Entrepreneur Talks by STATION F – Détails, épisodes et analyse

In this new episode of Entrepreneur Talks, we sit down with Blaise Matuidi and Ilan Abehassera, Co-founders and General Partners of Origins, to learn more about building a VC fund that combines funding with influence. 

Origins is a Venture Capital fund investing across Paris, NYC and Miami in legendary consumer founders. In this episode of Entrepreneur Talks, we hear more about how Origins is funding early stage companies with the help of their limited partners (LPs) who have a combined social media following of 160,000,000.

Tune in to this new episode to learn about the founding story behind the fund, how Blaise, Ilan and their fund co-founders spotted an opportunity to combine early-stage funding with access to influence, and the many lessons to be shared between the sports and investing world.

This episode was recorded in French 🇫🇷

Topics

01:00 to 05:45 — Introduction to Blaise and Ilan 

05:45 to 11:00 — Presentation of Origins

11:00 to 19:30 — From Zoom call to VC fund co-founders

19:30 to 27:00 — US vs Europe, on the pitch and in the boardroom

27:00 to 29:00 — Raising the fund 

29:00 to 35:00 — Investment thesis and founder-market-fit 

35:00 to 41:00 — Making the move from Angel Investor to General Partner

41:00 to 43:30 — Dealflow realtalk 

43:30 to 54:00 — Learning resilience and dealing with failure

54:00 to 56:00 — The importance of emotional intelligence 

57:00 to the end — Outro questions: 1 word to describe entrepreneurship, a dream LP, unpopular opinion about tech or investment 

If you enjoyed this episode, please let us know by leaving a rating and a review!

This episode is hosted by Yacine Sqalli, and produced with STATION F.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this new episode of Entrepreneur Talks, we catch up with Nicolas Morin-Forest, co-founder & CEO of Gourmey, a company that creates culinary delights like foie gras, directly from cell cultivation.

Thanks to Gourmey, it’s now possible to eat foie gras that doesn’t come from an animal! In this new episode of Entrepreneur Talks, we have the pleasure of welcoming Nicolas Morin-Forest, CEO & cofounder of Gourmey.

Tune in to this new episode to learn about Nicolas’ entrepreneurial journey so far, how he built a deep tech startup with a non-technical background, and how he plans to revolutionize meat production.

Topics

01:00 to 04:00 — Introduction and presentation of Nicolas

04:00 to 10:00 — Presentation of Gourmey

10:00 to 20:00 — Why and how Nicolas became a deep tech founder

20:00 to 26:00 — The moment he decided he wanted to build a sustainable business

26:00 to 31:00 — Nicolas’ biggest failure during his entrepreneurial journey

31:00 to 36:00 — How to manage a deeptech company as a non-tech CEO

36:00 to 43:00 — Why foie gras as a first product and Gourmey’s next products?

43:00 to 47:00 — Outro questions: Best quality trait of an entrepreneur? A board member he wishes to have? The most underrated advice for an entrepreneur to succeed?

If you have enjoyed this episode, please let us know by leaving a rating and a review!

This episode is hosted by Yacine Sqalli, and produced with STATION F.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Wade Foster is the co-founder and CEO of Zapier, the leading automation tool in the ever-growing no-code space.

Earlier this year, Zapier reached $5 billion in valuation and $140 million in recurring revenue — one might think of it as a standard Silicon Valley startup that has raised lots of money with VCs but, apart from having done YC, the company has in reality taken a very different path. Wade and his co-founder started Zapier in Columbia, Missouri. They have been running the company entirely remote before the pandemic made it commonplace. And, they have only raised a total of 1,4 million dollars in funding, which gives them a 100x ratio of ARR/funding.

In this episode, Wade tells us the story behind Zapier’s growth, shares some invaluable tips for startups looking to scale, speaks about the company's long-term vision for automation, and a lot more.

