#Interview: Hervé Couturier on his experience as an investor at Seed4soft
Could you tell me a few words about your current job?
To sum up my career in a few words, I started at IBM, continued at S1, then Business Objects and SAP, and finally Amadeus, where I was head of R&D for five years. At the moment I am an investor, adviser and board member in various companies, software startups in particular. Beyond investing, I support these startups, especially on product questions. I take a lot of pleasure in this work, where I meet a great many young people who want to succeed and are full of ideas. The seed stage is the beginning of the adventure!
What were the key lessons learnt over your professional life?
Vision and leadership are absolutely essential. Giving a vision means explaining what you want to move towards, while leaving your people free to work out how to get there. But be careful: freedom does not mean an absence of control, and you have to give regular feedback so that your people can correct course and improve. Finally, I have always tried to create a climate of mutual help within my teams, because everyone, in their own time, has needed or will need help to solve a problem. It is fascinating to see that these engineering principles work across every nationality, with nuances for each, of course. Americans on the West Coast, for instance, will respond to the notion of vision, unlike Bulgarians, who will put solidarity first.
What do you make of the current environment for software startups in France?
It has moved enormously in recent years. Ten years ago, incubators were barely off the ground. Today, initiatives and support are multiplying; it is a good environment for startups to grow in. The arrival of seed funds is one of the signs of vitality in the French ecosystem. The problem in France is the lack of large funding tickets, in the region of 500 million euros. You never see startups raise those sums here.
What are the two or three critical success factors in software?
To succeed, you have to enjoy solving problems and stay at the cutting edge of technology. Everything changes very fast in software, and change creates opportunities you can only seize if you are fundamentally curious. Enjoying solving problems also means knowing how to choose which real challenges to address. Demand will always outstrip the financial and time resources available, so you have to know how to prioritise in order to deliver the best solution.
As a mentor, how and on what subjects can you help a young startup?
The subject I am particularly fond of is product: I help companies build a product strategy aligned with the company strategy, make choices, develop their solution, position it and sell it properly. For instance, I ask founders to define their company's added value in 5 points, and then I help them work out how to make those points concrete in their product roadmap.
https://www.maddyness.com/entrepreneurs/2017/10/18/maddyrex-investisseur-reussir-resoudre-problemes/