Mauna Kea is the world’s tallest mountain, when measured from the ocean floor (10,000 m). The Hawaiian volcano is largely below sea level. Mauna Kea stands for scale and unlocking hidden potential. Scaling any mountain takes expertise, time and can be very difficult.
Koru is the Maori word for life & growth. Maori is the indigenous language of New Zealand.
Both Hawaiian & Maori have their origins in Polynesian. Polynesians were the world’s first major seafarers who built a large empire in South Pacific and Indian Ocean. Polynesia exemplifies internationalization & taking calculated risks.
Mauna Kea Koru: Scale – Growth – Internationalization
Sven Ripper CV
Mauna Kea Koru
Growth focused consultancy helping start- & scale-ups unlock their full potential. Leveraging 22 years of experience in high-growth B2C businesses, across marketing, international expansion, general management, M&A and business strategy.
Fractional CMO & Founder 2018-
Client portfolio:
Start- and Scale-ups: Cluno, Medbelle, NewPharma, Nurvv, Tails.com, Tymit, VIU Eyewear, Zwift
Private Equity: Lion Capital
Ventural Capital: Highland Europe, Hiro Capital
LoveCrafts
LoveCrafts provides a home for crafting communities online, combining a global social community with an inspirational digital marketplace against a backdrop of tailored e-commerce through the sites LoveKnitting.com and LoveCrochet.com. LoveCrafts set out to converge traditional crafts with the digital age. Motivated by one simple goal, to build a community that would support and unite makers worldwide: a home where they can be inspired, connect, share, and create.
Chief Marketing Officer in London, UK 2017-2018
Core areas of responsibility included:
• Customer Acquisition incl. SEO
• Retention & CRM
• Brand, Creative & Content Marketing
• Influencer Marketing & Social Media
• Management of 30 in London, Kyiv & NYC
• North America Go-to-Market Strategy
• Marketplace
• App marketing
MyOptique Group UK; acquired by Essilor in Sept 2016 (XPAR: EI)
MyOptique Group is revolutionizing the £20 billion European optical industry by cutting out the high-street. Through its product lead strategy, MyOptique addresses all key optical segments online via a specialized brand portfolio including Glasses Direct, Sunglasses Shop, Boots Designer Sunglasses, Lenson, Eyewearbrands, Lensbest and Netzoptiker. (2016 net revenue: £65 million, employees: >250). 7 direct reports leading performance marketing, CRM, customer experience, creative & brand, PR, Nordics (Stockholm), Germany (Kiel). Total team: >30.
Group Chief Marketing Officer in London, UK 2014-2017
Responsible for setting MyOptique's Marketing and Commercial Strategy across seven brands and multiple European geographies.
-
Reaccelerated new customer growth & revenues significantly (e.g. Glasses Direct +40% YOY in 2015)
-
Drove strong investments in customer experience improvements and rebrands of several of our websites (e.g. eyewearbrands.com, sunglasses-shop.co.uk)
-
Launched & proved TV as a scalable direct response channel to our VC-led Board (CPO: £150 to £32, Top-of-mind awareness 2% to >12%, prompted awareness 20% to >60%)
-
Aligned the Marketing organisation and integrating our three corporate acquisitions in 2016
-
Embedded a data and insights culture in the Marketing team
-
Introduced process, planning and collaboration within Marketing and the rest of the org
Vistaprint (Nasdaq: CMPR, IPO in 2005) USA, Spain, Netherlands 2000-2013
Empowering 17 million micro businesses and consumers annually with affordable, professional print and digital solutions. (2013 revenue: >$1.1 billion, employees: >4,400)
Launched Vistaprint's European business in Boston as a team of one. Generated revenues from $0 to $320 MM by June 2011 (78% CAGR). Launched the EU marketing office in Barcelona. Scaled sales & marketing to over 200 FTEs. Expanded my expertise to general management.