Topics

00:22 — Introduction with Cindy Yang

01:49 — Wade Foster's background and founder story

04:48 — Surprising use cases of Zapier

07:14 — Zapier's new product, Transfer

08:17 — Wade's approach to VC fundraising

09:31 — How Zapier reached 140M ARR in 10 years

12:31 — The importance of defining your go-to-market strategy early on

13:55 — Why Zapier does not have a Sales team

16:17 — Full remote work and "de-location" packages

23:28 — Technologies that Wade is excited about: Web3 and AI / Machine Learning

25:47 — Zapier's vision on the long term

27:48 — Wade's advice for early-stage founders

This episode is supported by TikTok, hosted and produced by Cindy Yang. Art is by Gaëtan Lefebvre.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Emmanuel Straschnov is the founder of Bubble, a leading company in the no-code movement.

Founded in 2012, Bubble was launched before the term "no-code" had even been coined, with the ambition to help anyone build web applications without any knowledge of code. It has since helped many entrepreneurs launch their companies without a technical co-founder.

The company recently announced a $100 million Series A round and, in this episode, we discover that it's only the beginning for them. We dive into the early days of Bubble with Emmanuel, how he bootstrapped for 7 years, his vision for Bubble, and a lot more.

Topics:

00:23 — Introduction with Roxanne Varza

01:40 — Emmanuel Straschnov on the rise of No-Code

04:00 — Emmanuel's skepticism towards general code education

05:41 — What Bubble does

07:10 — How Bubble helps non-technical founders build businesses

09:31 — Bubble's fundraising strategy: from bootstrapping during 7 years to raising $100M

14:30 — Bubble's ambition as a company

15:40 — Going public vs. getting acquired?

17:18 — What's next on Bubble's roadmap for the next two years

20:12 — What Emmanuel finds exciting in the No-Code space

This episode is supported by TikTok, hosted by Roxanne Varza, produced by Cindy Yang, and edited by Grégoire Duhourcau. Art is by Gaëtan Lefebvre.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After the success of his first book AI Superpowers, a New York Times best-seller examining the role of the US and China in the future of artificial intelligence, Dr. Kai-Fu Lee is back with a new book! Co-authored with award-winning science-fiction writer Chen Quifan, his latest book is called AI 2041: Ten Visions for Our Future. AI2041 presents a roadmap to educate and explore the opportunities and challenges presented by AI over the coming decades. 

Kai-Fu has spent more than three decades at the cutting edge of artificial intelligence research, development, and investment in both the US and China. 

He is the chairman and CEO of Sinovation Ventures, a leading venture capital firm focused on developing the next generation of Chinese high-tech companies.

In this episode, we discover how Kai-Fu became a leading voice in AI around the world, discover his new book AI 2041, and learn about how he invests in AI and DeepTech companies.

Topics

00:22 — Introduction with Roxanne Varza

01:44 — How Kai-Fu Lee got into AI

02:54 — Milestones in Kai-Fu's career: from his studies at Columbia University; to his work at Microsoft, SGI, Apple, and Google; to launching Sinovation Ventures.

06:47 — His new book AI 2041: why this title, why 2041?

07:27 — The format of AI 2041

08:31 — How AI 2041 paints the future of AI-based technologies

09:40 — The possible dangers of AI

12:53 — Kai-Fu's favorite part of AI 2041 (includes quantum computers, bitcoin, and robot romance!)

15:00 — Possible solutions against AI's dangers

17:55 — The link between Kai-Fu's two books: AI Superpowers and AI 2041

19:10 — How Kai-Fu invests in AI and DeepTech at Sinovation Ventures

24:23 — Most exciting companies in Kai-Fu's portfolio

25:45 — The trends that Kai-Fu's most excited about on the global landscape

28:27 — Kai-Fu's vision for the future of AI

This episode is supported by TikTok, hosted by Roxanne Varza, and produced by Cindy Yang. Art is by Gaëtan Lefebvre.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Co-founder of Masterclass. Founder and CEO of Outlier.org. Aaron Rasmussen is most known for founding these two phenomenal EdTech companies but he is a very prolific builder who has successfully started and sold companies in the gaming, robotics, and consumer packaged goods industries. With Outlier.org, a company that creates beautifully shot online college courses, Aaron has for mission to create the world's best online college courses. The GV-backed company has been named as one of TIME's Best Inventions of 2020 for its work in making education accessible. Students enrolled in Outlier.org courses earn real, transferable college credit for $400, which is approximately one-sixth the cost of a traditional college course in the USA.

