Last year, I reached a point of high frustration: working on short-term projects alone. Not having a clear plan for the future.
I spent all my energy this year to change, ensuring I have an ambitious project, making bold investments, and taking personal risks to reach my ambitions.
The plan "Happy in 2025" is launched.
I stopped being a Solopreneur and raised money to build my new startup: The Mobile-First Company.
I invested most of my savings inside a 250m² Coliving in Medellin.
I made the decision to move back to Paris full-time until I reach profitability in my new startup.
Last but not least, we invested in 10 African startups with Kara Venture.
Every year, I write a letter to my future self, which helps me connect the dots. I made it public since 2021 to ensure I have social pressure to continue to achieve my goals and dreams.
This update will be different from the previous years, more synthetic, with a direct style, focusing on my professional project, leaving the personal on the side.
So what do I decide to include in this review?
🙌What I'm proud to have accomplished this year!
Switching from Solopreneur to building a startup, I achieved unique milestone in 2023.
🤩A list of unbelievable experiences I lived Remember to offer you a unique experience and personal Gift. This year I authorize myself to invest more in my happiness.
📱 Zoom on my new startup: The Mobile-First Company What is a TMFC, and how we made it? Let me present to you the vision and where we’re.
😠 Life is also challenging; here are my bad and frustrations during 2023
2023 was an weird year, and I have plenty of frustrations. It's very important to share them.
🎯 What are my goals for 2024? Don’t tell people what you will do. Show them what you did! Ok, few pillars for next year.
Have a good reading 📚…
🙌 What I’m proud to have accomplished in 2023
Yes, it was a difficult transition year. I finished the year at the opposite of how it started. I learned a lot, and those learnings came with a lot of stress and risks. Looking backward, I'm proud of it.
Creating a startup, building a team, and raising Money
Unfortunately, I can't be fully transparent about it for the moment. After 24 months (the date of departure of Spendesk), I'm back in the Startup Nation, in the most difficult position: founder.
I'm doing a deep dive about it below.
Transforming a 250m² apartment into a Coliving in Medellin
Investing in Real Estate in Colombia is not easy; yes, profitability is attractive, but the system is 200% different, nothing works the same. You need to learn everything. The project that was planned to finish on the 16th Dec is 1 month delayed and will be officially open early next year.
The rise of Kara Venture
We finished the year with +10 investments in African Startups. The quality of the startups we back is improving. We entered more selective rounds earlier.
The key to a great VC is to invest in the best deal at the lowest valuation. We also continue to boost the brand and the community. We organized our first event in Paris.
Building the most advanced Database of Startups in Africa : AfricaX
On the side of Kara Ventures, we started to collect a massive amount of data and do a lot of enrichment, automation, and manual calibration. This tool, which has more than 6,000 startups, allows us to make data-driven decisions and connect with African Entrepreneurs earlier.
Mastering the Growth Advisor : Hyperline success story
I decided to go back to my first love: Growth. Before building The Mobile-First Company, I decided to accept a Growth Advisor position or “VP Growth Part-time” for Lucas (previous VP Eng @ Spendesk), who built Hyperline, the best Billing Solution. He was the only one to convince me to come back.
We worked on the launch of the company and released a Side Product (SaaS Pricing Explorer) that finished Product of the Day on Product Hunt with +1200 votes. 👏🏽
Scalability, the example that Growth can be externalized ?
As you may know, I'm a Board Member of Scalability, one of the best Growth Agencies specialized in Outbound. I've been helping them since 2020, and I'm amazed by how fast they are growing. This year, the team grew to 12 Growth Managers, and the average ROI per customer continues to grow. Ben & Vic are the only ones to make me think that Growth can be externalized.
The Second Edition of the Growth Awards 🏆
After the first edition last year with 300 people, I decided to change the format and make something more premium and exclusive. I invited 120 of the best VP Growth and Senior Growth profiles in Paris for a unique experience. We had Thibault (ex VP Growth Adobe and Github) as the main speaker, followed by a hypnosis experience.
Check out the After Movie of the evening !
