Four questions For Alexandre Roubaud, Passionate About Solving Problems with Tech and Great Products
The desire to become an entrepreneur in Montreal has tripled over the last 10 years, and from November 12 to 16 we are celebrating entrepreneurship all over the world as part of Global Entrepreneurship Week 2018.
This therefore makes it the perfect opportunity to present 6 passionate, risk-taking entrepreneurs who have begun Le Wagon Montréal’s full-stack program this fall in order to learn to code. They have embraced the challenge to invest in 2 months of intensive learning to acquire a new skillset to empower their entrepreneurial venture with strong technical know-how.
We met with Alexandre Roubaud.
Alexandre graduated from McGill University in 2018 with a Bachelor of Commerce in Global Strategy, Entrepreneurship and Business Analytics. He is passionate about solving problems with technology and great products.
Describe your startups, in a nutshell
In 2017, I co-founded a mobile application, TLDR (fellow Reddit users will understand), that aggregates and summarizes news articles from your choice of sources and topics. In 2018, I co-founded, Krypto, an enterprise software to audit cryptocurrencies by verifying the ownership of the assets and identifying illicit transactions to ensure regulatory compliance. Even though both of these projects are not active anymore, I am currently working on making them open-source so that I can share my work with the community.
Why are you learning to code with Le Wagon?
I wanted to learn to code because I really wanted to know what happens under the hood and to better understand the technologies used to build software products. I believe I will become a stronger co-founder, product manager and team collaborator. Le Wagon has a wide community and a strong global alumni network so I know that after the bootcamp, I’ll be able to connect with like-minded people, share the projects I’ve been working on and gather feedback, which is very valuable as an entrepreneur.
What benefit does it bring to you as an entrepreneur?
I have realized how powerful the skillset I’ve been building so far is. It’s been great to learn the methodology of being able to pick up any technology pretty quickly.
I now have a better understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of different technologies, and I believe it has strengthened my decision-making process when working with development teams and building products.
3 tips for aspiring entrepreneurs?
Based on my experience, I realized that there are 3 key characteristics in building a successful startup:
- Build an A team: Hire only people that are smarter than you and have complementary skills.
- Focus on your customers: Be obsessed with your customers and deeply understand who they are, what they want, and what they need.
- Surround yourself: Find the expertise that you need, seek advice, meet with mentors and advisors, and go to networking events.
Interested in entrepreneurship?
👉 Subscribe to our Le Wagon Live podcast. Le Wagon invites a tech entrepreneur to share their startup story and their vision. From their failures to their most successful ideas, the podcast will delve into what’s behind the scenes. Subscribe and enjoy the show!