Aaron is a fascinating entrepreneur, inventor, — and artist with a huge TikTok following. In this episode, we talk about how he started Masterclass and Outlier, discuss the future of education, and could not help but ask about what he is doing on the popular social media platform with over 130k followers!

Topics

00:22 — Introduction with Cindy Yang 

01:17 — Aaron Rasmussen’s background and beginnings into the entrepreneurial journey

03:34 — How Aaron ventured into the EdTech space

06:17 — The beginnings of Masterclass: How Masterclass managed to get access to high-level speakers as an early-stage company

10:23 — Fascinating things that Aaron has learned while building Masterclass 

14:19 — Why Aaron left Masterclass 

17:28 — How the idea of Outlier came about

19:30 — Outlier’s model for online education based on educational psychology

21:44 — Working with the University of Pittsburgh and their shared vision of making education more accessible

23:41 — How online classes work on Outlier

25:20 — Aaron on online vs. in-person education

29:58 — How Outlier finds the best teacher for each class

32:40 — Outlier’s long-term vision

36:67 — High-level thoughts on education: the university vs. the anti-university model, the purpose of education, and more.

42:29 — Aaron’s TikTok with 130k+ followers 👀

45:34 — Aaron’s advice for early-stage entrepreneurs

This episode is supported by TikTok, hosted and produced by Cindy Yang. Art is by Gaëtan Lefebvre.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mathilde Collin is the co-founder and CEO of Front. Since starting Front in 2013, Mathilde has raised over $138 million with an impressive roster of investors including Sequoia, Initialized, and the founders of Slack, Zoom, Atlassian, and more. She is known for her values-driven leadership style and for championing top-down radical transparency. From lessons in leadership to tips on fundraising, this episode is filled with invaluable tips for CEOs!

Topics:

00:22 — Introduction with Cindy Yang 

01:18 — Introduction of Mathilde Collin 

02:23 — Mathilde’s background and mission to make “work happier” 

04:48 — The importance of measuring what you want to improve in your company and how Front measures employee happiness 

06:36 — Use cases of Front: Shopify, Lydia, Sennder 

08:45 — Surprising use cases: political campaigns and #CovidListe, COVID vaccine lists! 

10:22 — Fundraising tips for CEOs: the importance of mindset, storytelling, and focus ⚠️ 

16:06 — Building between Paris and San Francisco at Y Combinator 

16:32 — The tech ecosystems in France vs. the US 

18:14 — On sharing her learnings on her blog and on writing to clarify thoughts 

20:28 — Mathilde’s most important lessons in leadership 

23:56 — Good transparency vs. bad transparency 

25:47 — On vulnerability

28:15 — Startup spaces that Mathilde is excited about: mental health and asynchronous communication

31:33 — Gender diversity in entrepreneurship

This episode is supported by TikTok, hosted and produced by Cindy Yang. Art is by Gaëtan Lefebvre.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Back in 2018, Alex Bouaziz and his co-founder Shuo Wang picked up on the trend of remote work and founded Deel, a startup that helps companies of all sizes compliantly hire and pay talent remotely all around the world. Over a year into COVID, it's clear that remote work is here to stay and has become a new norm, particularly for tech companies. With this shift in work behaviour, Deel has seen their business explode with 20X growth in the past year, reaching a $1.25 billion valuation after a $156 million Series C funding led by the YC Continuity Fund and existing backers Andreessen Horowitz and Spark Capital.

In this episode, we dive into the story of the newly-minted unicorn with its co-founder Alex and one of its first investors, Anish Acharya of Andreessen Horowitz. We discuss the future of work, learn about their VC-founder encounter, and —with Alex and Anish both having founded successful companies— pick up lots of founder wisdom along the way.

