Audencia's Alumni Magazine

Entrepreneurship doesn’t all revolve around Silicon Valley in the US. Some new “places to be” are emerging on the world stage and on the Asian Continent in particular. Lamia Hassene and Bertrand Del Grande, currently on an internship in Hong Kong, have both studied at SABS (Shenzhen Audencia Business School), a favourable environment for inspiring them to start their own company.

For his part, Bertrand has managed to spot a gap in the market for dairy products:

“In Asia, there’s a deep distrust of locally produced brands, especially following the infant milk scandal which affected the sector around ten years ago. My goal is to create and establish a “made in France” brand of milk for the Asian market.”

The 23-year-old is starting his entrepreneurial venture in Hong Kong, before breaking into the markets in Taiwan or Singapore, performance permitting.

"As one of our Audencia professors used to say, things can move fast in this region: the number of investors almost outweighs the number of projects up for funding. It’s just a case of spotting the right opportunities."

As for Lamia, she has gone into producing organic cosmetics which are made from natural Moroccan products. The official unveiling of her “Kernel” brand is in two months’ time.

“The products will be available on an e-commerce website and also in pop-up stores in Hong Kong: it’s a great place to start up,” Lamia tells us. “There are so many places out here to get new products out, like the exhibition centre or at the airport for instance. They do everything they can to encourage enterprise.”

And so, this young woman has jumped right into this extremely buoyant market:

“The Chinese have very little confidence in the cosmetics which their own brands produce. In Hong Kong droves of potential customers come along every week-end to discover all the new products.”

With this former British territory constituting a real cosmetics “hub”, at a later stage China stands to become her patch to canvass for hot new business.   

Jordi Soude (SciencesCom 07), Editor

One is at the head of her own start-up. The second specialises in corporate finance. Katia Paré (GE 18) and Chloé Zirah (GE 19) both personify entrepreneurship of the future.

Although a lack of experience is often seen to curb entrepreneurship, more and more young people are deciding to have a go at starting their own business. An illustration of this can be seen in Katia Paré’s professional journey, a 2018 Grande Ecole graduate who admits to being drawn to management and the agri-food business very early on. At the age of 25, this young woman has launched her own start-up, specialising in the production and marketing of 16 natural and organic products for breakfast, teatime snacks and aperitifs under the Bam&Co brand. Her pledge: to deliver gourmet recipes which are free from additives and preservatives, together with a colourful brand image. The product line is currently sold in delicatessens and bars and also fits perfectly into coworking spaces and companies. What’s more, with business booming, she isn’t planning on stopping there. Following a campaign on the Ulule platform, proving to be a tremendous hit generating over 1,600 pre-sales against a targeted 400, the company has decided to think big! Her view for the long term is to target the mass retail market. The next step, after Paris where she calls home and where her manufacturing workshop has been established, will soon be to break into the French market, before focussing on Europe (Belgium, etc...).

Another world, another profile

Though Katia Paré has opted for crowdfunding, other innovative funding methods exist, like venture capital. Chloé Zirah is all too familiar with this subject. As of last January, the 23-year-old student joined the Paris-based innovation platform Lafayette Plug and Play which, since 2016, has taken a keen interest in issues relating to retail and e-commerce in Europe, with a sharp focus on two distinct activities. Firstly: investment.

“As a “Venture Analyst”, alongside my manager, I am in charge of investing seed vouchers, worth between €50k and €250k, into retailtech start-ups in need of funding.”

Chloé Zirah is moving in an ecosystem which is committed to the spurring on of businesses as well as fostering synergies between start-ups who offer BtoB solutions (tools for parcel tracking, marketing optimisation and more) and large retailers, like Carrefour, who “have an obligation to innovate and reinvent themselves digitally if they are to survive while up against these “pure players” online.” Her role? To spot start-ups who are able to meet this need for innovation. This is a world that lies at the intersection of curiosity, rigour and proactivity.    

Discover the portrait of Denis Thebaud, serial entrepreneur

Florence Falvy, Editor

COMFactory is a think-tank workshop where attendees get to share ideas on communications services and changing trends within the sector. Every year, the project leads on to an interactive presentation featuring a panorama of technological, societal and economic impacts affecting communications.

