“Startups must seek out customers and turnover” (Mathilde Le Roy, French Tech Bordeaux)

LA TRIBUNE – You were elected president of French Tech Bordeaux at a time when French Tech is celebrating its tenth anniversary. How do you view the progress you have made?

MATHILDE LE ROY – The face of tech in France and Bordeaux is no longer the same. Ten years old is a bit like the age of reason. There are many more companies of all sizes and some scale-ups have reached a critical size in their market. At French Tech, our mission evolves with this dynamic to meet the needs expressed by companies. Today, it is about supporting them in their growth, their influence, their international strategy and their access to public procurement and major clients via the “I choose French Tech” program. [qui vise à doubler le recours aux startups par les acheteurs publics et privés, NDLR]. This last point is very important since after ten years we are faced with more mature business problems: startups must seek out customers and turnover!

“The best money for a startup comes from customers, not investors”

A particularly pressing need in the current context of contraction of venture capital with investors much more selective than in the past. Which gives more than one startup a cold sweat…

Yes, the paradigm has changed in terms of financing after years that were frankly excessive in terms of company valuations. There was a form of bubble, particularly in 2021 and 2022, notably with SaaS projects [logiciel sur abonnement, NDLR] which have objectively been overvalued! Today, we are returning to a more balanced dynamic and this puts the church back in the middle of the village: a startup must aim for turnover and profitability! The criteria for the Next 40 and French Tech 120 programs have also evolved to make room for these notions, beyond the fundraising amounts.

But be careful, there are sectors such as health, biotechnology, artificial intelligence, green tech or even industry which must automatically seek funds to develop their product. Innovating requires funding, it’s essential! Whether it is technological innovation or usage, it takes time to find its model. But it is also now necessary for profitability to arrive in the near future, which is not always obvious, particularly given the sharp increase in online marketing acquisition costs.

Fundraising: the winners and losers of the new rules of venture capital

Despite everything, many entrepreneurs looking to refinance are experiencing difficulties. You went through this a few months ago, what message do you send them?

You have to keep a cool head. The default rate of startups has always been high and this is logical in view of risk-taking. Today, we must qualify the felt effect linked to well-known companies, in Bordeaux and elsewhere, which we did not imagine in difficulty but, statistically, the failures are not necessarily higher especially if we take into account the catch-up effect linked to the health crisis.

But it is clear that there is an important issue for startups that are at the refinancing stage, and there are many. You have to adapt and anticipate as much as possible and entrepreneurs know how to do it. There are several answers: we can consider a pivot in the economic model and/or a reduction in costs to accelerate profitability but we can also approach another company, a scale-up, an ETI or a large group. There will probably be a movement of consolidation. The challenge is to preserve assets and jobs, particularly when public and private money has been invested.

Companies, startups: “The party is over, the rules of the game have changed!” »

In this context, what are the subjects you wish to focus on during your mandate?

First there is the question of impact, which is a subject to which we want to give even more visibility with regard to societal and environmental issues. This involves in particular the 3rd promotion of the Impact NA20 program [lire encadré, NDLR] which brings together companies with very varied models and proposals. Then, we talked about our role in supporting startups towards profitability. Finally, we also want to work on entrepreneurs’ fatigue and the impact of their activity on their health, which is a growing problem. This notion of “care”, of taking care, involves speaking out and knowing how to surround yourself and save yourself. Running a startup is a marathon, it’s not a sprint!

In terms of employment, it seems that the recruitment market for web developers has calmed down a little in recent months. Is this a trend you are observing?

Yes, it’s a subject that comes up less in the discussions we have with entrepreneurs because the need has diminished a little with the economic situation which is pushing startups to rationalize their budgets. The salaries offered are therefore probably less impressive except for the best profiles. But be careful, the job market remains very fluid and I think that a developer can still find work very quickly, but perhaps not in the same conditions as some time ago!

Developers: “Companies no longer have the means to roll out the red carpet for them”