See you soon Sigfox!

« See you soon Sigfox » is the title of an email I sent two weeks ago to all Sigfox employees worldwide. As you’ll easily guess, this means I’ve decided to leave. Starting Today, I am no longer involved operationally with Sigfox.

But if I’m leaving Sigfox as an employee, I will remain a Sigfoxer for ever. Not only because I am a small shareholder, but mostly because I am a strong advocate of what Sigfox is building.

Why leaving?

To give you some perspective, when I joined Sigfox 4,5 years ago in September 2014, there were 60 Sigfox employees mostly in Labège near Toulouse, network was being rolled out in 4 countries only, we had around 50 partners, not a single real development kit, very few startups etc.

In comparison, today, Sigfox has 450 employees worldwide, a network in 60 countries, more than 700 partners, a very strong developer experience, successful startups using Sigfox etc..

I joined Sigfox after a conversation with Ludovic (Sigfox CEO) to bring more entrepreneur blood to Sigfox, and to build foundations of Sigfox as a platform, and not just as a company. Sigfox has now reached a point where challenges and skills needed are different, so it’s time for me to look for a new adventure.

In the last 3 years, I built a team to focus on this « Sigfox as a platform » mission. This team was organised like a “startup within a startup » and had two misleading names « Special Projects » and then « Experience Design». An amazing group of 15–20 people were part of this team, and it’s for sure my best achievement ever!

With this team, we successfully launched Sigfox Partner Network, for strong Partner Onboarding and Partner Engagement Experience, Sigfox Build for Developer and Device Maker Onboarding Experience and Sens’it for Customer Onboarding Experience. It’s time that these platforms, and the team that runs them, are re-integrated within the full Sigfox organisation.

In the coming weeks, I’ll try to write more in-depth posts of these activities, and some key learnings that are worth sharing, both on the what and the how: challenges of building a « startup within a startup », my view on the global IoT world, the key importance of investing in a dedicated and engaged ecosystem around your product/platform etc.

What’s next?

After such a unique journey, I will spend some time to see what would be the best new adventure for me. I am really open to many challenges, but some “details” are pretty clear:

• I will remain based in Toulouse, a city I love and where I want to give back and help the local ecosystem gets better. (French Tech Toulouse here I come)
• I am an entrepreneur, even as an employee. I’ve always started with a white piece of paper, as an entrepreneur or an employee (in this case, always working directly for entrepreneurs).
• I have equal love for product building and for ecosystem building.
• Working for or with startups. Startups is all I know, and what I love.
• My three pillars for happiness at work will remain: 1. always learning 2. having fun 3. feel the impact.

Options I’m looking at

• Join growing Startup based in Toulouse.
• Become Operating Partner / Entrepreneur in Residence for VC Firm.
• Join late stage startup or small corporate for Internal Startup or Spin-Off.
• Launch or join as co-founder for new startup.
• Build subsidiary of International Company out of Toulouse.

Sectors I’m looking at

• IoT
• Deep Tech
• Education
• B2B SaaS
• Developer / API business

I am not in a rush, and I will take the time to find the most exciting new challenge. Target is September 2019, but if anything really exciting comes earlier, I’ll consider it of course.

In the meantime?

September 2019 is my target date for joining a new project. I want to spend next months with some quality time with the family, but also I want to spend time on:

• Reading. So many books are waiting for me.
• Writing. I have a dozen articles I’d like to write and share.
• Meeting. In Toulouse, in Paris, during events, online. It’s a good moment to catch-up with old friends or meet new and diverse ones.
• Helping. It’s also the right moment to help entrepreneurs and startups with some of my experience, and since I’ll have some free time, reach out!
• Thinking. Thinking about the tech industry, about our future, about education of our children.

I will also use this time to see what could become French Startupers Network, that is still considered the most engaged Facebook group for French Startups, or French Tech Toulouse that I recently helped restart. I might also take one or two advisory roles or consulting missions.

Need your help!

As you’ve understood by now, I’m really open to many things, so if you know or hear about a great opportunity that matches with previously listed topics and roles, please reach out!

It always starts with serendipity and connections.