Giorgio Ponticelli

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Part 1. THE BEGINNING & THE MUSIC

Everything started in the music businessBorn in Milan, Italy in 1979, I started making music in 1997 using so-called 'Tracker' music programs. I used to make a song a day and within 2 years I signed my first record deal. I produced many songs for myself and for other musicians, releasing 50+ tracks on several labels in Europe.When one of my tracks 'Trance Unity' got big I was lucky to be invited on several DJ tours at some Europe's biggest music events.I eventually launched my own radioshow "freQuencies" pioneering the concept of playing only unreleased music by amateur & semi-pro artists to give exposure to new talents. Many of the current heroes of Eelectronic Dance Music had their first radioplays on my shows and DJ sets. I also launched another concept called ' The World In the Mix', a revolutionary radio-show where tens of DJs would contribute a 15 minute mix, which was then mixed into a monster multi-hour show.My own tracks were played around the world by top DJs, featured on TV shows, Movies and I performed at some of the major DJ festivals such as Love Parade, Berlin and Nature One.

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Part 2. THE JUST EAT EXPERIENCE

Building one of Europe's biggest Tech IPOsVia the music business I met the people that would become the founding team of JUST EAT. At some point they asked me for help researching the Italian market and that's the start of an amazing personal & professional journey.After a simple market research, JUST EAT asked me to join them to help with some international matters.I joined in 2007, when the company only had about 40 employees (mostly based in Denmark) and was deployed to Sweden, UK and Ireland to deal mostly with launch operations. Under the new CEO Klaus Nyengaard, I moved to London and was offered to launch all new markets that the company would open. I was fortunate to have this opportunity and always be the first person to see a new market.I took on a variety of roles during this time: Group Operations Director, Group Business Development Director and Managing Director of Benelux.After 6.5 years, with many people from my generation leaving the business, I decided to also go for a new challenge. At this stage JUSTEAT had 1,000+ employees and would a couple of months later for £2.4Bn becoming one of Europe's biggest Tech IPOs.

Part 3. THE TREATWELL EXPERIENCE

Revolutionising the way people book beautyIn Janury 2014, I decide to join another ambitious start-up called Wahanda (which would later rebrand to Treatwell). The business only had presence in UK with a team of about 50+ people.My mission as Managing Director of New Markets was to internationalise the business and manage all units outside of UK.We gave ourselves the ambitious goal of opening 6 markets in 3 years but instead, we opened 6 markets in 1 year.Our fast pace of expansion and attractive market-leading position caught the attention of Japanese giant Recruit Holdings which acquired the business in 2015 giving us further strenght and resources to continue our mission. At this point I took on the role of Chief International Officer controlling all markets outside of UK, including our newly acquired businesses in Benelux and France.The business grew from a small team of 50+ talented employees to a 500+ employee international team in 11 countries cementing Treatwell's position in Europe.I left Treatwell at the end of summer 2018 to return to Italy and contribute to the local Tech scene.

Part 4. RETURNING TO ITALY

Reconnecting to the Italian scene / SatispayDuring the summer of 2018, I decided to start reconnecting with my home country, Italy and its start-up scene.I moved back to Italy at the beginning of 2019 and started working with Satispay, leader in mobile payments in Italy and spearheading true contactless payments via its own independent payment network - I staid at Satispay for 4 years first focusing on international expansion and later on managing business development & operations teams across all our local units as Chief Operating Officer until Feb '23.

Part 5. FRAMES OF TECH

Along my investment & advisory activities, I host a podcast called FRAMES OF TECH where I invite Executives & Entrepreneurs to discuss how to build - not just big - but great companies.
With a strong focus on aspects like culture, values and teams we explore the stories of some of Europe's great companies and beyond.

DISCOGRAPHY