#6: Cassandra Delage

Episode 6 - Cassandra Delage - Changing recycling behavior in France, office by office

After completing her Bachelor’s at McGill University in Canada, Cassandra moved to France to pursue her Master’s degree in entrepreneurship at HEC.  During her internships there, something jumped out to Cassandra: Compared to her experience in Canada, French offices were very far behind in terms of recycling behavior and technology.  The waste and attitudes had to change, for the sake of the environment.

Instead of accepting this recycle-free zone, she decided to do something about it.  In addition to her degrees from impressive schools, Cassandra also has the drive to get things done; after creating her first company as a teenager, she knew she’d found her calling as an entrepreneur.

Her latest business is Plast’if, a hyper-local recycling machine that addresses the problem of recycling in offices.  For starters, it collects and separates plastic in the office - water bottles, dishes, bottle caps, you name it - and then melts and transforms that plastic, which is then used to print 3D objects of your choice.  Definitely a cool idea.

While sorting, melting, and printing are at the core of Plast’if’s functionalities, what makes their technology special is that it encourages responsible behavior.  Office teams can compete and win rewards for recycling more.  Rewarding people reinforces the good behavior, which in turn encourages and builds the habit of recycling.  So far, the response with Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) teams has been very positive in the Île-de-France region.

The key to Cassandra’s success?  Networking, followed by more networking, served with a topping of extra networking.  Having the support and mentoring assistance from Microsoft Ventures and others is great, but there’s no replacement for pounding the pavement and meeting people.  As she tells us, each new conversation gives her new ideas that help Plast’if move forward, so there’s a lot more networking ahead.

Cassandra also shares about the friendliness and camaraderie she’s come across that are prevalent in the French startup ecosystem.  It’s something we at OuiStart Media have experienced ourselves and most people we meet say the same thing. While the French sometimes have a reputation for being standoffish, our guests’ experiences tell a different story.

Maybe it’s because the startup world here is still early and growing, but people here are willing to help.  Don’t be afraid to ask for help - including asking us! - and if you can, be generous with others who need it. That kind of community building is just what’s helped Cassandra to forge Plast’fi in a new-to-her environment!

#5: Hind Elidrissi

Episode 5 - Hind Elidrissi - French problems, French solutions

Coming out of one of the top business schools in France, Hind had plans to create a startup and take the world by storm.  And then Dot-com went Dot-bomb and like many other aspiring entrepreneurs, Hind put those dreams on the shelf and joined a big company.  It was the sensible thing to do and much more secure than the collapsing Internet world.

Back then, creating a startup took more than just a good idea: you needed lots of cash to buy equipment (the hardware alone to run your servers could easily be well into six figures). So Hind hunkered down in the steady world of insurance, but she didn’t give up on her big dreams.  She took on new projects within the global company and learned a lot

Hind is clearly super smart, but let’s be honest: there are plenty of smart people out there who aren’t cut out for the wild world of startups. Thanks to the calmer environment of a big corporation, she was also able to focus on improving her people skills and developing a better EQ. According to Hind, learning a trade is possible in a relatively short period of time, but developing people skills is a never-ending process. In a business landscape littered with Tech Bro jerks who can’t grasp the basic skills required to engage with others, Hind stands out as a true role model.

After extensive study and following lectures at The Family, a startup incubator and accelerator in Paris, she took the leap and created Wemind. While their core product has remained intact since the beginning, they’ve pivoted to add different components. Their initial offering, while important, wasn’t building significant enthusiasm among her target market, so Hind did what good entrepreneurs do: she listened. And listened a bit more. And then some more until she truly understood what her market wanted.

Hind’s can-do spirit and people skills shine through in our conversation with her, and confirm that her choice to set out to become a startup CEO was the right one. She studies extensively to learn about the market dynamics, listens to her target audience, and then executes.  It’s no wonder that at launch she had 15,000 prospects lined up and ready to buy.  

Watch this space because there’s a big future ahead for Hind Elidrissi and Wemind.

#4: Sébastien Couture

Episode 4 -  Sébastien Couture - Building the future with blockchain

As much as everyone in Startupland talks about disruption, let’s be honest: there’s not as much disruption out there as there’s cracked up to be.  However, however...blockchain is one of those areas that may be living up to the hype.  We sat down with one of the co-founders of Stratumn, the highest-funded blockchain startup in France.

Sébastien is a great example of someone who proves there’s more than one model for being a successful startup entrepreneur.  As his professors described him, he’s “atypical”: he’s both a self-taught developer, and has a degree in marketing and communications.  What’s more, he was educated in Canada as well as in France.

In a wide-ranging discussion, Sébastien walks us through how he got started in the blockchain world (including launching the very successful Epicenter blockchain podcast) and how the relationships that he’s developed over time have helped Stratumn grow from a vision to a leading blockchain infrastructure business with two rounds of funding.

For technical founders who don’t like glitzy marketing, there are so many lessons to be learned here.  Sébastien is big on relationship development, building a community and listening.  In a world full of so many more pontificators than listeners, he provides some valuable lessons in how to build your business with open communication channels between you and your users.

In addition, we hear about both the upsides and the challenges of building a startup in Paris with a team that looks like the UN.  Communicating across cultures is not always easy, but embracing the challenge is certainly paying off for Stratumn.

There’s so much helpful advice here, you’re going to want to listen to this a few times to get it all.

