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Talent and values
to transform the world
X ESADE Alumni mADriD AnnuAl confErEncE
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THE ESADE ALUMNI MAGAZINE
No. 155 DECEMBER 2016
QUARTERLY PUBLICATION €10
WWW.ESADEALUMNI.NET
Apartool and the mentoring experience
Marc Vilar (BBA 15), CEO of Apartool, took part in the ESADE Alumni Mentoring
Programme with the purpose of developing his startup, Apartool. After launching
the platform, he wants to share this successful experience.
Entrepreneurship
UP-TO-DATE
Apartool is the first tourist
apartment booking central, serving
as an intermediary between entire
tourist apartment buildings with
hotel services and travel agencies,
tour operators, etc. Currently, it has
apartments in Barcelona, Madrid,
Valencia, Balearic Islands, the Costa
Brava, Prague, Paris and London
and aims at expanding to major
European cities and New York.
The project started when Marc Vilar
and his partners, Albert Cerezo and
Pol Carreras, detected a market
niche for hotel-like apartments
that did not reach travel agencies:
“It started as a final paper for my
Degree at ESADE, with the advice
of Albert in the tourism industry
and Pol in Law, that derived in the
foundation of the company in June
2015. A few months later, we had the
opportunity of entering the ESADE
Alumni Mentoring Programme and,
because we were lost in some aspects
such as our approach, B2B, strategy,
etc., we chose the most suitable
mentors for our needs. We thought
that Agustí Turull (Lic&MBA 80),
CEO of AGV Global Abast, would
be able to contribute a lot to the
project, since he worked at a tourism
consulting agency; and Andrey
Kostyuk (GEMBA 15), director of
Taurus Aurum Global Property Fund
Limited, because he was an expert in
business strategy and preparation of
funding processes, as well as in long-
term vision of companies”.
Supportandexperience
This mentee-mentor relationship,
forged during the 3 months of the
Mentoring Programme, is still alive
to this day, with our eyes on the
future: “When the funding process
takes place, we will be able to take
part as investors, as we know the
company and its opportunities,
which is really interesting for us,
but not the most important aspect.
The most important aspect is to
exchange experiences and advise
these young people about how to
manage a company without running
into trouble”, said Andrey Kostyuk.
He started as an entrepreneur in the
'90s, when the “mentor” concept
did not exist: “It would have been
amazing to have one. I didn't have
44 DECEMBER 2016
ESADE ALUMNI
Financial Advisory Service
someone to tell me my mistakes and
that's one of the reasons why I'm
taking part in the programme now.
There are always companies whose
main problem is lack of experience”.
When they met, Andrey remembers
that his first reaction was: “Another
tourism platform?”, but then he
understood that this was a different
idea, with a lot of possibilities in
the B2B environment to lead the
market. “My contribution consisted
in helping them focus the vision
of their company in 3 and 5 years,
to know what they wanted and
when they wanted it, develop their
marketing strategy and define
a route with specific goals and
parameters”. Agustí, on the other
hand, suggested the “100 days
after foundation” experiment, to
identify short-term priorities. He
has an active role in several ESADE
Alumni activities as well, with the
intent of helping people to develop
all their talent and skills: “Thanks to
mentoring, you help your customers
to improve themselves and, if they
do, you improve with them. It's
all about focusing their ideas and
minimising the risks derived from
their decisions. Aside from my multi-
sector experience, I can provide my
knowledge of the public sector and
bring them closer to local, national
or international administrations.
Because the world has more
opportunities now, but more
challenges as well, and you need the
experience of mentors with a global
vision who are also familiar with the
cultural differences of each market”,
he explained.
Now, after the kick off, with the
invoicing history, the validated
business model, a completely
scalable and repeatable platform
and a fine-tuned long-term vision,
Apartool is planning its first funding
process. “The Mentoring Programme
changed our attitude towards a
think big approach; and even now,
we have a motto: “Go big or go
home”. This experience has been
very rewarding; however, for it to
be successful, the mentee must
be proactive and receptive to the
suggestions of their mentors, even
if this means rectifying their road
map”, Marc pointed out.