Dreams and Thoughts of Federico Marchetti

«Leadership comes from knowing your customer better than the rest», Federico Marchetti, founder and CEO of YOOX Net-A-Porter Group says in the third instalment of Executive Chats, a series of interviews by Bocconi Rector, Gianmario Verona.


Marchetti, who jumped into online fashion commerce in 1999 ("I was selling a dream, he says, because I didn't have anything to show to the brands") and mobile commerce in 2006, one year before the launch of the IPhone, says that in 2018 he is still excited by the personalization allowed by smartphone apps, that represent a fast growing share of YOOX Net-A-Porter Group's business.

Marchetti, a Bocconi alumnus of 1993 and Bocconi Alumnus of the Year in 2014, says that, in his life, «Bocconi meant a lot» and that Milan had a decisive role in his choice. «I still believe that one of the strengths of Bocconi is that it is based in Milan», says the entrepreneur, a native of Ravenna, in North-Eastern Italy, «now more than ever, with the town booming and becoming more international».