Open Innovation. Pascal Latouche
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it to test “his luck”?
5.1.3. A dream student life
Following completion of his scientific baccalaureate (“a foregone conclusion”), he left home and did a preparatory course in the provinces. “I was in a house in Rouen with 6 students from 6 different faculties…”. Another chance to network and party in different contexts and almost without limits. It was a dream life for Christophe, the student who came home after his classes at 4 pm, went to bed, woke up at 8 pm, worked a bit, and left in the evening around 11 pm…. And the next day he says: “After a while, I admitted that I wasn’t very fresh to look at… (Laughs)”.
Everything was simple and he even managed to pass his exams quite easily. He entered ESSEC (an international business school) and everything was going well overall. Considering his interest in science, I asked Christophe why business and not, for example, a school in sciences (mathematics, physics, etc.). Christophe loved philosophy and it was in the preparatory years for the “business grandes écoles” that his decision was made … ESSEC, he got in with “luck” by passing in-extremis a subject he had barely followed. He then found a way to do a degree in Transdisciplinary Studies at the Grande Faculté de Dauphine where he was able to rub shoulders with a variety of different profiles “a crazy world” that Christophe loved. But not only that….
It was at this time that Christophe developed his taste for entrepreneurship by publishing a photo book entitled “le bêtisier du sport” (the sports outtake), which was noticed among the world of French comedians, and by launching a business to have promotional wines produced and labeled, and even touring the grands ducs on behalf of a major consulting firm as part of a study on the meaning of food…. The good life was found a perfect carefree environment!
He also found a way to do his military service when it was no longer mandatory. Why? Because as an apprentice at the stock exchange, one thing led to another, he met the right people thanks to connections in the army, giving him the opportunity to take a competitive exam to become naval commissioner in New Caledonia. He spent a year there in white gloves and being served in white gloves, while constantly questioning the conformism, even if it was that of food within the army “Vattier, you are transforming the French army into an army of fat people…”. This was pointed out to him one day by his superior officer. “When everything is easy, it’s good, you learn, you gain confidence, but you’re not hungry and you think everything will always be like that”. The young Vattier didn’t care, continuing to take risks, as if to test his luck. But by playing the fool, physically injured, he ended up being repatriated to Metropolitan France to finish his service. Yes, a crazy life where everything is easy!
5.2. From employment to entrepreneurship
One would think that Christophe Vattier’s “dare devil” temperament could have led him to become a trader, or even to immediately go into business … Well spotted! You should read on….
5.2.1. Classical wage earning
His first experience in a very large international consulting firm was an unforgettable recruitment experience. Certainly Christophe passed the numerous tests and other evaluations that confirmed his intellectual capacities. The singularity of this first recruitment was however there. Cigar-loving Christophe came to speak with his recruiter. To the question which cigars do you like, Christophe gave two brands … and it turns out that the recruiter was himself a cigar lover … of these two brands. “Luck, I’ve always had…”.
As a junior consultant, he had the chance to deal with situations that fell to him from the sky. For example, writing articles in high-flying magazines when he was only a junior, organizing cigar parties for the consulting firm’s top executives. All in all, everything shone down on him again and again, and it almost becomes tiresome. Far from it because Christophe doesn’t limit himself to using his luck without investing in himself, he exploited and capitalized upon it.
“I can’t do the average thing, I’ve given my everything for almost three years”. This experience was extremely formative for Christophe by rubbing shoulders with profiles from the top schools and having an affinity for the atypical. He was able to establish links with everyone because chance had prepared the ground for him well. One of the key lessons he learned from that first job was: “If you take charge, you have everything you want, as long as you agree to go to the contact without reluctance to make the effort”.
5.2.2. Entrepreneurial wage earning
After a colorful departure from the consulting firm, Christophe left for a company that was the world leader in classified newspapers. He went there to work for the VP Internet and set up new business models. “Everything was to be invented and I kept moving around the world during this period”. This only lasted 18 months because the company listed itself on the stock market on the day of the 2001 crash, which led to a restructuring. In any case, Christophe took the opportunity to forge a real international dimension and develop his ability to move things forward in a multicultural network. I know exactly what he’s talking about. It’s anything but easy to learn. But once you understand this, there are many environments and situations to which you can adapt effectively.
After this experience, he left by chance to work at the Caisse des Dépôts1. First, he was very resistant to the idea of working in a large French-style administration. “I beg your pardon, but I’m not asking permission” was a somewhat disruptive philosophy for this type of administration. Christophe was finally convinced. He arrived without a defined position, which allowed him to create it. Any luck? He stayed there for seven years, meeting a mentor who helped him to develop personally, exercising management and discovering all the mysteries of public institutions, public/private relations in France and the successive frameworks in which action can be taken. “The laws of gravity are stronger than any effort I could make”: understanding the frameworks for Christophe was particularly structuring. What he had to do, he had to do in the sense of gravity. This too was a more than essential lesson for anyone who wants to create in this world.
It’s by recounting this experience to me that you finally realize that from diverse and varied experiences, there are few technical things to learn. “What we are learning is more about being able to be something, to actually refine our behavior”.
5.2.3. Pure entrepreneurship
He set up an advertising agency based on comic books when he realized that a majority of CAC 40 bosses collected comic books like him. “If they live up to their passion, they’ll accept my value proposition”. This first experience worked perfectly and Christophe even became an editor. After five years, he sold the company. It was always simple…. How could things be otherwise with the network that had been built up since then.
“Everything has always been like that … until the day it didn’t happen, but it happened late, I was 38 years old”. I will refrain from describing the context, and the reasons that made Christophe realize that things that fall from the sky sometimes require more than investment, as well as knowledge of what our own limits are. It was a difficult time when he realized that he couldn’t do just anything with just anyone. In any case, he was a new man emerging from a tricky experience that put his integrity at stake. We find the new man 18 months later….
He calmed everything down and took action by consulting a company. His first action was an analysis that led him to draw up a very alarming assessment. At the end of this assessment, he took back the company, rectified it and resold it. In the wake of this, he launched Bubbles, a convergence solution to provide a service to customers wishing to solve a basic need: mobile recharging! That’s when we ran into Christophe. He made it a great success and he is without a doubt one of the greatest success stories I have had the pleasure of contributing to.
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