To Malta for today’s Sovereign Story featuring Sebastien Philipona. Sebastien joined the team as Business Development Manager in May 2022 and has already made a significant impact. As we were to learn, there is much more to this “thirty-something” Frenchman than we might have imagined.
Sebastien was born in Paris, the son of a police officer and a kindergarten teacher. Two years later, the family moved back to the south of France, and Sebastien grew up in and around Montpellier. At nineteen, he moved to Pau, where he studied at ESC Business School. He completed his bachelor’s degree in accounting and business management before attaining a master’s in corporate finance in 2012.
Sebastien’s international experience began while studying for his bachelor’s degree. A required six-month period working abroad led him to go backpacking in Australia with a good friend. Taking jobs as he found them, he spent his time fruit picking, working in construction, and hostel cleaning. In one of his first sales lessons, he bought a campervan for A$2,500, travelled Australia’s east coast, and then sold it for A$6,000!
In 2010, Sebastien joined Lisi Aerospace in Villefranche-de-Rouergue, north of Toulouse, as an apprentice. After graduating, he stayed on as a cost accountant and developed a set of business tools that saved the company a considerable amount of money.
Following his success, Lisi transferred Sebastien to California. Unfazed by moving far away where he knew no one, he spent the next eight years in the US, developing his skills in all aspects of the business’s financial division.
Sebastien perfected his English and, thanks to his Latino co-workers, his Spanish also improved significantly. As the company grew, so did his responsibilities. This culminated in his becoming the financial controller managing a team of accountants, controllers, and data analysts at the tender age of 27, with his peers at over fifty other Lisi plants being much older.
Keen to exploit his entrepreneurial spirit, he set up a couple of side businesses in California. One was an affiliate business trading wine-related goods, such as decanters. The second, “$100 Limo”, adopted a business ethos similar to Uber. Operating Lincoln limousines, he charged a flat US$100 for each journey, regardless of its length.
Despite his early success in finance, Sebastien grew tired of the endless pressure and preferred the entrepreneurial life. His father retired in 2019, and together they set up a classic car company called Veitura – meaning “car” in Occitan. The business matches buyers and sellers of classic cars. Both men, having spent much time at classic car shows since Sebastien’s childhood, found this to be a natural business venture for them.
The business model is akin to real estate. It has grown to a team of over fifty commission-based agents in France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and Switzerland. Process automation is critical to Veitura’s success, allowing Sebastien to dedicate less than 5 hours a week to the business.
In California, Sebastien met and later married German-born Saskia. The couple decided to move back to Europe in mid-2020. English being their common spoken language, and able to live anywhere in the EU, they opted for an English-speaking location. They planned to travel around Europe for up to a year, but the pandemic cut this short. Initially visiting Malta for ten days, they fell in love with the island and moved there permanently in October 2020.
Sebastien continued to build Veitura from Malta while developing a consultancy role, assisting other entrepreneurs with financial tasks and fundraising. Acting essentially as a part-time CFO for these clients, he was excited by the possibilities when Sovereign advertised a job on LinkedIn, he decided to contact the company and joined in May 2022.
Sebastien loves his job, as no day is like another. Eager to utilise his language skills, up to 70% of his contact base is Francophone, mainly from France, Belgium, Switzerland, and French-speaking Africa. He established a French-speaking entrepreneur group based in Malta, which meets every three weeks for breakfast, wine-tasting, dinner, events with speakers, etc. The group has attracted more than 100 entrepreneurs to date.
Sebastien is also involved in the annual Trophée Bailli de Suffren, a classic sailing yacht race from St Tropez to Malta. The last event attracted more than fifteen yachts, and Sebastien matched each with a Malta-based classic car of a corresponding age. The classic yachts are all over thirty years old, with the most venerable dating back a century.
Through the business group, the classic yacht/car events, or just generally getting to know people, Sebastien is thrilled by the huge potential Malta offers. Focusing on French speakers, his aim is to become known to all those considering moving to Malta. His network includes clients, non-clients, and introducers, especially real estate professionals, and he has already undertaken business trips to France and Switzerland. In 2024, Sebastien plans to expand the business further, targeting growth in Morocco, the UAE, and Monaco.
Unsurprisingly, Sebastien and his wife are avid travellers. Saskia works in the hotel industry, so opportunities to travel arise frequently. Outside work, Sebastien has taken up playing padel.
It was a real pleasure listening to Sebastien’s story. His passion for everything he does is undeniable. We thank him for his time and wish the couple bonne chance for continued success in Malta.