Managing Director/ GM of Albumprinter in Amsterdam, NL 2012-2013
Managed Albumprinter, post-acquisition, as an autonomous operating unit of Vistaprint. Albumprinter, through its B2C brands (Albelli, Bonusprint, Onskefoto) and white label partners (e.g. HEMA), is the leading photo book specialist in Europe. Aggressively grew a €52 M customer-centric business, while leading two locations (Amsterdam, The Hague). Full P&L responsibility. Direct reports: 8 leading manufacturing, customer service, B2C sales, B2B sales, marketing, technology, finance, and HR. Total team: >200.
• Reaccelerated direct sales to 35% YOY, while expanding GM by 7 points (52% to 59%)
• Improved post-acquisition employee engagement by 16 points (70% to 86%) within 9 months
• Identified key organisational needs and gaps, growing headcount in Amsterdam by ca. 40 FTEs
• Expanded product portfolio, while introducing multi-year product roadmap process
• Strengthened customer focus through significant investments in primary research and UX
• Successfully invested into TV as an acquisition channel to strengthen market position
• Developed and evangelised five-year strategy with the vision to triple the business
Vice President, Home & Family in Barcelona,Spain 2011-2012
Developed & led the Marketing and Commercial Strategy for the Home & Family segment (e.g. customised photo and other products for personal use) across Vistaprint’s 19 European websites. The Home & Family segment generated >40% of Vistaprint Europe and 30% of worldwide revenues. 6 direct reports leading product marketing, merchandising, CRM, user experience. Total team: 12
• Developed go-to-market strategies for Vistaprint's biggest quarter
• Drove double digit conversion rate improvements for the core customer acquisition product
• Project lead for company-wide key strategic growth project in Home & Family
• Evaluated potential acquisition targets in European Home & Family space
• Led marketing portion of Albumprinter due diligence (€60 MM acquisition in Oct 2011)
• Developed marketing integration plans and “go-team” to deliver on acquisition synergies
• Matrix responsibility for Albumprinter Sales & Marketing (>€40 M revenue)
Vice President, Sales & Marketing in Barcelona, Spain 2006-2011
Drove $320 MM in revenue across Europe, generating >40% of Vistaprint's worldwide revenues. Managed all customer contacts to provide a cohesive brand message and value proposition by geography. Initiated marketing investments to deliver results and drive continuous improvement of campaign performance and customer LTV. Launched, developed and managed key marketing functions including product marketing, design and user experience. Represented European business needs in global prioritisation and drove strategic planning, investment allocation and execution of product strategy. 11 direct reports leading the UK, Southern Europe, DACH, Benelux, Nordics, Emerging, Product Marketing, User Experience, Design, Analytics and Customer Service (Berlin). Total team: >200.
• Opened European marketing office in 2006 and led it as its interim Managing Director.
• Managed >$90 MM in advertising expenditures
• Strengthened collaboration between Sales & Marketing, Customer Service & Manufacturing
• Developed and recruited several strong functional leads and depth within each function
• Established vision, strategy and high-level capabilities roadmap
• Led cross-functional & company wide “Key Initiative for Growth” for Home & Family
• Established foundation of remote production design team in Vistaprint's Tunis office
• Drove step-level function innovation through the channel and marketing mix
• Grew team from 25 people in the Boston area in 2006 to >200 people in Europe by 2011
Prior Vistaprint Experience in Lexington, MA, USA 2000-2006
Joined Vistaprint through a technology internship while finishing my MBA. Led Vistaprint's expansion into Europe in 2001 by launching the UK and German website through media buying, customer service & localization. Based on that success, I built the international marketing team to 25 people through hiring strong MBAs. During this time the European business grew from 0% to about 30% of total Vistaprint revenue.
Senior Director Marketing, Europe & APAC 2005-2006
Director Marketing, Europe 2004-2005
Senior Manager Marketing, Europe 2004
Manager Marketing, Europe 2002-2004
Media Buyer, UK & Germany 2001-2002
Technology Internship 2000-2001
Education
BENTLEY UNIVERSITY Waltham, MA 2001 MBA – Distinction
BENTLEY UNIVERSITY Waltham, MA 2000 BA, Behavioral Sciences – Cum Laude
Fluent in English & German.