Raul Bernardelli

I chose Bologna for a programme I saw as on a par with Bocconi in Milan, and for the class around me: an English-taught Bachelor in Business Administration with students from all over the world. The degree was broad, leaning more to management and strategy than to finance.

• Classmates from my year and the year below came to me for tutoring on the topics they found hardest, using my own study materials.
• Thesis on sustainable finance: argued that ESG practices would move into strategic finance and become a real source of value for companies.

A consulting project with Smurfit Westrock on RFID-enabled "smart" cardboard, working with the Atlanta team: turn the technology into a product idea, a full business plan and a go-to-market strategy, for both business (B2B) and consumer (B2C) use.

• Built the sales forecast from the company's own forecasts for past cardboard product launches, combined with market and business analysis, projecting a 3.2x uplift in segment sales.
• Delivered the business plan, with the marketing plan, product development plan and financial forecast, and presented it to the client team.
• What I took away: how deep a go-to-market analysis goes. It's tempting to jump straight to a conclusion; challenging the idea and hearing other perspectives makes it better.

I chose ESSEC for its reputation worldwide, and especially in Europe, and was selected for the Singapore campus, which admits fewer than 5% of applicants. Singapore gave me what I look for: a multicultural class in a financial and commercial hub, where you learn fast and meet the right people.

• Elected Student Representative for my cohort at the monthly faculty meetings. I spoke up on policies that weren't working, above all how the school connected students to careers in Singapore and used its alumni network. The changes were applied in the following years.
• The hardest part was 130 people with different needs and preferences. Listening first is what made it work, and what I'd do even better next time.

The Matcha Initiative helps companies in Singapore start their sustainability transition, connecting them with ESG experts and B2B service providers. On this ESSEC consulting project my client was The Matcha Initiative itself, and the question was how to enter its next market: Indonesia.

• Chose the sectors from market analysis and a study of the local economy, where much of the work is handmade production and plantations. In a market like that, an offer has to benefit the community as well as the company, or it doesn't land.
• Confirmed 20 prospective partners and 28 suppliers through direct outreach: calls, meetings and LinkedIn.

Avea Life is a Swiss longevity scale-up selling in 50+ countries: supplements designed from the latest science, with formulations developed in-house and with European universities, including ETH Zurich.

• Worked alongside the CEO on expansion in Singapore, Asia and China.
• China had little reporting, so I built a model tracking every China sale, each cost and margin, and the commissions charged by sellers and distributors, so we could challenge them.
• Launched Avea on Singapore marketplaces (Lazada, Shopee): platform agreements, ambassadors, regulatory approvals. The hardest part was approval, as Singapore is strict on supplements and health products. The second was persuading customers loyal to known brands to try a new one.

In my Master's I took the finance track: corporate finance, financial analysis, modelling and M&A. My manager saw how much I enjoyed numbers and building models, so when I asked to move into finance, the company backed me. I joined the finance team part time, alongside the Master's.

• Ran the finance sheets and analysis, with China still my main focus and, increasingly, the other sales platforms.
• Built financial and analysis models to track every number more closely.

Finished the Master in Management on the finance track, across the Singapore and Paris campuses.

• ESSEC ranked #3 Master in Management worldwide (QS 2026).
• Courses included Financial Modelling, M&A, Portfolio Management, Financial Markets and Managing AI/IT, alongside the core management and entrepreneurship programme.

When the CFO left, I went to the CEO and COO and asked to take on the finance function. They said yes: I was promoted to Finance Manager and now co-lead finance with a more experienced colleague, in a team of five with two direct reports. I report to the COO and CEO.

• Budgeting, forecasting, quarterly reforecasts and monthly budget-vs-actual across a six-currency P&L. Cash-flow forecasting and FX.
• Built new 7-year financial projections covering every market and business stream, including expansion in Europe and the US.
• Investor and shareholder reporting for Avea's owner, Maximon AG, and I manage the relationship with some of the company's external investors.
• How I lead: my two reports handle the manual work behind reporting and the analyses the business asks for, and I give them real authority over how they do it. Learning to delegate well is one of the most useful things I've learned.
• What I'm proudest of: the financial system itself (reporting, analysis and dashboards I coded), and presentations that answer the next question before anyone asks it.