 Good afternoon. So I am very excited for this talk, not because the speakers, the audience get to hear the answers to your questions, because I get to hear the answers to your questions. So take us on a little bit of a journey to begin with. You are very ambitious and very driven. Did you always know that you wanted to be a founder? That's a very good question. I believe my parents knew. So that's interesting that I think that I always had a sense of freedom and leadership that I actually wanted to involve in my role. So you see, I'm 33 years old. So at the time, I was little. None of these jobs were actually existing. But I knew that at some point I actually wanted to become an entrepreneur and have my own venture. I do believe that also, for me, always, SKY has been the limit in what I've tried to do. And so I've always wanted to push myself as hard as possible. And that's since a very young age. So in a way, yes, I think I knew without knowing. It doesn't surprise me. So first job was at Google. Why? Very good question. So actually, I always wanted to work for Google at some point. It's a company, especially, I would say, 15 years ago, that was for me the growl. And I got lucky enough to work with the EMEA CFO at Google, where I actually learned so much about how to run a great company. What struck me at Google is that you get to learn how to become the best manager and the best leader because they hire the best manager. And they have the best HR team to actually put in place the training and the process to get there. And I learned actually so much to actually create pigment. And that was, I would say, the first experience that led me to create pigment. And so you always wanted to be a founder. You went off to Google. You learned how to hire. But then you went to become an investor. So why that pit stop? Sure. So actually, it's interesting. But I think I kind of retro-engineered what happened in my career. I got the luck to actually work for Index Ventures with Ophelia actually. And it's one of the best VC fund in the world. And the reality at Index is that you get to see the best founder in the world all day long. And you see what it takes to create the best company. And you see the grit and the passion that these people have and the difficulties they're also facing every day. And I think for me, this experience was actually completely instrumental in helping me to understand how and what it takes to create pigment. And so when you came to that moment, when you decided you wanted to be a founder, was it that you had the burning idea for pigment? Or you saw these founders were meeting them and you just decided you wanted to follow in their journey? Yeah, that's a very good question. And actually, I realized that, especially with the topic I'm actually tackling, it's a topic that I saw everywhere, meaning that when I was working for Google, so the idea with pigment just so that everyone knows in the audience, we are replacing Excel. And the idea is that Excel doesn't work when it comes to actually manipulating large amounts of data. And pigment is here for that, to help you do that in the smoothest manner in the most collaborative way. And so when I created pigment, actually, the idea came from what I saw. At Google first, because I was working for the EMEA CFO and I saw that, obviously, Excel Google Sheet were not working well when it comes to planning. And then as an investor, it was interesting to see that probably the only problem that was not tackled well by entrepreneur was planning strategy decision making and actually manipulate data, not only to understand the history of your company, but to plan the future. And that was a problem across the globe for all the best fast-growing companies preparing for an IPO, post-APO, and that really gave me the idea of starting pigment early on. And you talked about how it indexed one of the benefits of being, or one of the joys of being an investor is you're constantly meeting with people who have great ideas and are full of energy and passion. One of the sadder part of the jobs is that you come to realize that, unfortunately, a lot of companies don't work out. And there's a lot of risk in startups. So how did you come to the idea, like, how did you have such strong conviction that pigment was worth leaving the investor all for? Sure, so I think there are many things. So the first one, as I said, I saw it was one of the biggest problems to solve today. Because I saw it in every single company we would invest in, but not only. I saw it at larger companies in the like of Google, but very much any Fortune 500 companies facing that issue. And I knew that even, you know, with early stage company post-series, they are also facing that issues early on of not being able to actually manipulate data the right way in Excel. And so I knew I had the conviction that first it was a real problem. And the second reason I would say is what I would call founder market fit. The thing is, first of all, I had experience as an operator on the topic. And in order to create the company, you not only need experience, but you also need the sort of surroundings around the company to actually be successful. And what I realized is that obviously, thanks to index, I had created the most powerful network of founders, of companies, of operators that could actually become the first customers of pigment because they had the pain. And it was the same with my co-founder. So actually, my co-founder was a co-founder and CTO of Criteo. So it's a company that IPOed on the NASDAQ in 2013. And for him, he was probably one of the strongest CTO. And he is one of the strongest CTO and co-CEO of pigment with me in Europe. And what you need, obviously, is you need to build in order to replace Excel. You probably need the best engineering team in the world. And so here, we realized with Romain that for this adventure, we were not only able to probably create the best product in the world because we could build the most incredible engineering team. But also, we would probably have the first investors to back us because of the network that we both have. We would be able to sign some incredible brands. So today, we have signed Gong, for instance, which is the fastest-grossed sales team in the US. We've signed Deliveroo in Europe, Blabla Carmano, Mano, et cetera. And this is thanks to the trust that we can bring to the market. And of course, the West comes quite easily after that. So take us through some of that early journey and the transition. And I can certainly talk from my own experience