00:23 — Introduction with Cindy Yang

01:24 — Alex Bouaziz on the origin story of Deel

03:16 — Anish Acharya's macro-analysis of work and employment

04:14 — How Alex and Anish met through Ryan Hoover (Product Hunt, Weekend Fund)

06:34 — Growth and unicorn status

07:10 — Trends in remote work: contractor vs. full-time

09:13 — Best practice for cross-timezone collaboration

11:16 — How to find the best talent geographically

12:10 — Working in a physical office vs. in remote

14:01 — Anish and Alex on the future of work

20:04 — The relevance of starting a company in Silicon Valley today

23:15 — Anish's investment scope at a16z

23:58 — Alex on how VCs perceive remote teams

23:27 — Anish on FinTech and FinTech-adjacent companies

25:32 — Alex on how Deel falls into the FinTech spectrum

26:04 — How Deel helps companies compliantly employ and pay talent in so many countries

28:15 — What Anish looks for in founders at a16z and what struck him about Alex and Shuo

29:44 — Companies that Anish and Alex are excited about

32:09 — Advice for early-stage founders

This episode is supported by TikTok, hosted and produced by Cindy Yang. Art is by Gaëtan Lefebvre.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jamie Macfarlane is the founder & CEO of Creator Fund, an early-stage VC fund that invests in student-led companies with student investment partners.

Having studied both in the UK and in the USA, he started Creator Fund based on the observation that some of the world's most successful technology companies —like Facebook and Google— have been started in the dorm rooms and laboratories of American universities. Europe has universities of equal caliber but these have not yet managed to spin out as many tech champions. With the Creator Fund, Jamie hopes to support more student-led innovation and the creation of tech-driven companies across the continent. To do so, he has also designed a very unique student-focused model.

In this episode, we talk to Jamie to learn more about how their model works, what are some of the most exciting companies currently being built in universities across Europe, and what Europe can do to encourage more DeepTech companies.

Topics:

00:23 — Introduction with Cindy Yang

01:07 — How Jamie first started investing in students

02:29 — Creator Fund's investment model (and its secret sauce 🌶)

03:50 — How they recruit their student investment partners

05:02 — Why they're not called "ambassadors" or "scouts"

07:16 — The difference between investing in students in the US vs. in Europe

08:20 — What Creator Fund looks for in companies

12:16 — The advantage of getting investment from Creator Fund: talent network and follow-on investment

15:34 — The ideal founding team and the example of Touchlab

19:56 — Trends and companies that Jamie is excited about: Baseimmune and RecyclEye

23:44 — The technology behind vaccine company Baseimmune

28:10 — The limits to Creator Fund's investment model

31:44 — How IP works in universities

33:16 — What Europe can do to encourage more DeepTech companies

37:00 — Jamie's piece of advice for student entrepreneurs

This episode is hosted and produced by Cindy Yang. Art is by Gaëtan Lefebvre.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The tech entrepreneur who raised the largest seed round in Europe this year. The restaurateur behind Paris' favourite group of Italian restaurants.

Victor Lugger is the co-founder and CEO of Big Mamma Group and Sunday App. Being at the head of 26 very popular Italian restaurants across Europe, including La Felicità on our campus, Victor is embarking on a new FinTech adventure with his Big Mamma co-founder, Tigrane Seydoux, and their new partner, Christine de Wendel, to reinvent the way that people pay in restaurants. The trio recently announced a $24 million seed round for their new company Sunday App.

In this episode, we catch up with Victor to learn more about what it means to have raised the largest seed round in Europe this year and how Big Mamma Group keeps launching restaurants that people cannot stop raving about. We'll talk about company culture, logistics, trends in the restaurant space, and a lot more!

Topics:

00:22 — Introduction with Roxanne Varza and Cindy Yang

01:53 — Victor Lugger on raising the biggest seed round in Europe

02:17 — The origin story of Big Mamma Group

05:47 — The importance of company culture for Big Mamma's success

16:12 — On choosing a co-founder

19:44 — The beginnings of Sunday app

23:00 — How Sunday works

24:53 — Sunday's technology 🌍

26:17 — Innovations in the restaurant space

27:26 — On being a BCorp company

28:48 — Scaling logistics at Big Mamma Group 💡

31:03 — The importance of pursuing ideas that are not easy

32:35 — Victor's favourite Big Mamma restaurant 😉

This episode is hosted and produced by Cindy Yang. Art is by Gaëtan Lefebvre.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.