Every sector of the global economy demonstrates that the next generation has boundless potential. Still, they require leaders who can serve as role models and inspiration for a truly successful corporate career, regardless of their potential. Thankfully, leaders like Franco Iudiciani have been more than willing to share their knowledge and help them build their brands in the consumer technology and growth marketing industries.
Iudiciani is a tech maven and three-time founder who has launched three successful businesses to date. His expertise lies in the hyper-growth of mobile apps, specifically user acquisition, community growth and engagement, and retention marketing. The products he built or assisted in launching have now been used by more than 10 million people worldwide, making him a leader in the consumer technology and community growth space.
When Franco was only twenty years old, he left Harvard in his junior year to focus on his first business, SmackHigh, which he started in his dorm room. He thought it was strange that high school students did not have a platform where many people could hear their voices. Franco acquired venture capital to expand SmackHigh into America’s first and most extensive high school-only digital network, driving its expansion to more than 1.2 million high school subscribers nationwide.
SmackHigh gave students the freedom to submit the best articles, content, and viewpoints from their individual schools in an anonymous manner. The 120 volunteers on the serial tech entrepreneur’s team of vetted high school student “moderators” were in charge of selecting the information that would be presented.
Later on, Franco would co-found and launch Fam, the first group video chat application for iMessage that allowed users to have group video conversations with an unlimited number of people inside of any other iMessage group chat. In just ten days following the start, he planned and carried out the launch that saw Fam reach one million downloads. Fam was named the “#1 iMessage App of 2016” by VentureBeat after rising to the top spot in both the iMessage App Store and the general App Store.
Franco would sell his business to Boston-based DraftKings in 2018 after leading the growth of Fam to eight million users worldwide. While employed by DraftKings, he started to spend free time building and expanding Trade Hounds, America’s first and largest professional community for builders.
The app would help blue-collar workers meaningfully network with one another, get and give career advice, check to see if they’re being paid fairly for their skills, and have their work seen by people who understand it. Franco helped Trade Hounds grow to sign up 320,000 skilled tradespeople across the nation.
Franco’s story aims to inspire the next generation of business, marketing, and technology leaders. His story of building multiple large online communities should speak to growth marketers and entrepreneurs and teach them valuable lessons about success in the marketing and technology industries.
With his professional achievement, Franco has shown that he is one of the leading figures in the field. He has honed his skills in community building and growth marketing, two approaches now crucial to the growth of any enterprise.
He sees himself giving back to the community by sharing his views and knowledge after developing and expanding app communities over the past ten years. He hopes his work and story will inspire more young people to pursue success in technology and entrepreneurship.