going from being just an investor to founding Blossom. You suddenly realize that you have no time. It's not just the day job. All the other work comes in the after hours. What were your first learnings about going from being an investor to a CEO? So here, I think there are many learnings. But the first one is that in order to be successful, it's all about the team. And it's all about the early team members that you are going to hire. So for us, we needed the best-injuring team. So we started by hiring the best of the best-injuring talent we knew. We needed to create trust in the market. And our first business hire was a fantastic hire because he knew the topic really well. He was in the shoes of being an analyst. And he did a wonderful job there. We needed the best product. And so we hired the biggest expert probably in the ecosystem that knew the market in and out. And that could tell us all the pitfall about what could be wrong there. We hired the best designers. And now we are hiring obviously the best execs that can bring us to the next level. So I would say that the first thing is that you need to delegate as much as possible by finding the best talent for every single area. Then another important point is that you have no time. But time is not the most important. The most important is your energy because you need to manage your energy every day. And it's all about that. You need to understand what are the most productive moments of your day where you should really spend, dedicate the most of your energy. You should actually not travel too much to actually keep your energy to sell to customers, to sell to new hires, et cetera, et cetera. So for me, it's all about energy. I'm making sure everything I do, I do it at more than 100%. And I remember those when your first year when I would come to Paris and I'd meet with other founders or other investors. And there was such a buzz about the company. Did you know they hired that product manager from Datadog? Did you know that they hired? You did that very, very well. Having come from being an investor and not necessarily being hiring every day, I think even from when we invested, you've come from 15 people to almost 70 today, what did you need to learn about making those hires? Like what are some of the best tips that you can give to other founders starting out? Sure, so there are many things I can say. The first thing is that every hire can make or break a team. That's very, very true. So everyone you hire, you need to hire very, very carefully. And you need to understand at every moment, think basically six to nine months in advance to make sure that you know who you will need at a certain point in time to do certain things. And for us, that has been the case in the beginning. First of all, we needed to launch a product that would be a no-brainer in the market. And that meant what you said, all about the team. Like no investor, no customer will trust you if you don't have the best team out there. And I saw that when I was an investor. This is the essence. This is the most important things for your first two years. And if you do that right, I can tell you that you are very, very likely to be successful. Then, obviously, what you need to do at the same time is to put in place a machine. You need to put in place a sales machine, a customer success machine, and you need to be able to understand what it takes to scale. So I would say that you need to stay agile and not go too fast. But at the same time, it's important to know that once your product is ready, you can launch it at scale. And for us, here, we actually brought along some fantastic execs actually from Facebook Workplace, the head of global business actually at Facebook Workplace that actually started to build the sales team on the head of customer success of Facebook Workplace that is also building the customer success team for us. So these were actually very important hire to put in place the machine. And then I would say that from an engineering and product perspective, it's always about raising the bar higher and higher and higher and thinking about who do you dream of hiring to actually make the most incredible product. And for us today, to give you an example, it's all about making sure that everyone can use pigment and it's all about the product and the design. And let's pause quickly on some of those hires because Julian from Facebook, I think he was there for seven years and Rebe was there for five years. And I think a lot of companies at your stage would have thought people of that caliber and of that talent would have been unattainable. But you managed to sell them and they were very excited about the mission. What are some of those key ingredients when you're trying to get those great people to join you at a very early stage when it's quite a risky proposition for them? Yeah, that's a very good question and it's also something I learned as an investor, I would say, is that sometimes we forget that we are all humans and we are actually here to make people convince them to spend the next 10 years with you. And it's one of the reasons I chose Ophelia as a partner is that I wanted to actually spend the next 10 years of my life working with Ophelia because I know how great she would be as a partner. And for me, it's the same with everyone we hire. It's like, yes, we are early. Yes, maybe we haven't realized not even 1% of our vision, but it doesn't matter. You are going to come for us, for who we are actually as people and you have to understand that we'll do this adventure together. And this is something you need to convey and it takes time. For some of our hires, it actually took us more than six months to hire them. And it's fine, it's absolutely fine. If you plan in advance, it will actually work really, really well to do it this way. And you should never compromise quality over speed. You should always think about who is the best talent at this point and put more than all of our energy to do that. So to give you another example, with all the talents that we hired, especially at the beginning, whether it's our first business person in the name of Gillon, Ben, our first product manager, our first designer, Renault, Mark, Seb, Etienne, Niko, et cetera, et cetera, all of our first engineers. They all came because they spent a lot of time talking to us, talking to our investors for some of them, talking to perhaps our first prospect, customers, et cetera. And that's what makes them come, is to see that we had a full ecosystem behind us. There's a very common saying