2. Bruno Vanryb: an entrepreneur Co-founder, Chairman and CEO of Avanquest Software - Since May 1984 President of the Software Developersâ Committee at Syntecnumerique â Since July 2010 Member of the CNN (Government Advisory Council for digitally related topics) â Since April 2011 Board Member of NYSE Euronext (since 2007), MCI Group (since 2006) and The Creative Factory (since 2003) President of Croissance Plus (1998 â 2000), a well known French association whose aim is to raise awareness and support young growth companies President of MiddleNext (2002 â 2005), a professional association comprising of more than 150 mid cap companies listed on the French stock exchange Freelance journalist for the French computer press (1983 â 1986) Co-writer of 12 popular books on micro-computing (1983 â 1986) published by Editions Eyrolles in Paris Sound Engineer (1977 â 1983) recorded several very well-known French new wave, rock and variety music successes Motorcycle enthusiast, travelling with his bike, collecting classic models and also took part in amateur races from 1997 to 2003 Modern art enthusiast, chaired a modern art lovers association called âLes Centauresâ between 1993 and 2000 Clearly an autodidact ď
3. My parents kept saying: âYou must pursue higher educationâ Unfortunately I failed my first two years of medical school Is it so alarming after all?
21. Second myth: To dare to embark on an entrepreneurial venture, you need to take huge risks
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23. with a teammate - A great way to motivate each other and share both ideas, risks and the initial fundingUnited we stand, divided we fall, strength through unity A variation of this myth: entrepreneurs have a serious taste for danger Also very wrong: risks are always calculated The key skill isnot the ability to take risks butthose of vision, courage and perseverance
24. In 1989, Matra Communications â a 34% shareholder of Avanquest â told me that going international was a huge risk for a small company. We lost their support but actually, we would have failed, should we have listened to them. If we are still around, itâs because we decided to go global.
29. Put in place Open your Local trustworthy management Everything is possible: you can even sell ice cream to Eskimos We did it, in a way ď
30. In 1993, 80% of our business was fax-software. At that time, all analysts were planning for the end of fax before 1996. So in a nutshell, we were doomed to fail. Now the reality: in 2006, fax was still selling enough to represent 20% of our business
34. Market studies are as reliable as a weather forecastFourth Myth: You should listen to the market, trends and othersâ advice
35. My $1 million mistake: In 1999, Avanquest proudly launched Internet Family, the first Internet portal for the family, or in other words, a family intranet. We sold virtually nothing of this innovative platform while all studies were claiming that families would need connection between their PCs. This actually happened about 10 years later and social networks have surpassed the mere family circle.
36. Fifth myth: It is vital to have a major innovation to embark on an entrepreneurial venture
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38. You have to present solutions without evidence they will workA safer method is to improve an existing product and/or situation, taking into account previous unavoidable mistakes so as to not reproduce them Should there be tough competition in the business youâre interested in, donât worry - it means there is a healthy market and money to make Think twice if your idea seems too new: you have to launch your value proposition at the right time when the market is ready: The right product at the right time
39. One day or another, everyone fails The most important thing is to learn from our mistakes