In three years, Goovi has become one of the biggest success stories in the world of cosmetics in Italy, and this is also thanks to the community we created, with a very relevant value universe.
From that point on, more and more companies, brands and industrial groups have started asking us to help them with their platforms, and very interesting partnerships have arisen with different realities. In the end we realized that we needed to create a marketing and engagement platform, Freeda Platform, in which the branded content is grafted, but there are also other activities: listen, i.e. optimize their media impact and social content, engage, data & creativity, and trans-act, i.e. the e-commerce part.
What needs to be in the "toolbox" of someone who wants to launch a startup?
Courage. We are returning after two very complicated years, on a personal and professional level, so the idea of launching into a new project requires courage. The second thing is a lot of determination, Michelangelo said something wonderful, which I will paraphrase: "If people knew how much work there is behind what I do, they would consider me much less of a genius". Often the image of the entrepreneur is celebrated as "genius", but the truth is, those who are in it know that it requires a lot, on a physical, mental and relational level.
Work-life balance is a very important issue and it’s your duty, as an entrepreneur, to guarantee it to your workforce, who needs to feel good, to be able to grow well within the company, to find the right fit… but, I’m sorry to say, for the entrepreneurs or managers of a certain level, the same doesn’t apply.
What makes the difference between a successful startup and a failed one?
Determination and hard work. Work-life balance is a very important issue and it's your duty, as an entrepreneur, to guarantee it to your workforce, who needs to feel good, to be able to grow well within the company, to find the right fit... but, I'm sorry to say, for the entrepreneurs or managers of a certain level, the same doesn't apply.
Often a startup is set up with a business model in mind and it changes along the way, so… hard work allows you to steer the ship and bring it safely and successfully to port.
How do you choose who works for you? What qualities do you think are important in today's business world?
Freeda is a company where being all aligned culturally and with our values is paramount. How a person conducts themselves within the work environment is more important than any academic title. We look for people who are empathetic, who can look at things from multiple perspectives, who are collaborative, and who talk about "us" and not "me." They must be people who want to express themselves, because Freeda is diverse and inclusive, not only in what it does, but also within the team, which has more than twenty nationalities within it. We are looking for ambitious and courageous people, who want to look beyond, make mistakes and learn from them, and who are willing to give and receive feedback in a very open way.
Let's talk about mistakes: what mistakes did you make and what did you learn?
I've made a lot of them, and it's because of the mistakes that we've gotten this far today. At the beginning of my career I did almost everything on my own, I fell in love with my ideas and I wanted them to be carried out exactly as I said. Now I'm much more open-minded, I listen to other people's opinions and the projects benefit from that. Another mistake I made was not prioritizing, because being an enthusiast by nature I often brought too many ideas to the table, too many ideas, too much stimulation, and this is never good, because for the success of a company you need to focus on well-defined goals. I've also learned to be more thoughtful, if I see something that doesn't work in the office, I take some time out to think about it calmly and come up with a solution, whereas before I was more reactive, even short-tempered. These are all mistakes that are part of my journey of maturity, thanks to which I am becoming, I hope, a better entrepreneur and a better man.
What has your experience with Endeavor been like?
The selection process at Endeavor, especially the last phase, was really interesting. Entrepreneurs look for a challenge, a confrontation, because it motivates you and validates your ideas, and Endeavor's selection process allowed us to confront ourselves with entrepreneurs who had already seen and done things that we had not yet seen or done. It was a very valuable process, and I would recommend it to any company, young or established. The relationship is also great, Endeavor always supported us when we needed it.
It’s proven that a work environment where women and men have equal opportunities brings more happiness and satisfaction to everyone, personal and corporate. I repeat “happiness” because it’s something concrete: families in which women are as fulfilled as men are more serene, more balanced. Fostering diversity is not only fair, but also profitable for companies and the economy in general.
Endeavor cares deeply about the issue of the gender gap in the professional world, especially business, and we often ask women who have made it to offer advice to young women who want to follow in their footsteps. We want to ask you: what should entrepreneurs do to create environments that are truly inclusive, and in general, how can they be "allies" to women in the workplace?
In a way, you're asking the wrong person, because for me it's very natural. I have been investing in women since day one, and I've done it both because of a bias of mine - I've always worked better with them - and because I believe in the strength of women at work. So 75% of our team are women: the three country managers and the general manager of the platform are women, but so are most of the other teams. The reason why all entrepreneurs should do the same is simple, and that is that not doing so leads to less success, greater dissatisfaction, and lower results. It's proven that a work environment where women and men have equal opportunities brings more happiness and satisfaction to everyone, personal and corporate. I repeat "happiness" because it's something concrete: families in which women are as fulfilled as men are more serene, more balanced. Fostering diversity is not only fair, but also profitable for companies and the economy in general.
The other thing that is very important though, and I dare to say it because I truly care and believe it, is that women should not be afraid. Sheryl Sanderg also teaches us that in her first book, Lean In, which I love. At one point, Sandberg tells the story of having very strong and well-prepared female colleagues, but instead of sitting at the tables, they would sit on the chairs to the side, effectively self-exiling themselves. To me, it reminds me of the days of school exams, if you asked a boy how he did, he would answer "very well!" even if he had done just enough, while if you asked a girl the same question, she would answer "I could have done better". Society still experiences non-equality, unfortunately Covid has sadly highlighted this, which is why I would like women to be as shameless as men at work, valuing their skills rather than downplaying them. This is not in any way detracting from the efforts of men, which as I said, must be included.
What book would you recommend for someone with a business to grow?
There's one book that has been instrumental, for me, I've read it five times, and that's Ben Horowitz's The Hard Thing About the Hard Things. On the first eighty pages, he describes the effort he went through to build Netscape, and I read it before I started Freeda and also during, because it gives you a sense of what it really means to run a business.
