LCI Education Foundation
Serial Entrepreneurship: a Talk Given by Alexandre Taillefer
The dragon Alexandre Taillefer gave a talk about serial entrepreneurship at LaSalle College to raise money for the LCI Education Foundation.
When he was 21 years old, he founded Intellia, an interactive agency now owned by Publicis. In 2001, he founded Hexacto, which became a world leader in mobile games in just two years.
In 2007, he co-founded Stingray Digital, a company that has now gone public. It streams music into more than 100 million homes around the world every day.
He has now gradually begun to highlight contributions to society and social entrepreneurship. In 2015, he founded Téo, a taxi company with a 100% electric fleet that revolutionized the industry.
Trade in 14 watches and a Ferrari for a donation to the community and for personal happiness? A few years ago, Alexandre Taillefer decided to do just that.
“I dream of the day when we choose companies because of their values. It’s with our wallets that we’ll be able to change the world,” Mr. Taillefer explained to a rapt audience. “The future of capitalism is social entrepreneurship.”
Building on Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness index, he explained his theory on Gross Inner Happiness. Personal happiness is a crucial element that must always be taken into consideration. And one “important part of happiness is giving.”
Founding companies? He knows what that’s about. His career is punctuated with successes, but also littered with failures. “An entrepreneur cannot be faint of heart. The more you measure the risks, the less you’ll want to take them.”
That said, the ability to spot good ideas is an important quality: “Being different in a way that sets you apart is very important in our market.” All the same, you have to know when to let go when an idea is unsuccessful. After all, “there is a very fine line between perseverance and obstinance.”
The talk, hosted by fashion journalist Lolitta Dandoy, was made possible through the work of Sandra Parker, Director of the LCI Education Foundation, as well as the volunteer work of LaSalle College’s Event Planning students.
The LCI Education Foundation would like to thank Bad Monkey Popcorn, Le Fuchsia (LaSalle College’s teaching restaurant), Le Château and ellicom for their contributions to the event.
