Three business leaders agreed to answer a cross-interview to describe how a tripartite relationship between an entrepreneur, his investment fund and his coach works:

Max Aniort (co-founder & CEO of Le Collectionist), Cyril Bertrand (Managing Partner of the investment fund xAnge) and Hubert Reynier (Founder & CEO of VISCONTI Partners).

Why did you call on a coach?

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MAX: My coach, Hubert, was recommended to me by an entrepreneur friend who was experiencing the same type of problem as me.

I wanted to work on the fluidity of exchanges between associates — which is not an easy task in an entrepreneurial adventure and on the management of my agenda. In my opinion, the Collectionist could not continue to develop without making progress on these topics.

What did you think of this initiative?

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CYRIL: Business leaders regularly ask me what I think of coaching before they themselves engage in this process.

That was not the case with Le Collectionist. The co-founders took the initiative on their own and informed me about it after they started working with Hubert. Being very supportive of coaching, I appreciated the initiative of Max and his associates.

In my opinion, coaching has the virtue of clarifying our investments. For coaching to work, the coachee must be the driving force behind it.
He must be convinced of the added value of this type of support because it is counterproductive to prescribe or impose it.

Our coaching initiated a process that resulted in managerial clarification and responded to a need to recruit key company functions.

I give a very positive assessment of the support of the Collectionist by VISCONTI Partners. Moreover, the best companies use coaching at a very high dose. We are convinced of its benefits.

How did coaching evolve with Hubert?

MAX: Chronologically. In just over a year, we went from coaching focused on associates, with meetings with several people, to more personal support, focused on my role as manager.

We are also happy to involve members of the management committee in coaching meetings, which take the opportunity to strengthen their skills.

This coaching perfectly meets my needs as a manager and the needs of the company.

These are not the same methods as a consulting firm at all! To achieve results, you must be flexible in terms of the needs of the manager and only a coach can do that.

Hubert also supports me on my relationship with investors, in particular on the preparation of boards of directors.

Indeed, a good board is a meeting prepared so that each of the topics discussed gives rise to a constructive exchange that impacts the company's strategy instead of simple information reporting.

How did you feel about the evolution of Max and the Collectionist?

CYRIL: Coaching is not only about empathy, kindness and improvement.

Every time a leader in my circle is coached, things change. The Collectionist story is a very positive one to tell.

Hubert's support has created governance and internal communication that are now well in place and reassuring.

Coaching kicks things up a snag and makes what seemed complicated in the speech more fluid and simple.

How did this support happen?

HUBERT: My first role was to be a mediator and then to help Max progress as a manager.

This goal was achieved quickly because Max is a person who absorbs information quite quickly.

Today, at Le Collectionist, we have an excellent management committee, well established and very invested, which allows us to focus on the business and strategy parts.

Today, we have reached a first level of compression, the indicators are generally green. We know where we need to go, we know the next steps. We are less in management, less in leadership but more in value and business development.

I really enjoy supporting managers like Max and I think, like Cyril, that this can only work if the person being coached and the group behind them have a real ambition to do so, to improve and advance in the interests of the company.

Cyril, Max and Hubert, any last words?

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MAX: Whatever the stage of development, I strongly encourage entrepreneurs to get support. It is by looking at the story that we
He said that it was finally obvious.
CYRIL: The positioning of VISCONTI Partners is a positioning that is relatively not psychological but operational and more focused on performance. It's reassuring.
HUBERT: What happiness!