Fired? May the force be with you, like this sacked CEO who bounced back

Image: https://kross-studio.ch/

With two spectacular launches in just about three months, Kross Studios has become a talking point in the watch industry. One is a table clock set in a sleek aluminium model of the 1989 Batmobile, costing $32,000 approx (Rs 23.5 lakh).

That apart, the brand launched a $150,000 (Rs 1.1 crore approx) Death Star Tourbillon made from titanium and targeted towards rich Star Wars fans.

Both are limited edition pieces.

Kross made only ten Death Star watches and 100 Batmobile clocks.

Very few can afford these baubles. But everyone can learn lessons from the story behind the brand, especially at a time when paycuts and layoffs are leaving millions adrift.

A year ago, Kross did not exist. Its founder, Marco Tedeschi, one of the industry’s young achievers, did not have a job.

Tedeschi, 35, had worked at Hublot. In 2018, at age 32, he became one of the youngest CEOs in watch history when he got the top job at Romain Jerome (RJ). It was a quirky brand which made news with a collection containing bits of metal from the Titanic. They also had a watch inspired by the Joker from Batman.

But when RJ wound up operations in 2020, Tedeschi was dryly dismissed.

“We found ourselves one Monday evening in front of the administrator, and were fired immediately, with the order to dismiss all the staff by the end of that week,” Tedeschi said in an interview with watch portal Europa Star. “We found ourselves with our backs to the wall, and feeling very sad, after two years trying to turn the company around.”

What has helped Tedeschi march on – apart from presumably significant savings - is genuine love of watches, his equation with his colleagues and his contacts established in his previous job.

Nine of Tedeschi’s team mates at RJ are now with him at Kross. They began in typical start-up fashion. A tight-knit, like-minded group comprising friends and family members - Tedeschi’s wife also came on board – put their heads together and made a plan.

“We share many ideas, and our skills complement each other,” Tedeschi said about his colleagues.

“Basically, the creation of Kross Studio became an obvious decision, because it was what we had always dreamed of doing. So we decided to join forces with my wife, who is an expert in digital marketing, and another partner, an expert in business development.”

At RM, Tedeschi had worked on a collaboration with Warner Bros. That access helped him while launching the Batmobile table clock.

“After the bankruptcy of RJ Watches, I contacted them and proposed continuing our collaboration,” Tedeschi said. “When we had our first discussions, our structure had not yet been defined, but they were crazy enough to believe in us.”