Why I created Lalilo instead of taking the job at “Big company”
“Entrepreneurship is an interesting field”
“Entrepreneurship is an interesting field”. It was 2015. As shocking as it sounds, this is exactly what I said during my interview to enter the Entrepreneurship M.S Ecole Polytechnique and UC Berkeley. The director of the program said to me: “Being an entrepreneur is not a career. It’s a state of mind and you don’t seem to have it”. Then I received the rejection letter. I begged for a second chance.
In the next interview, the director asked: “What do you plan to do during this program?”
“I’m going to find my co-founder”
He said, “Most of your mates pitched me their great idea. They explained how it was going to change the world and take off in 3 months… You’re in.”
How to get rewarded for “the best failure”
I met with Laurent during this program.
Laurent and I spent a lot of our time at UC Berkeley waiting to get into restaurants during lunch time. Then we had this idea to build an app to provide info like the Google Maps’ “Popular Times” feature does today. We decided to show users the wait time at restaurants.
We spent a lot of time with our teammates Hector, Julien and Solene in the Berkeley streets. We installed Raspberry Pies with antennas to detect cell phones. We counted people by hand in front of the restaurants. Finally, we released a front version of the app. We managed to close a deal with a restaurant, with little data and a bit of luck.
That week, Laurent and I stopped the project. We looked back and realized that the answer to the question: “Do we see ourselves working on this intensively for 5 years?” was “Clearly not”.
The class awarded us “best failure” for the project. Lack of passion is one of the reasons to stop a venture.
The most important thing I learned from the efforts was Laurent and I worked well together. We had the potential to start a company.
I finally found my co-founder.
We still teach students the way we were teaching 150 years ago
When you look for the best framework to create a company you’ll find something like: “Have a side project”, “Start-ups aren’t for those who fear risk”, “Find a big problem to solve”, “Be an expert in what you want to do.”, “Don’t create a Start-up for the sake of creating a Startup.”
We kind of took the opposite path. We just knew we wanted to work together. We knew we wanted to start a company. We knew we wanted to have big impact.
We still had to figure out what we wanted to do. We started listing the problems we saw in the world and narrowing down our interests. We ended up with a striking fact: We have self-driving cars. My Facebook page is completely different from yours. I’m precisely retargeted by adds when I’m surfing on the web. And our educational model is still following a one-size-fits all system. A model that was created 200 years ago during the Industrial Revolution. Students deserve today a more personalised, less rigid and future oriented education.
November 2015, our first elevator pitch, sounded like that:
“Classrooms are very busy and a teacher teaches at the middle level of the class. The most advanced students are bored and the struggling ones get lost. Machine learning makes it possible to offer a teaching adapted to the level and needs of each student.”
Literacy is “the key to all learning”
Laurent and I wanted to make sure every learner gets personalised learning. Call it a 20-year master plan!
We needed something to start with. “When do level differences between students start?”
We lacked field experience. Laurent said, “My mother-in-law is an elementary teacher. Let’s ask her”.
January 2016, we came and sat at the back of a first grade classroom in Laurent’s mother-in-law’s school. “Dude, they’re all working on the same worksheet. Look, this kid has already finished and is playing with his pencils. And this one has not even finished the first question.” We asked the teacher, “How do you handle such big level differences in your class?” She said, “I have 27 students. I can’t save everyone…”.
That’s where it all begun. The next day, Laurent and I decided to focus on literacy. We started to build our first prototype of what would become Lalilo.
The “Big company” drama
It was April 2016, end of the MS program. Laurent and I started to work full-time on Lalilo. An internship experience was a required part of the program. So I interned at Laurent’s company. Laurent interned at mine :)
I was feeling the pressure to earn money and get a good job. My scholarship was going to end on September. All my friends were seeking well-paid job opportunities with big companies.
“Do I see myself working on this intensively for the next 5 years? With a low salary?”
This is when your “entrepreneurial mind-set” is supposed to help you. But maybe mine was not strong enough. Maybe the director of the M.S. program was right.
“Big company” (let’s call it like that) knocked at the door. Offering big salaries, a great working atmosphere, great challenges and great career experience. “Big company” scheduled me for the interview process.
Everybody told me: “Dude, rule number one: when ‘Big company’ wants to interview you, you go to the interview.” I did. I got through the whole interview process and ended up facing the recruiting manager. She said: “You spent the whole process talking about your project and how it was super exciting and challenging. Why are you applying here?”
I had a well prepared answer on how “Big company” would be a great fit for me. But I just couldn’t give that answer. I said “I don’t know”. I didn’t take the offer. She said we could have this conversation again in few months.
This was the only time I could have stopped Lalilo. It was also the first time I really felt like an entrepreneur. The “entrepreneurial mindset”. This combination of risk taking and ego that makes you say: “I don’t want to work for ‘Big company’, I want to create a ‘Big company’”.
“Laurent, I’m your biggest fan”
If you have a thousand reasons to give up on your start-up but you keep going, people may think you’re obstinate. They might also think you have the mind-set of a crazy warrior. What is really happening? You have one hell of a co-founder!
It’s true. When I feel down, somehow, he’s in a good mood. When I am worried the company will fail, he says it will be a big success. When I doubt, he expresses an amazing amount of confidence — and I’m sure he may be worried even more than me.
Dear entrepreneurs, instead of spending time reviewing your shareholders’ agreement, write your cofounder a heartfelt letter and thank her or him for what they do for you and for the company.
Here’s mine:
“Dear Laurent, I’m your biggest fan.
Kind regards,
Amine”
“Benjamin, you’re a genius”
In July 2016, we had no money. We had no investors, no product and no users. I was still in the middle of the drama with ‘Big company’. And there was that guy Laurent presented to me, Benjamin.
Benjamin started out as an intern to help us. Yet he was improving to the point that he was better than both of us in many of the key duties of the job.
Benjamin is that kind of annoying person who always outsmarts you. He is always a step ahead.
All summer Laurent and I remained not entirely sure of what would happen in September. Then Benjamin came to us and said, “I took a gap year to continue working on Lalilo”. He turned out to believe in our project more than we did. This is how he played a major role in strengthening our ties.
I told Laurent: “That guys should be our co-founder”.
The three of us ended up founding Lalilo. (The name comes from the first syllables, in French, that students learn to decode)
So, why I created Lalilo instead of taking the job at “Big company”?
Here’s my framework to create a company. Find the best co-founders. Tackle a big problem people care about. Be a risk-taker. May your ego drive your ambition.
I remain Laurent’s biggest fan. I see Benjamin as a genius. As a team, we are unlocking the full potential of every single kid. Their preparation for the future starts with learning to read and teachers are the key. Our goal is to benefit millions of kids in schools across the world. To do that, Lalilo needs to become a billion-dollar company.
