#InterviewAlumni — Pierre Fugit (BSB'13): “this crisis shows that the...

CEO of ANISEN

‍

Who are you, before being CEO of ANISEN?

‍

AnisenA 30-year-old man, free, who walks every day towards the knowledge that this world can bring him. Passionate about soccer and playing it when my time and my will allow it. Recently, I started paddling, a racket sport that I recommend to everyone because it is fun and requires good thought about placement, without requiring too much technique. I am also trying to initiate my partner.

‍

‍

And if not, what do you do for a living... professionally?

‍

As CEO of ANISEN, I have a unifying role with a team of 14 people. My role is to get everyone to adhere to our business vision, and with my associates, develop commercial strategies, marketing, product development, define the technical roadmap, etc. But the most important thing is to properly target the skills of each employee in order to make them play in their best position, such as a soccer coach.

‍

On a purely operational level, I have a commercial management mission for sales development. Our head office is in Labège, near Toulouse, but we also have a branch in Lyon, with the aim of opening another office by the end of the year. This leads to a lot of travel, more than 50,000 km per year, to explore nursing homes in France, develop partnerships and meet public entities in order to set up projects.

‍

Finally, at the same time, I have also been working as President of the SilverEconomie Cluster in Occitanie for the past few months. The objective is to federate the various public and private regional actors in order to develop job creation in this region, around the Silver Economy.

‍

‍

A word about your background between BSB and your current job?

‍

I started my professional career in Paris at Pirelli, in Trade Marketing and Pricing positions. After two years, I returned to my land, in Aveyron, where I founded my first company. During this first entrepreneurial experience, I was fortunate to be able to accumulate in 18 months most of the mistakes that should not be made as a business manager, such as partnering with your best friends without sharing the same entrepreneurial vision, taking out numerous honorary loans, and especially choosing press articles and glitter over turnover! Once all these mistakes were made, I was ready to create ANISEN! It can be said that I have experienced this maxim well: “to fail is to succeed”.

‍

‍

A striking anecdote to tell?

‍

My first developer at ANISEN was a work-study student in Engineering School, who spent a week at school and then a week in business. One Sunday evening at 10 pm, he sent me a text message: “I'm quitting school, I'm not cut out for the academic world!” This also meant: “I'm stopping the business.” It was unthinkable for me because without him, I had no product to launch. At the time, I had 35,000 euros in debt because of the end of my first business, no salary, but the certainty of wanting to succeed. An hour later, I offered him a CDI that would attack on Monday morning. To pay for it, I went to work the night shift at my old high school as a supervisor in a boarding school. All the euros collected were to pay his salary, but he did not know it. This lasted 9 months, the time to release the first product and generate the first sales. And I was treated to some funny thoughts from some students who did not want to do their homework, such as: “If I don't work, I will end up like you, at 25 in a high school!” You grit your teeth, you smile and you think about the different steps to take. It allowed me to understand humility.

‍

‍

If you had to introduce ANISEN to a child?

‍

ANISEN is a company that develops games so that your grandpa and grandma can have fun, keep smiling, do physical exercises, and all this thanks to a tablet. It's magic! To detail a bit for the older ones: we have therefore developed a social life management software for health and social institutions. This consists of therapeutic activity programs concocted by experts, in the form of games, which will allow the elderly person to develop their skills and to monitor their autonomy over time. At the same time, management and coordination tools have also been developed for staff, up to the point of offering individualized resident assessments. The idea is to use digital technology to innovate in this sector, where this dimension is quite archaic, to help school managers.

‍

‍

The greatest achievement that you should have celebrated more?

‍

Our first contract with a Major — a group of nursing homes with more than 100 establishments in France and nearly 260 internationally. Between the implementation of the pilot project and the negotiations, we took almost 18 months to sign it. A time so long that in the end we already thought we were working with them without even having the signature! On the other hand, it makes it possible to put things into perspective and to see this kind of success as a step and not a culmination!

‍

‍

ANISEN operates in a sector particularly affected by the Covid-19 crisis: what does this mean to you?

‍

The medical-social sector is very archaic. This crisis raised the fact that digital technology was not present enough and that it could provide help for the quality of life and the maintenance of social ties. Moreover, this sector is not the most economically supported. From a societal perspective, we are increasingly neglecting our seniors, and this crisis shows us that we need to integrate them into society by respecting them, listening to them and learning alongside them. This epidemic also highlights professions that are forgotten or that have a degraded image such as home helpers, nursing assistants... all these people who are essential.

‍

‍

What is an actor of change for you?

‍

He is a doer. He does not just think but acts. However, it does not act alone, it brings people together. The philosopher Jean Bodin said “There is no wealth or strength except in men”. I share this vision.

‍

‍

An actor of change who inspires you?

‍

Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla. As much admired as it is criticized, in any case it does not leave anyone indifferent.

‍

‍

Your morning routine to have the energy to change things every day?

‍

A coffee to enjoy on my terrace while admiring the sunrise, coupled with a kiss from my dear and tender, and I am ready to start this new day.

‍

‍

The event that made you want to contribute to change?

‍

No particular event, but since my early childhood, I have always wanted to contribute.

‍

‍

What kind of student were you?

‍

A good mix between studious student and epicurean. As proof, I divided my time between my position as Vice President of Junior Enterprise — Dijon Etudes Conseils, now BSB Consulting — and the BDE.

‍

‍

If you could relive your student days, what would you do differently?

‍

Nothing!

‍

‍

What was the choice of path or the action taken when you were a student that served you the most?

‍

My associative career with Junior Entreprise and my gap year, experiences that allowed me to get to the heart of the matter and to quickly combine theory with practice. Coming from a preparatory class, I had never done an internship before: it allowed me to see what skills were needed to move forward in the environments that attracted me.

‍

‍

An encounter that particularly inspired you during your time at BSB?

‍

My first encounter with Stéphan Bourcieu during my speech at BSB — at my time, it was still ESC Dijon. I was able to see a hell of a character who used his humor with such energy and intelligence that he was able to unite everyone who could be in the same room as him. During my classes at the School, there was also Lionel Cévaër who taught us in particular NLP (Neurolinguistic Psychology) by telling us his stories when he was CEO of Visual. He did not hesitate to redefine certain professions, transform the codes of a market: an inspiring person.

‍

‍

Your next big ambition?

‍

A development of ANISEN outside our borders — some actions have already been launched! — and on a more personal level, an expansion of the family could also give even more meaning in the coming years.

‍

‍

Any advice or a message for a BSB student?

‍

Always be selfless and believe in your dreams. Idriss Aberkane highlights the “Diploma of Failure” and this is not necessarily well received in France while in the United States, they say that you have to sink three boxes to succeed in one! Work, persevere, be vigilant and you can only get closer to your goals. This is what I wanted to illustrate with this visual from the ladder to the sky, and it is especially true for entrepreneurship: “Sky is the limit”, there is no glass ceiling and with work and perseverance, you will rise and strive for the light.

‍

‍

More info on ANISEN

‍

Website: www.anisen.fr

LinkedIn: @ANISEN