Rudy is the Managing Director of our Paris office as well as the Group Business Development Director. This means he is always looking for new opportunities to develop our business and to define goals and strategies. 

Born and raised in Paris, he founded his first company in the area of direct marketing at the age of 22 just after graduating from his bachelor degree in marketing. Since then, he has co-founded several companies in the digital industry, specialising in mobile marketing and billing. He became a key CLIQ partner in 2012 as the operator of mobile subscription services in France, and in 2016, he co-founded a company with CLIQ which launched the first product to use credit cards as a payment method. 

HI RUDY! WHEN YOU WERE A CHILD, WHAT DID YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GREW UP? 

Due to my upbringing, I was immersed in the commerce and business world for as long as I can remember. I can thank my parents for this, since they were retail entrepreneurs who specialised in clothing. Throughout my childhood, I would trail behind my father, attending negotiations and helping him with the purchase processes. I took great delight in spending time in their shops and understanding all the business strategies and processes. I became fascinated with learning how to build profitable, sustainable businesses and with understanding how to turn over profits relatively quickly. I took these teachings into my adult life, and I am grateful for these life lessons and experiences. 

WHAT IS YOUR GREATEST STRENGTH AND WHAT IS YOUR GREATEST WEAKNESS?  

My greatest strength is my ability to identify new business opportunities. I consider myself to be extremely pragmatic; I can make effective, efficient contributions while establishing strategies and defining long-term goals, and at the same time maintain the "big picture". I take pride in being fully committed to all that I do. My weakness is that, because of this commitment, I tend to take things "to heart" and have the tendency to become emotional.

PLEASE INTRODUCE THE PARIS OFFICE TO US IN A NUTSHELL. 

The Paris office is the French branch of CLIQ, where we have fine-tuned our identity in the direction of tech and innovation. Over the past two years, we have worked hard to develop and build a strong technical base in order to provide high-quality products and tools. We are consistently on the lookout for new technologies, and we never stop challenging ourselves. We take pride in working constantly on our internal methods to deliver efficient solutions and thus generate revenues. 

But it doesn't stop there. Like the entire CLIQ group, it is now time for the Paris office to skyrocket to unprecedented levels. In order to achieve this, we are currently in the process of recruiting and filling dedicated positions to strengthen the team. Of course, we constantly recruit new tech talents: one of our goals is to create a team of highly skilled business developers to assist me with tracking down and pinpointing potential new business opportunities. 

WHAT DOES A REGULAR WORKDAY LOOK LIKE FOR YOU? 

The first thing I do when I wake up is to check the stats reports in my mailbox. Grabbing a coffee is mandatory so I can start the day on the right foot! I then start my daily meeting with Florian, our Tech lead, where we discuss matters relating to the evolution of our various current projects. I will then spend most of the days on calls, jumping from meetings with various colleagues in the company to a few of our key business partners. I used to travel a lot prior to Covid to meet with partners. I truly believe meeting in person and attending B2B conferences and workshops with business partners/colleagues from other offices is a real "plus". These meetings ensure that discussions and brainstorming are more enjoyable and therefore more efficient. 

WHAT WAS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE YOU OVERCAME SO FAR?

My biggest challenge in my career to date was six years ago, when I decided to implement change in the business strategy. I had ten years of experience in the mobile content space, and convincing my business partners to join me in the new era of credit card payments was not an easy feat. Leaving my comfort zone and using all my experience, knowledge and years of networking was well worth the decision!

HOW DO YOU DEFINE SUCCESS? 

For me, success is a perfect mix of stability, scalability and profitability. As an entrepreneur, being successful was/is about "choosing battles" wisely and always remaining pragmatic. When you can correctly choose the battles that will ultimately help you achieve your goals, you will be successful and overcome any obstacles. 

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE SOMEONE STARTING OUT AS AN ENTREPRENEUR? 

I think you don't need to have the most creative idea or innovation to start your business. I have never considered myself an "Inventor of the Year"; instead, I always felt deeply inspired by looking at existing businesses that I know I can re-strategise and therefore improve with my ideas, background and knowledge. The first thing is that your product needs to “hold water”. You must be able to create a realistic business plan while still thinking on a bigger scale. Last but not least, take your chances with people. Make sure you surround yourself with positive, inspiring and talented people. Never be afraid to fail. If you do, pick yourself up, dust yourself off, learn, and start over again.