about entrepreneurship. The highs are high and the lows are low. And I strongly believe that a lot of just being a great entrepreneur is having sheer determination and perseverance. But I don't think anything prepares you for those low moments or the hardships. Was that a surprise to you coming into being a founder and how did you learn how to deal with those moments? That's a very good question, but I had never had a law probably because I don't think I'm not a brain surgeon here. And so, in a way, I see pigment as just the best experience of my life, right? Like, every day I'm working with the best talents, trying to build an incredible product that will impact, hopefully at some point, billions of people. And so, in a way, for me, what's important is to realize that I'm so lucky to be in this situation and that even if something doesn't go right with pigment, it's clearly not the end of the world. And I'm always trying, as soon as we have a problem to find a solution in the next hour to that problem. So I would say that in a way, and this is what it takes to be an entrepreneur, is that you should never be depressed or sad with a law because this will happen every day. But I can tell you that if you always keep trying to learn with these lows, you will never, never, never be entrenched into something that put you in a sort of bad direction. I always think it's how you deal with them and go in the next day even brighter-minded. So let's change tack a bit. Hiring is also clearly integral to building a business, as is fundraising. Or now on the other side of the table, you've raised about $100 million from some of the world's best investors, Green Oaks, and I'll include Blossom in there as well. How did you think about picking your partners for each round and what that you learned from being an index informed your decisions about picking a partner both for the seed, the series A, and the series B? I think that's a very, very good question, and I think I can bring a lot of insight there because sometimes, especially today, as you probably all know, money is becoming more and more commodity in a way because obviously the market is high, and so I would say that it's very important to know who you are going to pick and to spend time with as person before actually engaging any further. And so for us, what was important again is to think ahead and say who do we actually want to spend the next 10 years of my life with and who can actually be an ally if there are some low moments at pigment, if things don't go right, people that can also bring things to the table such as a network, for instance, intros to the best company, intros to potential hires, intros to people that can be salt leaders for pigment, et cetera. And so I've always been thinking every time we did a round about what do I need for the next year or the next two years to actually be successful and is that person gonna bring that? But not only is that person is someone that I actually want to partner with forever. And I think sometimes founders make a mistake of picking a brand or picking evaluation, picking a specific term sheet. I would strongly not recommend to do that because I can tell you that the best investors anyway will give you the most reasonable term sheet and they will know what your company is worth and they will try to be as founder-friendly as possible. So what's important is really the person in front of you and also making sure that this person is here for the long run. And Ophelia was here for the long run, she created Blossom, she's a founder, I know she will stay there because that's also something that can happen is that her partner leaves and then you get someone else actually taking care of your company and that might actually harm the company in the long run. And you should never be afraid to negotiate as much as possible to get the person you want at the table. And you need to listen to what this person has done before. You need to do as many ref checks as possible with other founders to know as much as possible about how this partner actually behaves. And this is what we did for every round we actually mentioned to raise. And how did you take the time to get to know these partners or potential partners? Yeah, so I think obviously it's a two-way relationship. So what's important is actually when a partner wants to make an investment you should let him the opportunity to look at a full movie meaning that they shouldn't come. You know, you have organized a series A, let's say and you bring 10, you know, funds here and they look at the business, they have no clue who you are. That doesn't work. I mean, when you're on Tinder or whatever if you look for a date, it's not a one day. Like you need some time to know the person and to actually start thinking if you want to be with that person forever. So here it's pretty much the same. It's like you need to build a relationship early on. At the same time, you need to understand if that partner is not gonna spare you time by, you know, asking you too many things. Like because your time is very limited and it should be focused on your team and on customers. So you need to see how this person behave and how much he can bring before the round to the table. Is the person gonna actually intro me to the best companies of his portfolio to actually help me start something? Does he have an idea about someone I could recruit, et cetera? These are the things that are important. And I mean, you should really look for every single signal to see if something, you know, could look wrong in the relationship. So I think many founders forget that in the investor-founder relationship it's actually the founder that's the customer. And I joke with everyone that you're the one that works me the hardest because you know what to get out of your investors. Is that something that you learn during your time at INDEX and why is it, you know, exactly how to get the help? 100%. I saw actually the best founders getting a lot from investors. And I think, again, here, I mean, it's not about money. If you want to have a partner you need to leverage them, especially because most, you know, investors are first of all, you know, so smart and exposed pretty much every single business on earth. So they know more than you on everything. They know more than you on go-to-market. They know more than you on what makes a great VP marketing. They know more than you on what it takes to close a deal. So you need to leverage them as much as possible. First of all, to have them ask you questions, to make you smarter, to