A KEDGE Alumnus just opened a 200m2 co-working space in Bordeaux!

I received my scientific BAC a year early. Even though I got in to some of the best prep schools in Paris, my parents thought I was too young to leave at the time (I lived in Guadeloupe, 7,000 km away). So, I attended an HEC prep school in Guadeloupe and obtained excellent results for the entrance exams in 2001 (I got in to 21 out of the 25 schools I sat the exam for, and came in 3rd out of more than 3,000 candidates for the ESC in Montpellier for exemple). I took a trip around France to visit the country's best schools, but fell in love with Bordeaux, the city, its architecture and history, its vitality. I was also touched by the warm welcome I received from the students at BEM (its name at the time), its multiculturalism and openness abroad, the fact that at the time the school was one of the only schools in the country to have an EQUIS accreditation (only 4 or 5, including those in Paris) and the diversity of the student life that was offered. I completed a two-year degree at the school, during which time I was VP of the student association Extérieur Nuit (European Short Film Festival), a member of the Council of Associations (Culture Department) and very involved in numerous activities. I specialised in Finances and was particularly interested in Corporate Finances. I did a gap year in Luxembourg from July 2003 to July 2004, which opened a lot of professional opportunities for me and enabled me to discover new horizons and how to work in a multicultural professional environment. I finished my studies in December 2004 and started working in January 2005. 

 

I have an unconventional but particularly rich background. After leaving KEDGE, I had the opportunity to join an SME in Luxembourg that has been around for nearly 30 years when new investors took control of the company. We constituted a pretty creative "marriage: my youth, my vitality, my knowledge versus their experience (they weren't really "managers", but more "operational senior executives"). In August 2005, I got married, after implementing a performance audit and restructuring plan for the company in the first months. As a result, I was promoted from Management Controller to Deputy Administration and Finance Manager, with 60 people directly and indirectly under my supervision, all while the company was growing organically (opening subsidiaries, creating internal companies to replace our main suppliers, reorganising business lines, etc.) Less than a year later, I caught the attention of different economic actors by participating in conferences, awards, trainings (Quality Evaluator in 2006 for the Luxembourg Movement for Quality, for example). I joined PwC Luxembourg in early 2006, as they were looking for candidates with a lot of potential to develop  an integrated advisory service for local SMEs. At PwC, I discovered exceptional work methods, started developing my own local and international network, all the while facing the harsh realities of major companies and financial actors. I then went on to work for Ernst & Young Luxembourg, this time on financial and performance optimisation, also for government agencies. I also had the opportunity to manage complex pos-Merger & Aquisition issues (Le Credit Lyonnais-CA in Luxembourg or Arcelor-Mittal in Spain). Nonetheless, I have always been motivated by the desire to be an entrepreneur, and I had given myself two to three years to "learn" with major groups before starting my own business. That is what I did for the first time in mid-2007, by buying 25% of the capital in a local communication agency and by launching, in parallel, the first transnational carpooling project in Luxembourg (www.karzoo.eu), which won several awards. In mid-2008, I left the communication agency because of various disagreements with the other shareholder, and partnered with my father to launch a consulting company operating in the Caribbean, Europe, and Africa. I was in charge of developing the Italian subsidiary (Milan) from 2008 to 2010 and we started recruiting our first collaborators. In parallel, we launched an investment fund in Luxembourg, then a consulting company in London, then progressively expanded our scope of activities to create what is now the Batsela H.G consortium (www.bhgroup.eu), which groups together several entities whose core business is related to strategy, entrepreneurship, and structured finance. We specialise in alternative financial mechanisms and elaborate custom business solutions to address complex issues (legal, tax, strategic, business) in an international environment (Africa, USA, Luxembourg, London, Switzerland, Dubai, Jakarta...). My personal background (Cameroon, Guadeloupe, Bordeaux, Luxembourg, Italy) and the fact that I speak several languages has really helped me... In 2011, I moved back to Bordeaux for family reasons, and I took advantage of the city's vitality to open a branch for our London consulting company in 2012. I have also been involved in humanitarian work since 2013, through a non-profit organisation that works in Africa. Finally, last year, we opened in Bordeaux a "financial boutique" (a company that offers wealth management advisory services, structured finance services, and performs Private Equity investments). Since then, we have invested more than 150K€, with several partners, in local start-ups with a strong potential for growth (including the company LES BLOUSES BLANCHES) and plan to continue to do so...

 

 

Yes! This past September we launched a cool new project in Bordeaux, in a 200m2 space three minutes away from the St-Jean train station: a place for co-working and creating synergies, in which any one can come work on a very flexible basis (hourly, for a half-day, weekly, monthly, for several months...etc.). We wanted to take advantage of the new high speed Bordeaux-Paris train, our strategic location (tram, bus, hotels, post office, banks...) and of the booming the Belcier/Quai de Palutade activity area. In addition to offering this collaborative work space with traditional infrastructure (internet access, database servers...), we wanted to innovate by offering "10 half-day cards" that can be used over several weeks, but also offer a service that allows clients to order consumables (in partnership with non-profit groups, so at very competitive rates), as well as a high quality restaurant service that we negotiated with local partners at a very attractive rate, access to a bathroom for those who like to work out over lunch, and most of all an Investors Club for those who are creating their own projects, ...etc. The idea is, of course, to create synergies that generate value for our companies and our clients in this space. 

 

We are currently working to increase our capacity to invest in start-ups that have a strong potential for growth. As such, we are reaching out to our existing international network of investment funds, venture capitalists, and business angels, but we are also seeking to federate a community of local economic actors to provide real strategic and financial support to the projects leaders when no one else believes in them. This is a far cry from the "declarations of intention" and campaign ads you see from traditional banking networks that often aren't followed up with real effects. In parallel, we want to invigorate our "co-working and synergy" space because we know that, often, the success of entrepreneurs often lies in meeting people, networking, and seizing opportunities. Finally, for 2018, we are working on an innovative digital platform, that will be a sort of "market place" for project leaders and investors, unlike anything that currently exists (online database of investors, crowdfunding platforms, networks of business angels), that favours a more proactive approach from the investors, but most importantly provides very targeted and relevant filters. 

 

Of course, KEDGE helped me a great deal throughout my professional career. It didn't just provide me a quality and cross cutting education in different business areas, the simulation exercises and the fact that I was involved in different association activities helped me learn the foundations of project management and helped me more clearly identify the types of activities that would help me feel fulfilled. Additionally, I highly recommend taking a gap year and going abroad. These experiences really help us become more open minded, both intellectually and in terms of culture, in the professional world, while teaching us fundamental life and soft skills that we have a tendency to neglect when we are young... I also remember the former school Director, who continually insisted on the importance on maintaining our "employability" by constantly questioning what we know, and our own skills, in order to stay on top, and remain flexible in a professional context that is always changing. And of course, there is the power of the KEDGE network that provides a real value-add to projects when they are in the development stage. 

 

I really like this quote from Michael J. Boback:"All progress takes place outside the comfort zone". So, dare, explore, fall and get back up. Travel, and never stop learning, work hard, but most of all thrive in your work and don't neglect what matters most, and makes your life really worthwhile: your family, your values, and what you inspire in others!