An Insight from our CEO - Origin of RevoU & Scaling RevoU

In the ever-evolving digital landscape, RevoU is rapidly growing to become Indonesia's largest live online learning community. RevoU's mission is not only to unlock opportunities and make a real impact on the lives of its students and alumni by providing the education they need to transform their careers but also to empower its employees.

In 2019, Matteo Sutto, with over a decade of experience in various industries and roles, founded RevoU. His goal was to create the best higher education platform in Southeast Asia and provide millions of people with access to better career opportunities.

Under his leadership, RevoU has grown steadily in terms of students, employees, and stakeholders.

• From 10 to 10,000 students enrolled.
• From 1 program (Digital Marketing) to 4 programs (Digital Marketing, Data Analytics, Product Management, and Software Engineering), Kampus Merdeka, and B2B programs.
• From 5 to 500 industry experts as instructors and career mentors.
• From 2 to 150 employees fulfilling their potential.

In this article, Matteo shares his personal career journey that influenced the origination of RevoU and its scaling journey!

Matteo’s Personal Journey Before RevoU

Matteo, originally from Italy, began his career in his home country as a Product and Marketing Manager at a local service marketplace startup. Despite the company's early struggles, Matteo's marketing expertise laid the foundation for his first company, NeoSEO—an Italian Digital Marketing agency, later acquired by H-FARM.

His expertise then led him to ZALORA Group, where he played a crucial role in defining and executing the company's online marketing strategy. His efforts helped Zalora become the region's largest fashion e-commerce company.

In 2013, Matteo left ZALORA Group to co-found TATE & TONIC—a fashion start-up aimed at improving the shopping experience for Southeast Asian consumers. Despite the company's eventual closure, it left a lasting impact on over 20,000 customers in Singapore.

Matteo's next venture was with iPrice Group, where he held various leadership roles. He started as VP of Growth and climbed the career ladder to become Chief Marketing Officer & Head of People. At iPrice, he built a Content Marketing & Digital PR team from scratch, establishing iPrice's Thought Leadership in the SEA eCommerce landscape.

However, at the end of December 2018, Matteo embarked on his third entrepreneurial journey—RevoU!

The Origin of RevoU

Matteo's decision to create RevoU was influenced by a single question: “What are the types of activities you’ll be happy doing in 20 years or longer?”

This introspection led him to 2 sectors with the most significant societal impact: Healthcare and Education.

Education, in particular, stood out as a constant throughout humanity, evolving with the times, and transitioning between online and offline modes.

Surely, it was not a trend, but a necessity.

Education is a catalyst for revolution.

So, why building RevoU in Indonesia?

Matteo’s experience with iPrice, where the majority of the employees were Malay and Indonesian, dispelled the myth of Indonesia lacking talent. He firmly believes that every country has sufficient talent and the difference lies in the infrastructure.

This belief was further reinforced by Jokowi's statement about the significant gap in tech skills in Indonesia, indicating a vast market for education.

Although RevoU’s first program was digital marketing, Matteo envisioned RevoU as a platform not confined to one vertical from day one.

This strategic choice was made to build the brand reputation of higher education. To jumpstart the brand, Matteo leveraged his personal network to build trust among the first batch of students, given his extensive experience in digital marketing-related jobs.

On the other hand, Matteo also wanted to be hands-on in building and teaching at RevoU.

Despite any potential challenges, his approach to starting RevoU resonates with Reid Hoffman's quote, "Starting a company is like jumping off a cliff and assembling the plane on the way down."

The Scaling of RevoU

The journey of scaling RevoU was not without challenges. The market was tough, with mass layoffs and intense competition. However, Matteo saw these challenges as opportunities to improve and grow, both for the students and RevoU as a company.

Here are the 4 key success factors in scaling RevoU:

#1 Strong Company Values

Matteo believes a company's values are its backbone. They guide decision-making, influence behaviour, and shape the company's culture.
That’s why, Matteo and his team asked themselves 2 fundamental questions: 1) What is uniquely particular about RevoU? 2) What is it that our employees experience here, that they won’t experience elsewhere?
And we came up with 4 values that makes us uniquely RevoU: Kindness, Candor, Highest Standards, and Passion.
At RevoU, our values are not just words on a wall but principles that every team member lives by.

#2 Brand Consistency

Consistency builds trust, and trust is the foundation of a strong brand. From the quality of the courses to the communication with students, RevoU ensures consistency at every touchpoint.

#3 Focus on Community

RevoU is not just an online education platform. It's a community. The focus is on fostering a sense of belonging among the students and stakeholders, creating an environment conducive to learning and growth.

#4 Genuine Care & Relentless Focus on Our Students

‍“We passionate about our students, first and foremost. We do everything to make them succeed.
Even if that means doing something that doesn‘t bring any profit to the company in the short term.
And even if it doesn’t bring profit over the longer term, we believe that doing the right thing for our students should be prioritized over short-term business gains.”

Thanks to our students, we have been able to navigate such challenges and scale to a larger community!

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The journey of RevoU, from its origin to its scaling, is a testament to Matteo's vision, resilience, and unwavering belief in the power of education.

It's a story of turning challenges into opportunities and building a brand that resonates with its audience.

It’s a story that inspires us all to think bigger and to challenge the status quo.

And most importantly, it’s a story of making a difference in the world through education.

As we look forward to the future, one thing is certain—RevoU will continue to evolve, innovate, and inspire, staying true to its mission of transforming millions of lives through education.

As we continue to navigate the digital landscape, we are excited to see what the future holds for RevoU and the countless lives it will undoubtedly impact!