What I learned from the book « Traction » and how it will transform my leadership

Over the summer, I picked up a book that had been sitting on my desk for a while: Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business by Gino Wickman. It wasn’t a random choice—it was a recommendation from Emmanuel, my mentor and coach for many years now.

As I’ve been building and expanding my company, Hirondo, I’ve often turned to Emmanuel to share my challenges. Challenges around people: how to attract the right talent, how to inspire others to join the journey, and how to scale the business without losing its soul. In one of our conversations, Emmanuel simply said: “You should read this book. It might help you see things more clearly.”

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Wisdom for entrepreneurs: The main causes of personal failure, according to Napoleon Hill

I am passionate about self development, and it is particularly relevant now that, as an entrepreneur, I am responsible of my own success. Remember how I shared Benjamin Franklin’s routine (1909)? I am even ore interested by words of wisdom coming from the past, detached from the modern world and its sense of immediacy.

Earlier this year, I cycled through Cambodia by myself, from one WILD to another, and I had ample time to read and reflect on Napoleon Hill’s « 13 Keys To Success – 13 Steps to Personal Achievement » I found at a Phnom Penh book store. It was published in the 1990’s but contains lifelong ideas from the author, who advised President Roosevelt from 1933 to 1936 and died in 1970 after decades of dispensing his thoughts to millions across the globe.

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My Favorites of May: Fallon’s Tears, Forest Finance & @Jose_Naranja’s Notebooks

Image by Jose Naranja (click to access)

Beyond the election of an open-minded, pro-business and modern President in France, the month of May had many other highlights. It starts with a very moving video of Jimmy Fallon telling the story of his son’s birth, which was fraught with challenges but end up with a happy end.

Besides, you’ll read about marketing, entrepreneuship, innovation and strategy – as always – but also about a Spanish artist’s notebooks who are absolutely fantastic (see picture). I have been following for years and like his hand-drawn pieces of art, which are invitations to travel and scribble. I hope you’ll enjoy it.

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My Favorites of December: Google’s Moonshots, Uber’s Invincibility & Quirky’s Downfall

moonshots

Image via VentureBeat (source: NASA)

Let’s call 2016 a day, and start 2017, with a set of articles that I have found particularly interesting this month of decembre. There’s a recurring theme around hot companies and the reality behing the halos that surround them. Google has no such problem, as its online advertising is so incredibly profitable, allowing Alphabet to finance the most ambitious projects without any need for external funding. But other companies don’t have that luxury, and have failed (Quirky) or are on a path towards failure (Uber), reminding us that there is nothing most important than a healthy business. The very last article of this post, “The Ugly Unethical Underside of Silicon Valley,” comes as a great conclusion to this. I hope you’ll find some inspiration in all these articles I took great pleasure to read myself.
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Helping Europe’s Entrepreneurs Reach New Heights With Crowdfunding

bratislava-sme-assembly-2016-whiteboard

This week I was invited by the European Commission to present crowdfunding as a way for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to fund their growth. In the beaufitufl town of Bratislava, Slovakia, hundreds of people in suits & gathered to discover AeroMobil, congratulate themselves for great European entrepreneurship programs, and learn about the currents trends. Crowdfunding is key trend for SME… funding.

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My Favorites of April: Your Career At 30, Crowdfunding Stories & #CSReport2016

Image via IndieWire.com (click to access)

Image via IndieWire.com (click to access)

Very little time to write at the moment, but I did have time to read & watch some great content in April. My favorites include a documentary about crowdfunding, which is great in telling some entrepreneurs’ stories before/after they got massive funding from the crowd. There is also some advice for career choices around 30, a great Wired piece about VR pioneer Rony Abovitz or the State of Crowdsourcing 2016 report. Continue reading →

My Favorites of March: Hustling With Uber, Crowdfunding Public Good & Prisoners Spend More Time Outdoors Than Kids

Joseph Francois, a French ride-hailing entrepreneur, portrayed in the FT this month (click to read full article)

Joseph Francois, French ride-hailing entrepreneur, portrayed in the FT this month (click to read article)

March was an interesting month from a personal standpoint (more about that in a couple of days) but it also had its fair share of great reads!

Some of it is about the platform economy, praised in an article by the Financial Times to break glass ceilings, and some relate to entrepreneurs’s challenges, business funding or laundry advertisements (good ones!). And there is some Donald Trump too. I hope it’s interesting for you. Continue reading →