Work carried out by third-year students (5 years of studies post-Baccalauréat exams) specialising in “Corporate & Institutional Communication” is enriched thanks to the many discussions they have with communications experts. Throughout this new edition, the students were given the opportunity to exchange viewpoints with:

• Guillaume Aper, Deputy Communications Director at JCDecaux.
• Emmanuel Chazalet, Head of Branding and Strategic Planning at AG2R LA MONDIALE.
• Catherine Durfort, Head of Communications in the Department of Ile-et-Vilaine.
• Béatrice de Launay, Head of Communications and Development at Campus langue.
• Alice Thiriet, Head of Communications at the IDEA Group.
• Estelle Réveillard, Head of Communications and Public Relations at Syndicat Français de l’Industrie Cimentière (the trade union for the French Cement Industry).
• Estelle Rouchon, Head of Communications at the SPB Group.
• Hervé Monier, blogger and perceptive observer on the practices of professionals within the industry.

Fruitful discussions abound on many different levels

In addition to a working knowledge of communications, COMFactory enables students to compare their points of view with industry professionals who have on-the-ground experience.

Not to be outdone, the communication experts get to mingle with the students so as to understand their perspectives, giving them the chance to bounce ideas off a new generation of communicators.

“As a 2016 Audencia SciencesCom graduate and also an expert in digital communication, I had the opportunity of working on the COMFactory project as a student back during the 2016 edition.  It’s a great activity for students, enabling them to think towards the future, swap ideas with professionals in the field, and get a grasp of what the future holds for their chosen profession.  Personally speaking, I found this workshop helped give me a vocational focus to my studies, as it provides a setting for you to test out the things you’ve been learning day in, day out throughout the programme. All in all, it’s a project that helps you gain a sense of perspective, just a few weeks before the end of the course!”, says Lauranne Heaume.

Lauranne Heaume, on behalf of the Audencia Communication Team

The IDxA conference promised us an evening of daring and clearly this event, held on 16 May at the Floralies Exhibition Centre in Nantes, didn’t fail to deliver. According to alumni members in attendance at this very first edition on the theme of “Explorers braving all”, they remained true to their word.

Much to our delight, four of them rose to the challenge of presenting their imaginative ways of exploring the world.

Christine Brunier (GE 80). At the age of 51, she and her husband decide to leave everything behind and head off to Cameroon to take care of a bush hospital for two years. However, as she puts it herself: “Nothing predestined me for this, I just felt this calling to be of greater service. With no water or electricity and living out in the sticks in the middle of a forest, this turned out to be a radical change in lifestyle.” On their return, Christine is a changed person: “There was definitely a before and after.”

Nonso Chukwuma (IMM 13). Originally from Nigeria, he studies medicine there “to please his parents”. At the age of 26, it’s time for a life change so he enrols on a course at Audencia, even though he doesn’t speak French. One year later and he is at the head of his own company, called Chooka. “It was hard but it is do-able. You come across a few hurdles, you just have to get over them, get past them and reach for your dreams.” What advice does he offer, “Reach for the moon, fall amongst the stars!”

Océane Lenoir (IMM 11). At the age of 29, Océane ups anchor and sails across the Atlantic on board a 12-metre-long sailing boat with her husband. “Such a voyage requires a lot of forward planning, but leaving room for the unexpected is rather exciting. Anyone can be an explorer. If you have a dream then go after it, you can make it happen!"

These testimonies struck a chord with Matthieu Tordeur, the youngest member of the Society of French Explorers. At the age of 27, he has already braved some of the most extreme weather conditions and travelled to over 90 different countries. He has just returned from an expedition to the South Pole, making him the first French person to have reached this point alone, without any assistance and all the time managing to remain completely self-sufficient: 1,150 km in 51 days, on the go 8 to 12 hours per day, in temperatures plummeting down to -50°.

As a child, he dreamt of becoming Tintin. He describes himself as being, more driven by the fear of regret than the fear of failure.

What’s the most challenging thing in any expedition? “Taking that first step. When you have a project, talk about it, that helps you commit to it. We are constantly coming up with excuses, the more you think about it, the less you actually get on and do it! At the time when I was first starting out on my expeditions, I was a student so I didn’t have much money but I chose to just go ahead and do it anyway.”

Matthieu Tordeur rounded up his talk with the following message: “Life is either a bold business or nothing at all!  It’s too short not to live your dreams, so dare to dare!” A lovely nod to Audencia and its catchphrase of “Never stop daring!”

These are no ordinary professional journeys, yet they were so clearly presented that one can but look on with admiration. So, who’s turn is it next?

