Welcome

Speakers

• 

  Virginia Stagni Head of Business Development & FT Talent Director
  

  Virginia Stagni

  Head of Business Development & FT Talent Director

  Virginia works between London and New York as a Business Development Manager in the Commercial Department of the Financial Times.

  Her role sees her investigate new business ideas and revenue growth opportunities, ensuring that the Financial Times remains one of the most innovative and disruptive players in the wider news landscape.

  Prior to joining the FT, Virginia was a start-up founder and entrepreneur, also working as a freelance reporter for La Stampa – one of the oldest newspapers in Italy. She is the CEO and founder of Logos, a mobile phone blockchain start-up, and previously founded a digital magazine, Revolart, as well as a cultural heritage foundation, Bolognadasballo.

  In 2016 she was named Best Italian Entrepreneur Under 25 and in 2019 was one of Digiday’s inaugural Future Leaders.

  Virginia holds an MSc in Media and Communications from the London School of Economics and a BSc in Economics and Management for Art, Culture and Communications from Bocconi University. In her spare time she enjoys ‘extreme’ travel.

• 

  Jon Slade Chief Commercial Officer, Financial Times
  

  Jon Slade

  Chief Commercial Officer, Financial Times

  Jon Slade oversees the Financial Times’ subscriptions business, global advertising sales operations, print and digital consumer marketing, customer services and business development. He is the FT’s first CCO, and was appointed to the FT Group executive board in December 2014.

  Slade was previously the FT’s B2C managing director, and before that he was the commercial director for global digital advertising and insight, where he spearheaded the overall strategic direction for the FT’s digital advertising business. In this role he also established the FT’s first Global Commercial Academy to drive L&D for the advertising team. The popular programme is an effort to formalise the development of digital media and advertising skills among staff, and inspire new ideas, initiatives and collaboration. Slade has directed the development of new advertising products for FT.com, the FT’s mobile apps, third party platforms such as Flipboard and Google Newsstand, as well as howtospendit.com.

  Most notably, he pioneered the FT’s widely reported initiative to establish a time-based currency for digital advertising, CPH, and advised the IAB on industry standards around ad viewability metrics. He joined the FT in 2002 as technology client manager working with European technology and telecoms clients. He left the FT in 2005 to join News International, and returned to the FT in 2007 as commercial director for digital advertising. Before that he ran the FT’s strategic sales team – a global creative cross-platform advertising team he built in 2007. Slade has a background in client sales within the advertising technology sector previously working for Fairfax, both in London and Sydney. He is a member and board representative of the IAB in London, an active participant with the DCN in New York, and a spokesperson for the FT on digital strategy in news publishing.

• 

  Alisee de Tonnac CEO & Co-Founder, Seedstars
  

  Alisee de Tonnac

  CEO & Co-Founder, Seedstars

  After traveling for a year around the world to set up the first edition of the Seedstars World startup competition back in 2013, Alisée is now managing the company and taking it to the next level. The competition is now present in 85+ cities and by next year Seedstars will be launching 15 strategic hubs (seedspace co-working activities, acceleration programs and academy centres) around the world. She has accumulated deep knowledge of trends in technology, social media & consumer behavior in Emerging Markets.

  Alisée is a board member of the School of Management of Fribourg and a member of the Swiss National Innovation Council. She was nominated Social Entrepreneur Forbes 30 under 30, Innovation Fellow of Wired UK, 50: Europe’s most influential women in the startup and venture capital space and the 29 Powerful Women by Refinery29.