AI is changing so much my way of working
2023 is the year where I switched my ways of working using ChatGPT, from Cleaning datasheets to producing strategies and content. My job is not the same! Focusing more on the strategy rather than the form, I will be more productive. I believe we're just at the beginning of how our jobs are changing, and in 10 years from now, our meetings, tasks, and types of work will be so different from the ones today.
This year has been intense on the personal side:
Spent 6 months in Colombia and 6 months in France
During this year of transition, I succeeded in splitting my time between Europe and Latam. I continue to love the advantages of Europe while having a healthy and comfortable lifestyle in Medellin.
We also made the decision with Maria to relocate full-time to Paris for the next 2 years (at least). By the way, Maria is looking for an International Customer Success Position in Paris, can you help her?
Travel Less, Learn More : Cuba & Egypt
2023 is also the end of the remote lifestyle. I spent less time traveling and decided to focus on countries with strong historical cultures. I celebrated my 28th birthday in La Havana and visited my 12th African country, Egypt.
Egypt was the most productive Kara Venture Trip, and the first one done together with Réna; we invested in 3 startups: Swypex, Axis, and Gameball.
Bringing my family to Colombia
I finally got the chance to show my second home to my brother, who came two times in 2023 to Colombia. Lucky guy. The first trip was in February with my mom; we took 3 weeks off to travel across the country, the 2nd time was for Christmas and New Years.
If you are interested, we made a guide about traveling/living in Colombia for your next trip: https://colombiawithus.guide/
I’ve done more sport, with my new addiction to Padel 🎾
I played my first game in September, and since then, I’ve been addicted; I play almost 3 times a week (5 hours of game) and have a personal coach to help me progress. I never played racket sports, so starting from 0 it’s not easy. I hope to find a way to success.
Continuing to renovate my flat in Paris
I worked hard with my dad during the summer to renovate the bedroom of the flat in Paris. After 2 years, the flat is almost 100% renovated. We still need to change the showers in 2024 and maybe build a terrace.🤞
After being lost for 2 years and leaving Spendesk without a clear plan, it took me a while to know what I wanted to achieve in my life and the environment and routine that I need to be happy.
Maria and I worked on a plan for 2025; this year is the year of hard choices and transition to start being on track for 2025.
🤩 Here are some of my best memories of 2023
When my brother, Geoffrey, signed his first CDI in a Tech Startup. Proud of him!
When I destroyed the 19th walls of the flat in Medellin and started to make over. Four months later, I believed real estate mean “Solve problems” 😂, and in Colombia, there are a lot of PROBLEMS!
When we attended the concert of Sofiane Pamart in Medellin, a precious moment.
When I signed my first Term Sheet!
When I hiked the Pyrénées with my mom.
Bonus: all the moment spent with Maria (14th July on a rooftop, visiting inside the pyramid..)
It was a year full of memories, but to be honest, it was not an easy year. I feel heavy and impacted by this year. I hope the hard work/choices will pay off in 2024.
📱 Zoom on The Mobile First Company creation idea 💡
– Can’t be fully transparent and share too much details.
In 2023, my primary goal was to launch a startup. I dedicated January to brainstorming and refining my first idea, FreeX.
The concept aimed to assist remote workers in getting paid and managing their taxes directly, bypassing intermediaries like Remote.com or Deel.com to maximize income. We also aimed to address the credit aspect, helping them secure loans for personal projects.
I interviewed lawyers, remote workers, and garnered interest from venture capitalists, but doubts crept in. Concerns arose regarding market growth, with many tech companies discontinuing remote policies. I feared I might have missed the wave (2019/2020). Moreover, associating with tax optimization gave me a pause, even though I still believed in its profitability.
After weeks of contemplation, I shifted my focus to a new idea, tackling a broader problem: How can more people to use software?
Having spent six years at Spendesk, I mastered the SaaS industry, from value persuasion to distribution, and believed a different playbook was possible.
While most tech firms concentrated on the Mid-Market, building complex all-in-one platforms and using costly acquisition channels, I envisioned an alternative. This approach is centered on two key factors:
The speed at which users perceive the software's value
The global significance of the problem being addressed.
I delved into ERP research, complex software that resolves numerous business issues. Two companies fascinated me: Odoo 🇧🇪 and Zoho 🇮🇳, both profitable with oustanding growth, despite being older than me.