If you’d like to find out:

• What was said during the conference, head to Twitter using the hashtag #IDxA
• Photo gallery

With the exceptional participation of Michaël Jeremiasz : quadruple Paralympic medallist, flag bearer for the French team at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio and author of the book entitled “Ma vie un sport de combat” (“My life is a combat sport”).

REGISTRATION

Amandine Luce, on behalf of the Audencia Alumni Team

What do Laurène Hamilton (GE 09), Alicia Bulbeck (GE 17) and Coline Mazeyrat (GE 11) have in common? They are all entrepreneurs!

For Laurène Hamilton, this entrepreneurial flame was ignited on the birth of her first child in 2016. She had been living in New York for three years, when she began to hanker after a life where she could live more freely and appreciate the blue skies rather than stare at the four walls of her office.

Herself a daughter to entrepreneurs, she recalled this quote by Steve Jobs “Find what you love and turn it into a career!”. With her passion for art, architecture and social interaction, she says “I thrive on meeting others,” so the idea of setting up her own tour guide business came quite naturally.

In 2017, she decided to resign from her position as an auditor for PwC. For the following year, she was a freelance tour guide and then in 2018, took the plunge by starting her own private tour guide company: New York Prive LLC.

Curious about everything, Laurène is delighted with her new life and looking to continue meeting more amazing people.  

As for Alicia Bulbeck, she has built her entrepreneurial initiative alongside her husband Josh. In March 2019, the couple opened a “zero-waste” grocery store. Their shop, located in the city centre of Wimbledon, is not just one in a long list of shops but with the mission of reducing plastic waste in the area.

Her passion for environmental issues as well as her taste for risk-taking, acquired while at Audencia, spurred her on to set up The Zero Shop.

So, what’s the dream? She is hoping that her grocery store will very soon become THE go-to shop for Brits seeking to buy locally-sourced, organic, fairly traded produce which is free from any unnecessary packaging.

Last but not least, for Coline Mazeyrat the entrepreneurial seed was sown during an encounter with Dorothée Barth. In September, this former public health reporter told her all about her project: to launch a brand of organic cotton tampons and sanitary towels. Straight away, Coline was on board and within the space of a week had resigned from her post in digital marketing. She got alongside Dorothée in the venture. Fast-forward a few months to April 2018 and they had launched their own e-commerce website. Their range of products is available as a one-off order or on subscription. 

Placed on this very buoyant market, is Jho (which stands for “Juste et honnête”, Fair and Honest) on course to becoming the Procter and Gamble of the future? One thing is certain, there is a very promising future in store for Jho which, according to Challenges, is already listed as one of the top 100 start-ups to invest in.

If you are interested in getting together with other women entrepreneurs from Audencia, we’d love to hear from you!

Géraldine Lance, Editor

Audencia alumni can reconnect with the school by taking part in the recruitment of international students, in particular by supporting “Join a School in France”. Spearheaded by the Paris Île-de-France Chamber of Commerce and Industry, this initiative enables a number of Grandes Ecoles to recruit international students i.e., those holding a certificate in higher education from outside France, onto the Grande Ecole Master in Management programme.

A seasoned globe-trotter himself, getting to study and work in countires such as the USA, Germany and West Africa, Franck Laurore (GE 07) is a member of the admissions panel for screening candidates in Paris.

“You should bear in mind that some of the applicants are in fact French students who have earned their diploma abroad. For them, enrolling onto a Grande Ecole programme is their first step towards a professional career in France. As far as international candidates are concerned, we are seeing a lot of students coming from China and North Africa.”

The panel’s schedule will include five to seven interviews per half-day, requiring a huge amount of drive and determination:

“Thanks to my various missions as a consultant, I have acquired a specific taste for university life, and of course for meeting others. Particularly within the framework of this competitive entrance exam, I like to keep my finger on the pulse so find it fascinating to sound out the managers of tomorrow,” Franck Laurore explains. “During the interviews, we have to assess three main skills: communication, general knowledge and personal qualities. In addition to this, we also put to the test their ability to get an interesting conversation going during our discussions.”

What has struck him most? “The wide variety of goals they have and that goes even for students from similar academic backgrounds: some of them are born sales reps, others remain hesitant and are still trying to find their own path.”

He confides that, despite currently being settled in France, this experience may well “rekindle a certain taste for travel.”

Jordi Soude (SciencesCom 07), Editor

The Class Gift fund provides funding for student projects thanks to donations made by the graduating class year.

