Meet our Alumni: Andrea Brancher
A chat with Andrea Brancher, ex student of the Master Executive in Digital Entrepreneurship, now founder and owner of BaseCamp.
What's your main takeaway from your time at H-FARM College?
"Those who can do, those who can't, teach" as they say. What really makes the difference at H-FARM College is that all of our lecturers are both doers and teachers.
My time at H-FARM College was truly inspirational, challenging at times but certainly worth it! The Executive Master in Digital Entrepreneurship has helped me to really broaden my horizons, with hands-on lessons that backed up the theory with practice thanks to lecturers and guest speakers who really know what it's like to work in a company today. So, my takeaway is that you can't just talk the talk, you've got to learn to walk the walk.
What specific features made the learning experience stand out? How does it differ from other universities/courses/business schools in your opinion?
H-FARM College's blended learning, studying both on campus and online, means you get to move beyond theory to put things into practice, and this mix also means you can work at your own pace, which is ideal for someone like me who's always busy working.
It's not until you start to apply the theory that you can really understand what's needed. Something I particularly enjoyed was the chance to compare notes with others working in my field as well as those in different areas. Swapping stories with others, either seasoned professionals or students keen to learn, is a great way to grow.
Each lesson gave us the chance to challenge ourselves, whether this meant working in teams or simply brainstorming our ideas, asking others for feedback. It was also great for networking, learning from guest speakers from key companies like Google, McKinsey & C., Deutsche Bank, Italia4blockchain, Fiscozen, and Amazon who were each invited to give us their insights and tell us of their experience in managing brands or building their businesses. Some of my best contacts also turned into leads for interesting new work.
Tell us about your project and some of the things you learnt on the course that you've carried with you into your professional life.
The basic unpolished idea for this project was already there before I joined H-FARM College, but it was risky, a real departure from BaseCamp's core business of Visual Design, Communication and Branded Sales Tools. Content and Asset generation created to populate Sales Tools and in-house Corporate Communication Tools has snowballed exponentially to match the age of digital transformation.
H-FARM College's future vision allowed me to spot a gap in the market after looking to see what tools were available for managing such large quantities of online content. I realized that BaseCamp could help companies optimize their use of time while checking that the right content was being used. H-FARM College helped me pose questions and formulate statements able to show companies why a better tool was needed: imagine finding the wrong photo of a product in your company catalogue or imagine having to Google your own company logo to find it.
Once I'd isolated the problem, it was up to me to solve it, helping companies to improve their market visibility and raise their sales profiles.
Even though there were already plenty of tools on the market, nothing I saw quite ticked all the boxes in one single tool, people had to compromise rather than getting just what they wanted or needed. That's why I decided to develop my Brand Portal from scratch. BaseCamp has now opened its own Technology and Digital Development Department creating a specially customised branded content service. A quality portal for streamlining online content, improving access and time to market, making sure to keep the balance of quality over quantity.
H-FARM College has taught me that identifying problems can also be a way to transform them into business opportunities, handing me the tools to develop my company strategies, as well as giving me the confidence to sit at the table with potential investors, showing them more clearly what I can bring to the table.
Which parts of the course did you enjoy most?
While some modules were naturally more interesting to me than others, every single one of them was challenging, exhaustive, and above all practical. All of the staff at H-FARM College innovation hub are always willing to lend a hand or offer advice, as are our lecturers, who are happy to help no matter what you need, this stimulating environment makes it the perfect place to learn.
What motto do you live by to get yourself going?
Carpe Diem. There's no time like the present.
Andrea Brancher, founder e owner of BaseCamp.
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