This guy used all he learned as a Rocket Internet exec to build his own startup

Germany’s Rocket Internet has a certain way of building ventures: it identifies a proven business model – usually seen in mature markets – and takes it to new markets where it grows the business at astonishing speed.

In this very Rocket fashion, Pawel Netreba brought the concept of real-time beauty and wellness salon booking from the US and Europe to Southeast Asia with the startup he co-founded called Bfab.

Pawel has Rocket DNA. Before building something of his own, he occupied top management posts at Foodpanda, Rocket’s online food ordering and delivery site.

While he had wanted to create his own business long before, his Rocket experience was something he would never regret.

“My wanting to build my own goes back to university times – at HHL-Leipzig Graduate School of Management, which is one of the leading business schools in Germany,” he explains. “However, when I had to decide which direction my career should take, I decided for the classical and risk-averse version – management consulting. Key reason for that was that I felt I wanted to gain experience first and build my toolkit.”

So straight after university, Pawel flew to Moscow to join Bain & Company. After spending a year and a half at Bain, he switched to Booz & Company where he was among an ambitious team that led the company’s expansion in Russia.

One day, he got a call from the Samwer brothers, asking him to join Foodpanda. He couldn’t resist for reasons that were very clear: it was the perfect opportunity to transition from management consulting into the world of startups and build his knowledge of growing a venture under the wings of a group that’s known to be aggressive in pushing people to the limits.

Foodpanda’s office in Moscow.

“I knew from several alumni and friends who went through the Rocket school that this is an incredible and spectacular experience. It’s almost the same as if you go through a traineeship at the big three management consulting companies or big four audit firms,” Pawel says. “I knew that this would provide me with the appropriate tools and mindset to prepare me well for my own startup someday.”

The transition

And gain experience he did. At Foodpanda, his first role was co-founder and managing director for Russia and CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States), working alongside Maxim Legardez. Both of them were missioned to catapult the regions forward. This involved growing the venture on all sides – supply in acquiring the top brands and demand to generate exponential growth.

Pawel learned the key functions of a startup in detail – how it worked, what the key levers were, and how to use them to achieve the targets he set.

When he felt he had learned enough and was ready to set forth on his own, he waited for a good time to transition. His last job at Foodpanda was managing director in Malaysia, where he came in after Foodpanda acquired RoomService. His goal was to integrate these entities, install a bit more structure, and find a permanent country manager. When he finally found one and handed things over to him, he left and jumped full-time into his own idea.

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