Sebastian is a growth and retention leader with more than eight years of experience scaling acquisition, engagement, and revenue across fast-paced tech, eCommerce, and app-driven businesses. He specialise in building sustainable growth systems that connect business impact with customer value, particularly through subscription models, lifecycle marketing, and data-driven experimentation.
Today, Sebastian leads the global Flink subscription program, where he’s grown the subscription base more than 300% and improved profitability by over 40% in under a year. He is also an MBA candidate at WHU and passionate about innovation, generative AI, and long-term value creation for both customers and organisations.
In your own words, what’s your role in the app business right now?
Right now, I lead global retention and lifecycle strategy for a major European quick-commerce app. My role is to drive customer engagement, subscription adoption, and long-term value across several countries. This includes designing and optimizing CRM automation, personalization frameworks, frequency-driving initiatives, loyalty programs, and reducing churn through data-driven actions.
I also work at the intersection of product, performance, and data, ensuring retention strategies support broader LTV/CAC efficiency.
How did you end up working in apps?
I transitioned from consulting into the tech ecosystem by joining the first unicorn tech company in Colombia. I wanted to move closer to execution and have a more direct impact on users, products, and growth. At Rappi, I led high-impact projects across Latin America, which gave me hands-on experience in experimentation, performance, and lifecycle tactics at scale, and ultimately set the foundation for my career in app growth.
What are you most excited about in apps right now?
I’m excited about AI-enabled automation, which is changing how teams ideate, test, and build marketing systems, reducing operational effort and enabling more experimentation with less overhead.
Is there anyone you’d like to shout out to who has influenced your journey in the app industry?
I’m grateful to the incredible cross-functional teams I’ve worked with — CRM experts, data partners, product managers, performance marketers, and analysts who consistently challenge me to think bigger. I’ve also been shaped by leaders who trusted me to own international strategies early on — from Rappi, to Freeletics, to Flink.
I also owe a lot to the broader growth community, where people openly share frameworks on retention, ASO, subscriptions, and experimentation.
What’s in your app tech stack?
Braze for lifecycle orchestration and multichannel CRM; Mixpanel and Amplitude for product analytics; Adjust and AppsFlyer for attribution; Looker and Tableau for BI and performance insights; Bigquery and Snowflake for data analysis; ASA tools and metadata frameworks from my Freeletics and Rappi days; internal A/B testing and experimentation systems; and increasingly, custom GPT workflows for content generation, QA, and operational efficiency.
What do you like most about working in apps?
I love the speed, the experimentation mindset, and the ability to see clear, measurable impact on user behavior. App environments bring together marketing, product, engineering, and data in a way that forces you to think holistically. You can launch an idea today and read real customer signals tomorrow.
What one thing would you change about the app industry?
I’d move the industry away from acquisition obsession and toward long-term value creation. Retention, engagement, and profitability deserve far more attention.
If you weren’t working in apps what would you be doing?
I’d probably be consulting again or building something of my own. Most likely in the growth, wellness, or digital product space.
iOS or Android?
iOS.
What apps have been most useful to you over the last year?
Strava for my half-marathon training; Spotify for cycling playlists and focus sessions; ChatGPT — my daily co-pilot for strategy, automation, and content; and, of course, Flink for everyday convenience and hands-on product insight.
What’s on your Spotify playlist?
Honestly, everything from classical music to techno — haha. My playlists swing from orchestral focus sessions to high-energy electronic sets.
Any Netflix recommendations?
Drive to Survive.
Is there anything else we should know about you?
I’m passionate about sports and music. They’re a huge part of my routine, inspiration, and energy both in and out of work.
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