Emmanuel Durand

Emmanuel Durand’s LinkedIn subhead reads (in lower case) “expert in disruption” which is a bold claim but one he can back up, given the breadth and depth of his experience and the lessons he has learned in ushering creative industries into the digital age. After all, he has literally written the book on the subject: The Phantom Menace: the cultural industries facing digital. And extra marks for its original French title, La menace fantôme.

Durand wrote this while at Warner Bros where he was senior vice president of marketing, data and innovation, as the company faced up to a worldwide existential challenge. His success there where he introduced a data-driven management response, led to his appointment as the head of Snapchat when it launched in France in 2016. During his five years at the social media company, he took the firm’s turnover from zero to €100m and cemented his reputation as a hands-on leader with an acute strategic vision.

Prior to his time at Warner Bros, Emmanuel was heavily involved at a senior level in the French music industry, first at Universal and then Sony. At the former he generated savings of €4.5m on ad buying while at the latter he turned around the company from being a loss-maker in 1999 into profitability by 2003. All of this plays perfectly into his latest role as venture partner at Edge where he’ll be a mentor to many emerging start-ups.

Not content with writing La menace fantôme, Durand titled its follow-up, L’attaque des clones.