#3 (fr): Leo Vesperini

Écoutez Leo partager avec Eric Lebigot son expérience dans le milieu du jeu de société, la réussite de son kickstarter récent et la préparation du suivant. En français.

#3: Leo Vesperini

Episode 3- Leo Vesperini- Beyond Mythical success

Pour la version française, cliquez ici

One argument that we hear in France a lot is that France builds many great things but they’re terrible with marketing and companies often struggle to promote their great offerings around the world.  What we learn today with Mythic Games founder Léonidas Versperini is that bien sûr, tout est possible.

Following a successful publishing career writing about board and tabletop games, Leo saw the increasing difficulties of being in the print industry and shifted gears into the game market itself.  Thanks to his broad network of fellow game enthusiasts and craftspeople around the world, Leo put together a truly global team to build an enormously successful Kickstarter campaign, with more to follow.

Anyone who listens to Leo will quickly hear his passion for what he does. He’s also a naturally gifted salesperson.  Leo listens to his customers, embraces their feedback, and then exceeds expectations. This is the way business should be done.

Following a successful partnership for the creation of Mythic Battles: Pantheon, Mythic Games learned many helpful lessons and is moving forward with a second Kickstarter campaign for their new game, Time of Legends: Joan of Arc.  (SPOILER ALERT: France still defeats England in the Hundred Years’ War.)

It’s hard to listen to Leo talk about his company and not get excited.  And for good reason! They’re doing exciting things and marketing in exciting ways! For those unsure of what a startup founder - regardless of industry -  sounds like, this is it.

You can follow Leo's Kickstarter campaign here. 

#2: Phil Waknell

Episode 2 - Phil Waknell - The Perfect Pitch

Before diving into startup storytelling, we wanted to first step back and focus on one of the most important parts of startup creation.  You could argue that it’s not as important as the concept itself, but without a pitch, moving forward is going to be a struggle.  

For starters, you need to pitch the idea to others to get them onboard with your idea.  You need to pitch others - or even amongst yourselves - to do a lot of work to build a prototype so you can go out and pitch others, to get customers or raise money.

Pitching doesn’t come naturally for most so for many, it’s such a painful and forced process, that there will be only one pitch.  Talking with potential partners?  Here’s our pitch.  Potential investors?  Oh good, here’s that same pitch.  Prospects?  You got it, here’s the pitch.  It’s difficult coming up with that pitch masterpiece so surely it works for every situation, right?

If you thought that your pitch wasn’t all that important and that you only needed one, you really need to listen to our guest Phil Waknell, Chief Inspiration Officer at Ideas on Stage.  Phil has coached countless people for pitching, including students at some of the Grandes Écoles in France, startup incubators such as NUMA and Share-It at StationF and numerous corporate accounts including Microsoft, EDF, Orange, Sanofi and beyond.

Phil explains the critical components that are needed for your pitch as well as why you need not just one pitch, but many.  If you want to have a successful pitch, each pitch must speak to your specific audience, which is important to consider beyond just your pitch, as you grow your business.

Learning this process is often more difficult for technical founders, who put more value on the technical aspects of their startup rather than the marketing side.  It’s true your technical solution needs to be solid, but it’s a mistake to undervalue the critical nature of your pitch.  If you fail to connect with your audience, it’s going to be difficult to get the to listen to your cool new offering.

Remember, there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all pitch.  In fact, as we will discover during our podcasts, there is no such thing as one-size-fits-all in the startup world.  We always need to know our audience and speak to them, not a generic person.  Nobody explains this better than Phil, so enjoy!

#1: Intro

Episode 1 - Intro - The many roads to success

A few years ago it was said that George W. Bush claimed that “the problem with the French is that they don’t have a word for entrepreneur.”  Even though he didn’t say this (and sure, we had to confirm this on Snopes because it does sound like something he could have blurted out) it’s fair to say this was the general stereotype by many outside of France and even some inside France too!

So how true is this today?  While being a startup entrepreneur is not as much a part of the culture in France as it is in the US, everything is changing.  Those who used to rush off to London or Silicon Valley are now seeing that yes, it’s possible to stay in France and enjoy success.

Even the word “success” is loaded because there is no single right answer.  Success is whatever you define success to be.  Is it being rich?  Is it doing something positive for the world?  Is it finding work-life balance?  There is no right answer, it’s whatever you want it to be.

Along those lines, how do you achieve success with a startup?  Do you mirror Silicon Valley, where financial success is plentiful?  Despite the claims of some, there really is no single path to success.

Can other parts of the world learn from Silicon Valley.  Of course, but there is plenty of both good and bad.  Does one model from a specific region in the US translate everywhere?  Hardly!  Even in the US there are many models and many startup success stories in places outside of Silicon Valley.

Before jumping into the many great discussions with startup people and industry experts, we want to provide you with a brief introduction to ourselves and what we will be talking about moving forward.  Instead of bloviating or pontificating, our goal is to engage in fun and interesting discussions with startup people.

From our perspective, listening and learning from others is the best way forward.  Maybe your focus is different from ours or our guests, but listening to others can help move forward with developing your own success.  Even when we choose another path, listening to others helps develop our own methods.

When you’re a larger company and have plenty of money available, it’s easy to find experts and get advice.  When you’re getting started and money is tight, access to experts is much more difficult.  By listening to others who have gone through this experience, you can hear that others have faced exactly the same issues as you.

We hope that it will help you think more about the decisions you make, these discussions have already helped us change our mind on a few points.  Keep an open mind and learn along with us.