Pascal Latouche - Open Innovation

Probably the most surprising point for me was to realize that this serial entrepreneur (four Tech companies assembled in less than 20 years) had never actually studied Tech. G2J is not an engineer. How did he do it? Did he have partners? No, far from it. On the one hand, he’s an information overeater, he’s a self-taught techie. Every time he finds something, he takes the time to dig it out through hours and hours of hard work. “ I’m a fast learner, and once something’s learned, then I can do it ”. On the other hand, many people in his network were always there to advise him. Finally, the quality of his services made and make that it is the clients themselves who encourage him to move forward.

I would be remiss if I didn’t describe in a few words G2J’s various endeavors. His first company was named Datavoice. The purpose of this start-up was to sell value-added services via premium-rate numbers to the many bettors in horse racing. His second company was called First Telecommunication (in the USA) and was designed to be resold at a discount price, international telecommunications minutes previously purchased wholesale in the USA. His third company was named G2J.COM. From its creation in Martinique to its subsidiaries in China and the USA, this company has symbolized the excellence of secure videoconferencing services, delivering to the closed world of major principals (all the G7 central banks in turn, Orange, EDF, Danone, etc.). He then created LabNoo Technologies (Lab Network Open Online). This is (because we are in the present), a holding company that has carried and is carrying company projects such as Meetnoo.com and minority shareholdings.

All these companies have one thing in common: data management. It’s a leitmotif for G2J. He explains it by being an islander. For him, remote data management was always essential. Digital technology and its potentials have indeed freed creativity and the world from many constraints.

There is one point I wanted to save for the end of the discussion on G2J. Please note that G2J has always worked on a salary basis until G2J.COM was able to do without it. In short, the entrepreneur G2J has spent a large part of his life working as a paid employee and as an entrepreneur. You can imagine how much energy it can take. His life was, is a whole without boundaries between the private and the professional. It’s just his adult life with this attention he told me for the well-being of his children. Moreover, he made the switch to the world of 100% entrepreneurship at the time he considered that this security had been achieved.

Currently G2J is in Rwanda for business and as far as I can judge … the adventure continues!

All the best!

I retain two essential points from Mr. José Jacques Gustave. The first is a quote: “Ideas are worthless, what counts is execution!”. The second point is an invitation to readers: “There is no such thing as risk, it’s a lack of imagination, so go see for yourself!”

Question 1: what do you find inspiring about Mr. José Jacques Gustave’s journey?

Figure 1.1. Mr. José Jacques Gustave. For a color version of the figure, see www.iste.co.uk/latouche/innovation.zip

1 1 A BTS is a French advanced technician’s certificate, a Brevet de Technicien Supérieur.

Cindy’s not unknown to me. To be honest, she’s been a mentor for a few years in the start-up support structure that I manage. Looking for an expert on digital marketing, I spotted Cindy on LinkedIn. Her profile convinced me to contact her and offer her this mission with start-ups. What she said to me at the time greatly echoes what I understand today about her journey and ambitions in life: “ I would do it, not for the pay, but because it will make me very happy ”. Such a philosophy and her sensitivity to things and people, enchanted me and I have never been disappointed.

When I spoke to her about this project with testimonials from entrepreneurs, she also offered to “play the game” by answering the questions I would ask her. I suspected, however, that she would be able to preserve the modesty that I know her, for she does not confide in me easily. She is above all an entrepreneur, it is her life, and sharing her experience seems useful to her while preserving her personal fortress.

Cindy comes from a family of four children including herself. Cindy is the eldest, but she didn’t need that status to set an example. “ Being the oldest was never a burden, just a motivation ”. Her father is Togolese and her mother is French.

Nothing extraordinary, you may say. Yes, except that people from a mixed culture often have to make the effort to determine themselves. They can choose to be closer to one or the other of their roots, or they can choose to be enriched by both roots and forge their own identity. It’s often quite unconscious. Cindy, for her part, cares about her background and is very clear about her position: “ I define myself neither as ‘black’ as French society would like me to be, nor as white, as I am called in the streets of Lomé ”.

She is Cindy, with parents who were always supportive of her wishes for accomplishment.

“ My parents helped me by always telling me that anything was possible! ”. Her father is a manager in a large company and her mother was an employee in the same large company. Cindy, born in Paris, grew up in a middle-class literate family. Her father waited a long time to own a home and her mother still doesn’t. She learned early on not to throw money down the drain by renting, for example. She preferred to buy her first apartment at the age of 25 without any contribution. In any case, I didn’t get the feeling that she lacked anything as a child. The household was careful with its expenses, as is so often the case.

During the interview, I got the feeling that her father is a demanding man with a certain ambition for his children. This was a key point in the construction of young Cindy. Her father’s demand is a trait Cindy seems to have inherited strongly. It is a defect that, by her own admission, she tends to polish every day. Her mother taught her the transgression of conventions and rules.

And again, I might say, what does it ultimately matter once you become aware of her profile? “ I’ve always learned to do without everyone else. ” Is it this conviction that has forged her very assertive yet gentle character? Her interlocutors can discover one or the other of these facets, and whatever one they discover, they will not fail to discover the other….

Young Cindy was what we would call today a child with very high potential who always made personal choices dictated by her own will. Her school childhood revolved around many activities beyond school. As a lover of singing, piano, guitar and Rhythmic Gymnastics, she did not lack in activities. To say the least, this workload was never a problem for Cindy!

She confessed to me that her academic journey was disconcertingly easy. She was bored. She almost never opened books and yet was quite frequently top of the class. The exams were almost always successful: “ I barely opened my books to take the baccalaureate, I passed with flying colors… ”. I’m no expert, but I do know that kids with these abilities often have difficulties in their social relationships. So I took the liberty of digging a little deeper into the consequences of this academic ease in Cindy’s life.