MEET WITH THE TEAM #4. Interview with Alexandre Kandelaft, our Head of Marketing
Welcome to another article of our series “MEET WITH THE TEAM”.
Last year we introduced you to the founders of LaSource, David, Samuel and JB. Now in 2022, it's time to dive into the stories of our other employees who are working hard to develop our agency. Let’s start with Alexandre Kandelaft, the very first LaSource employee and Head of Marketing.
Alexandre, we are very lucky to be working in the sports industry, and when we think about it, it is above all a source of emotion. So we would like to start with your very first sports big memory. What was it?
Though question to start with as I have so many…
I think my first huge sporting emotion was in January 2005, when Marat Safin won the Australian Open against Leyton Hewitt. I was born and raised playing tennis. It has been my favorite sports for 20 years now and Marat was my very first real idol, I remember having so many posters of him in my bedroom.
I won’t go too much into the details but it’s not even the win in itself but this amazing semi-final against Roger Federer. Since his victory in Wimbeldon 2003 he was the second player I was supporting so having them both playing a Gran Slam semi-final was something. And what a match… Still probably one of the greatest tennis match of all time (at least for me). An outstanding 5-sets battle, Safin saving a match point in the fourth set with a lob before winning 9-7 in the fifth. I still get chills just saying it…
Before you moved to LaSource, you were already working with David at NetcoSports (Origins Digital), and then he asked you to join the adventure. Basic question but so important, why LaSource?
If we take a step back on my journey until LaSource, it is important to understand that I always wanted to work within the sports industry. I did a Business School and I then joined Netco Sports (now Origins Media) following a meeting with David. The feeling went well and I had been given the opportunity to work there. During almost 3 years I worked on exciting projects with worldclass sports organisations such as PSG, Fiorentina, Juventus, French Football Federation, ASO, BeIN Sports, etc.
David left Netco just a few months after I started working for them, and one day in 2020 he called me, first to take some news but also to discuss a potential opportunity for me to join his new agency: LaSource.
Why did I decide to join LaSource? Well, I don’t know (laughing).
More seriously when he pitched me what they were doing I was quite intrigued. LaSource positioning (helping startups to penetrate the Europena Market) was a bit complex for me at that time but I wanted to know more about it and I pretty liked the idea of working with high quality and promising startups in the sports industry.
At the same time, I felt like I wanted a new challenge in my life and this opportunity came at the right moment. David introduced me to Sam & JB and it definitely convinced me that I should not miss this chance. It’s been a year and a half since I joined LaSource and I have absolutely no regrets.
Early in 2022, you have been promoted “Head of Marketing”, but if I am not mistaken, you started your career as a business developer. Can you tell us more about your different positions in the past and your journey until this new role?
Sure!
I’ve started my young career as Business Developer at Netco Sports, trying to sell the development of new digital platforms (mobile application, website) to sports organisations. I quickly realized that it was not made for me: my personnality wasn’t fiting with the job and the missions. But still I was doing a great job at supporting sales with the preparation of their meetings, and that’s why I became “Pre-sales Manager”. I was in charge of answering all the RFPs we were receiving plus customising decks for our sales teams prior to their meeting with potential clients.
A few months before leaving Netco, I was assigned a bunch of new projects such as working on the creation of new products for the agency, or supporting project managers from UX/UI perspective.
When I arrived at LaSource, I didn’t have any significant experience in marketing but I already knew what I had to do. The transition was very smooth and I really liked the approach they had with me: learning and developing skills on the field.
At LaSource, we all work remotely, from Paris to Bordeaux, and it seems that you like this work environment. How does this benefit you personally?
It’s true that I love working from home. I took this habit when Covid-19 arrived in France in March 2020 and I have to say that, at some points it changed a lot of things. Working remotely allows me to gain more flexibility and more independence. And as I love to organise my days the way I want, without having to go to work early in the morning and return late at night, home office is a real pleasure. And at the end of the day, what really matters is that the work is done and well done.
It is also true that it has some limitations: it can negatively affect team-spirit, it can reduce the frontier between your personnal and professional life, it can be more complicated to move forward on huge projects. But for now, I’m certainly enough lucky not to feel it. And I think our Business at LaSource and how we are structured help a lot. If we are not living in the same cities, we’re in contact everyday, we have weekly heads-up, sync points etc.
We know that you are passionate about electronic music, can you tell us more about it? Where does it come from? I guess you have created a music channel, right?
I could talk about it for hours!
It has been almost 10 years that I’m really into the electronic music universe. More than exploring this infinite world, I’m also very interested about the history and societal sides of it, especially when it comes to house and techno music: Detroit, Chicago, New York, Manchester, these cities are full of history and I’m glad I’ve been able to travel there and visit iconic places such as the Music Institute of Detroit.
I bought my first record in 2014, and since then, I have created a great collection of 1500+ records that keeps growing every month. A few years ago, I decided to create my youtube Channel and start doing playlists on labels, artists, and more globally on the music I love.
Since mid-2021, I started uploading records that were not yet available on the internet, my only goal was to bring more music and more vibes so that people and diggers could discover new stuff!
Oh, I was forgetting, the name of the channel is Dat Vibe if you want to chime in, links below!
Finally, if you could act in one film, what would it be?
I won’t be surprising anybody with my answer but I would have loved to be a Jedi or fight for the middle earth…. I do not have a huge cinematographic culture!