Hubert Reynier, President and Founder of Visconti Partners, welcomes today Agathe Wautier, director and co-founder of Galion, a collective of tech entrepreneurs.

Who is Agathe Wautier?

Agathe is a young woman leader who co-founded Le Galion, a collective designed specifically for hypergrowth entrepreneurs. She has run it for seven years.

What makes Le Galleon unique?

The Galion Project now brings together 450 entrepreneurs, mainly from Tech. It has a specificity: it brings together entrepreneurs who have raised funds, they really share common problems. It is its members who do the”secret sauce” Of the Galleon. Agathe co-founded Le Galion with at the beginning: Jean-Baptiste Rudelle, his partner, and the President, Frédéric Mozula and Pierre Kosciusco-Morizet. They subsequently succeeded in bringing in entrepreneurs from all walks of life, who are now extremely involved.

All these leaders want to learn from each other, to create a strong impact on the Tech ecosystem and to ensure that there are more and more international leaders from French Tech.

A fund has now been added to the business, a few words about it.

After six years, they created Galion Exe, which is an “early stage” investment fund. That is to say, they invest at the very beginning of the creation of businesses. They are putting tickets into future tech nuggets. There is a common DNA between Galleon and the desire of entrepreneurs to invest together, which is why they embarked on this adventure and made their first closing in March. This investment fund brings together managers who bring them deals that also participate in their investigation and follow-up.

How did Agathe evolve in pairs with Jean-Baptiste Rudelle?

Agathe believes that the secret to the success of their pair lies in their complementarity. Indeed, they are both very different. Jean-Baptiste had already been successful before, so many entrepreneurs wanted to learn from him. As for Agathe, she was operational. He had the inspiration, she the operation. Over the years, they have built a relationship based on complementarity, it has not always been easy, there have been complicated moments because when you are so different you have to find junctions. The most important thing is to always enjoy working together, despite differences and to communicate a lot.

What is the proportion of male members in Galleon?

There are 15% of women in Galleon, which is the average number of women managers in France. In Tech, men are the ones who do the big fundraisers. Agathe works with SISTA on this subject: 2% of the funds are directed to women. There is still a long way to go. Men are open to the idea of having more women in tech. Women raise a lot of money but the difference is in the sense of legitimacy. A woman raising 1.5 million will wonder if it is legitimate, while a man raising 2.5 million will think that he belongs. Agathe is convinced that women must be convinced to participate in networks, to take advantage of their personal time to develop networks that are similar to them and that will be beneficial to their business.

As a female leader in a world of men, how does Agathe evolve?

Agathe has a strong character that allows her to evolve well in a male environment. So it's going well for her. She believes in asserting yourself while maintaining a certain gentleness. Of course, we had to impose ourselves, but this is not specific to a male environment but to the business itself.

What is the future of the entrepreneur market?

Agathe believes that this market will be in continuous development. According to her, we need to collaborate, to co-create, to help each other especially at a time when the world is changing. It is by continuing to create spaces for the exchange of ideas and good practices that we will be able to change the world.

The Galleon strengthened during Covid, during a time when they were all on a difficult path. More and more networks are blossoming, and in Agathe's eyes it is essential in the world that is being built.

How does Agathe define herself as a leader?

You are not born a leader. It is a coat to be woven mesh after stitch. Agathe's leadership has evolved in seven years. Having started alone, she was busy executing and operating a lot. Little by little, she is building a team, there will be fifteen of them at the end of the term. Leadership then changes: you have to spend more time inspiring and, more personally, Agathe is intuitive, she spends time with her team and is now learning to delegate. It is tending towards a more entrepreneurial leadership style.

What other changes were there?

Agathe has gained self-confidence. She is proud of what she has achieved. She is more confident about the future and continues to make Galleon the best place for entrepreneurs.