Marco Chillon.

Independent Operating Advisor · Fractional GM Europe · Hamburg

Building European businessfor gaming and consumer electronics brands.

Senior operating leadership for brands entering or scaling in Europe. Contacts and experience open doors, but they don't replace a plan.

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Portrait of Marco Chillon
Role
Independent Operating Advisor
Focus
Gaming hardware, consumer electronics, peripherals
Region
Europe
Base
Hamburg, Germany
25+years in gaming hardware and consumer electronics
12+years as General Manager Europe at Razer
€100M+regional P&L managed
Challenges

What keeps you awake?

"We want to enter Europe, but we don't know which channels fit our product."

Europe is not one market. I map out which channels, countries and partners fit best for you.

"We tried to enter Europe, but haven't succeeded yet."

I review what happened: channel, partner, timing and product fit. Then I rebuild the plan from what you have learned.

"Our distributor has just listed us."

A listing is the start, not the result. We build a sell-through plan with your distributor: channel accounts, product forecast, promotion plan.

"European regulation is complicated."

Product compliance, sanctions and export controls decide which markets and routes are open. I put them into the plan from day one.

Track record

I built Europe from the inside.

  • MicrosoftEMEA Business Development Manager1998–2006

    Part of a taskforce that established new channels and partners for the Microsoft Hardware Business Unit across Europe. The result was a stronger focus on the gaming category and the system builder channel.

  • SteelSeriesEMEA Regional Sales Manager2006–2011

    Paved the way for the initial rollout in Central European retail, among them Media Markt, Saturn, FNAC, Interdiscount, GameStop and many more.

  • RazerGeneral Manager Europe2011–2024

    Led the team that delivered a regional P&L above €100M, carried by industry-leading gaming peripherals, a top-notch gaming notebook category and an industry-shaking Android mobile model. From Lisbon to Helsinki, from Cape Town to Istanbul.

Advice from someone who has carried the number is different from advice from someone who has only modelled it.

References

What the people I worked with say.

Marco is detail oriented with an outstanding capability of combining his passion for technology with great sales skills and strategic focus.
Jacob Wolff-PetersenFounder, SteelSeries
He is very passionate about growing new businesses and developing lasting relationships with partners and clients. He is creative in solving problems and wants to achieve win-win solutions.
Christine BlumerWW Channel Development & Sales Manager, Microsoft Hardware
He is collaborative … and effectively drives his strategies to success.
Mark JoliffeVP Business Development, SteelSeries
He has shown excellent skills in driving a business development on a pan European level.
Yves DalberguePresident, Uniformatic

Quotes from LinkedIn recommendations.

Work with me

Three ways I can help your brand in Europe.

  • Market entry plan

    A structured 180-day plan for entering Western Europe, built around channel reality: which channels fit your product, who distributes, and what partners expect from a new brand.

  • Fractional Role

    Senior operating leadership for your European business without a full-time hire, covering sales, channel, partners and the P&L.

  • Channel and partner development

    Opening conversations with distributors, retailers and online partners, and preparing your team for trade shows such as Gamescom and IFA.

How I work

Retail is one channel of many.Let me define the right sales channels for your product.
Realistic expectations.Even with long-standing contacts, entering Europe takes work. I tell you early what the market will and won't do for your brand.
Every figure has a source.Numbers in my client documents come from sources I can name.
Contact

Let's talk about your Europe.

Planning a European launch or a reset? Tell me about your brand, your products and where you want to be in a year. I reply personally.

Email
LinkedIn
linkedin.com/in/marcochillon
Based in
Hamburg, Germany
Languages
German, English