The Class Gift initiative was set up three years ago by students at the school with the purpose of funding student projects. This fund is topped up by the profits made from the Cuvée de Promo (Class year vintage) kindly donated by Valentin Bros and Florentin Cugnot, co-founders of Monsieur W. So, what does this initiative aim to achieve? It aims to encourage students to get their ideas off the ground and is all about boosting student creativity by supporting a wide range of projects.

The call for proposals, open to all students, resulted in over 40 applications from across all academic programmes. Fifteen projects were shortlisted before being submitted to a selection panel tasked with picking four prize-winners and, in early April, a grant of 5,650 euros was awarded to the first-prize winner and 1,000 euros to the three others.

First prize went to Amin Valizadeh, an Iranian student on the International Master in Management (IMM), for his "Audencia Bridge" project, a platform seeking to bridge the gap between French and international students at Audencia by establishing closer ties for enhanced learning or language teaching.

The “Platine” project devised by Manon Novaretti, a student at Audencia SciencesCom, has the overarching goal of setting up a digital community platform aiming to promote literary and musical discoveries. Paul Brihaye, a student on the MSc in Management & Entrepreneurship in the Creative and Cultural Economy, seeks to highlight voudon culture and the place of women in African culture, through a documentary and Togolese social entrepreneurship project. As for Mathieu Mhun (GE 19), he is setting up "Alfred", a digital platform which allows people seeking “Ehpad” (Accommodation establishment for dependent elderly people) and senior care facilities for dependants to link up.

Guy-Pierre Chomette, Editor

In 2018, Matthieu Batteur and Johan Bonnet - both 2008 Audencia graduates holding bachelor degrees - co-founded “Les Petits Culottés” in Paris. The premise: to provide new parents with eco-friendly nappies, via short supply chains, that are wholly available on subscription and with no commitment at www.lespetitsculottes.com.

Following early career paths working in the pharmaceutical and agri-food sectors, the two thirtysomethings came together to work on what has become a somewhat strategic commodity:

“A nappy that is 100% ecological and previously impossible to track down on the open market, despite the fact that many parents are now all too aware of the dangers posed by chemical products contained in nappies,” explains Matthieu Batteur.

So, the entrepreneurs have set themselves two key objectives: to safeguard the health of all future wearers of “Petits Culottés” while looking after the environment and secondly to benefit from the quality of their French expertise to come up with this nappy that is 100% natural, by partnering with a manufacturer based in the Vosges region of France. Launched onto the market in January 2019, the initial figures look rather promising:

“This year we are set to achieve an annual revenue of 2.3 million euros and 5 million in the coming year.”

To support this growth, the two entrepreneurs are now on a recruitment drive: with a current staff of five employees, the team at “Les Petits Culottés” should increase to around ten by the end of the year.

“We are looking for two types of profiles: sales force and community managers. The strategy to optimise our social media coverage is a major stake for us.” But you won’t be seeing the brand in any of the physical distribution channels: “This subscription and short supply chain system, via direct sales, allows us to offer our products at affordable prices. We also benefit from the support of a network of pharmacists, who are able to offer our product in pre-natal care kits given to expectant parents.”

The “kings of the French Nappy” have certainly got things off to a great start!

Jordi Soude (SciencesCom 07), Editor

“Zoos, a new pact with nature,” by Laurence Paoli (Head of Communications ExecEd 97).

Persian panthers, Buffon’s Macaws, tomato frogs, Partula snails, radiated tortoises, blue-spotted stingrays and more, all feature on the long list of endangered species that the public get to see in animal parks.

Modern zoos and aquariums are no longer merely places where rare and spectacular animals are exhibited for the enjoyment of an ever-increasing number of visitors. As our planet is undergoing the sixth phase of mass extinction in its history, they have also become key players in the defence of biodiversity, via their mission to become agents of conservation, research, and education, thereby positioning them firmly at the heart of the community of nature conservationists.

“Strategic brand content, content as a lever for value creation”, by Daniel Bô (SciencesCom 86) Strategic Brand Content, 2019

Giving brands meaning, enhancing product offerings, gaining a digital presence, giving voice to leaders, getting media interest, shining on the global stage, and more. This book, the fruit of twelve years’ research, is packed with unpublished studies, comments from professionals and a plethora of case study analysis.

If you too are a graduate whose work has been published, then we’d love to hear from you. Please drop the team a few lines at: audenciaalumni@audencia.com

Emilie Tendron, on behalf of the Audencia Alumni Team