Alexandre B. - Cofounder of "SameSame"

MINI PORTRAIT

I come from a small village in the Touraine area, and started my engineering studies in Nantes. At Centrale Nantes, I was involved in the school's sports association and in organizing the 2012 InterCentrales competition, which was held in Nantes. I took the entrepreneurship option in my final year. My final year internship was in Saigon, Vietnam, where I lived for a 18 months.

YOUR CURRENT POSITION

I co-founded "SameSame", a start-up that develops communication solutions for people with language disorders. We particularly help people who can no longer speak, read or write after a stroke: a condition called "aphasia".
As CEO my job is to promote the company's vision, bring people together internally and externally, and create and implement a business model that is profitable in the long term.

AND WHAT ABOUT ECO-RESPONSIBILITY?

Whilst it wasn't my priority when I moved into new technologies, I'm very happy today to offer a tool that helps people. I think it's very important to have a career in line with one's values (you spend a large part of your time there!) 

WHAT ARE YOUR SHORT- AND MEDIUM- TERM GOALS?

Our short-term goal is to become the French leader in communication solutions for adults, in order to be able to develop internationally. Personally, in the long term I think I can create or help other companies that have a positive impact on the world to move forward. 

WHAT ASPECT OF YOUR TRAINING BEST PREPARED YOU FOR YOUR CURRENT ROLE?

The open-mindedness it brought me. The ability to learn quickly in all areas (very important when you are an entrepreneur). Another important point is the ability to communicate with and understand the different people present in a company (developers, business, administrative, etc). 

WHAT DID YOU LIKE AT CENTRALE NANTES ?

The campus in the city centre: rare enough to be worth mentioning! The associative activity that taught me most of the things I reuse today in my work. Contact with international students who allow us to open up to other cultures! 

ADVICE FOR PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS

Follow your dreams! There is no magic formula: we are only really good at what we like doing. Resources abound today, so no matter what you want to do, you have the means at your disposal!

CENTRALE NANTES IN THREE WORDS

Openness, intensity, social interaction

Alexandre on LinkedIn