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The Recursive podcast comes back to Bucharest to meet with serial entrepreneur and angel investor Gregoire Vigroux. A Frenchman who fell in love in Romania and set up all his businesses there, he’s working tirelessly to change the country for the better and show its opportunities to the world.
Gregoire was born with an entrepreneurial mindset. He has co-founded and invested in more than 25 businesses across Eastern Europe and has had 4 exits so far.
One of his first ventures was the outsourcing company CallPoint, which is now known as TELUS International Europe. It currently employs 5,000 people in Bulgaria and Romania and Gregoire serves as a board member.
He started his latest endeavors amidst the pandemic – the online store for refurbished smartphones www.fenix.eco that he exited this summer. And just a month ago, he announced his latest project bonapp.eco – a mobile app combating food waste allowing users to buy food close to its expiration date from nearby grocery stores, restaurants, bakeries, cafés, or hotels.
Gregoire is also the Co-Founder and President at the French Tech global community in Romania, an ecosystem that supports startups in their international development. And in his spare time, he’s writing a science fiction novel.
In his honest conversation with Irina, Gregoire takes us on an incredible journey through this crazy game of Russian roulette as he calls entrepreneurship.
He talks about his values as a founder and an investor and shares how important it is for him to build quality relationships and create friendships with the people he works with. “You take bullets everyday in this business, and you need to be a pack of wolves with your team. I want to have fun with these people”, Gregoire tells Irina.
When asked about what drives him, he explains why he cares more about the impact of his business than about his business plan. “I have three kids and when they ask me: “Daddy, what did you do all day?”, I don’t want to tell them about my pitch deck. I want to tell them about the impact that we’re making”, he adds.
In the episode, Gregoire also opens up about how he was diagnosed with ADHD. He always knew that he was a hyperactive person who likes to be challenged every day and explains how this has impacted his life and career path.
Watch the previous episode where the CEO of A Data Pro Ilia Krastev shares that one of his greatest leadership lessons was to learn to let go of control and give opportunities to people to lead and feel free to make their own mistakes.
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