make you more aware of your own business and to, you know, reflect on what you've done and kind of take a step back. But also, you need to push them as hard as you can to get the most out of them. And this is usually very much linked, as you know, to your network and to what you can bring to us. I think another thing that founders often forget to do is references. I mean, VCs always take references on founders that they're going to invest into, but talk us through your approach for how you reference the partners you're gonna choose. Yeah, so again, this is super, super, super key. You need to speak to founders of the portfolio that are working with that partner to understand really what the relationship is and how much this person can actually adapt to your own company and how will she behave and how this can actually play in the long run once again. And so here, you need to spend time. If you can speak to like 10 founders and understand what you need, do you need actually a partner that will leave you alone because you actually don't think you need help and it's fine and then maybe you just want someone that is already at 15 boards and what you care about is the brand and you want to have a great brand because it's important for your business. Maybe you want someone that is very hands-on that will help you with hiring. You need to think about that in advance and reflect that with founders, I believe. And you've just raised 75 million from Green Oaks and you did that, which I think will be great to tell the audience. You did that just after giving birth to twins. Tell us a bit about how you manage it all because that's quite phenomenal. Yeah, so my twins are actually six months old and I have to say that I'm so lucky actually to have twins because it really helps me prioritize today. And I think first of all, you know, I'm very happy to see that it's actually very easy if you do it right, if you're well-organized to run a business that obviously, you know, hopefully will become one of the most successful startup out there. And at the same time, I have a family. And what's important here is first of all, you know, to get surrounded by the right people. And I'm very lucky to be, you know, surrounded by a wonderful husband, a wonderful family. And I have helped, you know, coming from everywhere. But at the same time, it's important to pick your battles during the day. And it's important to actually review things, say no to things, you know, for instance, if an investor asks me to come visit him in San Francisco today, I will probably say no. Like you have to pick your battles. I came to slush because it's my favorite conference in the world, I have to say. And so I'm very happy to speak in front of you. But you know, I'm doing an in and out because I have a family now. And so during the day, it's the same. Every day I'm thinking, how can I be as impactful as possible in everything I do and everything I run? And that really helps you actually because it helps you delegate. It helps you keep hiring the best people for every single function. Is there anything that you've changed in your calendar since having the twins? I have to say that in a way, yes, and in a way, no. So I used to work really 24-7. And now, obviously, in my calendar, I'm blocking time, you know, morning, evening to actually enjoy my kids because it's just extraordinary to see them grow. But at the same time, you know, it doesn't prevent me to do everything that I need to do. Obviously, also the weekend is not much more about work but about, you know, taking care of the family. But actually, it's great. It really helps me take a step back and keep my feet, you know, in the ground and work there. And by the way, it's interesting because, you know, every single founder I know of, I mean, the most successful one, they have a family. And, you know, no one asks them so much about their family. And so, you know, for me, it's the same. It's pretty obvious that I've always wanted to have kids at some point and I'm really lucky to have twins. But it's not a topic. My co-founder has three daughters, age between, let's say, two and 10. And, you know, no one asks him about that. And it works really well for him, too. As long as you are surrounded, I would say that, you know, it's fantastic to do both. So you have all this capital on the balance sheet now. What does 2022 look like for you? So for us, I do believe that with pigment, you know, we actually managed to prove that our product is already a no-brainer in the market because we, you know, we managed to win incredible deals with the best companies in the world. So, you know, I was mentioning, you know, the BlaBla cars, the Deliverer or the Gong, et cetera, of this world, the Ledger, et cetera. And so now, obviously, the second step is about scale. And it's about, you know, showing to the world that, you know, we will become the number one leader and that we will be able to replace Excel for your sales planning, for your revenue planning, for managing your budget, your expenses, your workforce, et cetera. And so we want to do that as fast as we can by creating the best product, keeping hiring, obviously, the best team, the best designers, and also on the other side, obviously, accelerating from a sales perspective in Europe and in the US. So I think we have time for one more question. So what one last tip would you leave the audience with as you are now almost over two years into starting Pigment and you have a very bright future ahead of you, what would you leave the audience with? As a tip, you mean something? Yes. I would say, especially at the beginning, trust yourself. Trust yourself with everything you do because I tell you, I can tell you that really, I can see now the tipping points, now that we've signed the best logos and that we have managed to put together an amazing team. But I can tell you that every day, from the first day, you have to believe in yourself because everyone will make you doubt. You will talk to some prospect that will be like, oh, no, actually, I don't need a tool. And now that they see Pigment, they're like, this is what I need today, right? And so we really had to strongly believe in what we were doing in order to actually create Pigment. And this is the number one thing. The second, as I said, is the team focus on the quality of the team to build the best company out there. And I think if you have these two elements, you're good to go. And obviously the best partners. Wise words. Thank you so much. Thank you to everyone for listening. Thank you.