The key to these two players was their modular approach. Unlike SAP (the leader), which sells a single, intricate, expensive software, others allow users to solve problems by installing modules or different software. People seek solutions that definitively address their specific problems, not a single platform covering all their needs.
But why "Mobile-First" ?
The mobile aspect emerged later. Working with fast-growing mobile apps revealed the smartphone's potential :
More intuitive, user-friendly, and globally accessible (thanks to app stores).
Higher trust levels, as people prefer app downloads over signing up or booking through a landing page.
Enhanced capabilities, with unique mobile features (camera, voice, payment, WhatsApp), enabling the creation of unique experiences.
Cost-effectiveness, as developing a minimal app is cheaper than a complex SaaS.
With these convictions, I went all-in on this idea, pitching it to the top 30 CEOs in my software and mobile app network. Eventually, the company was incorporated with a well-funded bank account.
I then poured all my energy into finding a co-founder and assembling the core team (Head of User Acquisition, Head of Mobile, etc.).
Regrettably, I can't share more details at the moment, but we're well on our way to challenging the SaaS industry with a different breed of software, crafted by a talented team.
Stay tuned for more in 2024.
🤯 Life is also challenging ; here are my setbacks and frustrations during 2023
Being more RELAX
I discovered last year that I’m quite a stress person; I like conflict and I’m not afraid to argue for my ideas or opinions.
I have the feeling of not being at peace with myself and the society. I need to succeed to relax and enjoy simple moments of life.
Continuing to take risks?
It’s a mixed feeling; I take risks or make decisions without considering the consequences (for example, the financial risk of the coliving). I impose my choices on those around me. Yes, I'm advancing so fast in my life, but it's tiring.
I miss working with a team in the office.
Covid is over, and remote work is as well; it’s time for me to go back to "normal life," solving problems with a team and building memories. The Mobile-First Company will not be 100% remote, and the office will be a big part of the culture. Everyone changes their opinion, read my #2021 Review 😂
Lost motivation in my professional life
Being a freelancer was mainly driven by how much money I could make and how I could use this money to live experiences and invest in the future. Back in 2022, I felt unmotivated by what I was doing and took the decision to reduce my income and change the type of missions to feel more connected, starting a transition to be able to go back to a full-time job as a founder.
I built The Mobile-First Company based on the good memories of Spendesk and the frustration of the last 2 years as a freelancer. I believe I found the perfect match to achieve something big.
The impact of my choice on my wife's career
1 year ago, Maria made the decision to leave the unicorn Mercado Libre, where she had an amazing job full of responsibilities, to start as a freelancer to be able to travel more and spend more time with me in Europe. This was clearly not our best choice, and we’re working hard to ensure Maria joins an ambitious company in Europe.
Still need to improve my Spanish
I reached the point where I could survive in Colombia, but the Coliving project showed me that I’m far from being fluent. I still need to work hard on my Spanish to be able to argue effectively. Learning a language was never a strength for me; I'm still struggling with French and for that reason, I'm the first surprised that I'm almost speaking 3 languages now.
PS: I reached a 1,100-day streak on Duolingo, meaning that I used the app every day for more than 3 years.
🎯 What are my goals for 2024?
I will focus all my energy on ensuring that The Mobile-First Company is on the path to profitability and growth.
I still wants to post 150 times on Linkedin.
I will continue to invest in Africa.
I want to helps the people I love be successful in their careers and happy 🫶
The goal for next year is to be able to afford my dream house in Colombia in 2025!
PS: I also need to strengthen my back.
I’m 28 years old, and my mind is full of goals to reach before turning 30. Next year will be precious.
From Medellin, Jérémy ✌️
Jérémy.
That’s all for this year!
If you enjoyed this year’s review, hit reply and let me know. I love hearing from you!
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Today we release a FREE TOOL on Product Hunt based on a study over 1,000 Pricing Pages, let me give you more context:
We analyzed +1000 pricing pages to understand SaaS pricing strategies. Here are our key learnings:
Why did we do this? Because the second most common reason for SaaS companies' failure is pricing mistakes!
👉 70% of SaaS companies offer a Free Trial or a Free Plan 👉 82% of SaaS companies have an "Enterprise" plan
Here are the 3 most popular pricing models in Europe: Flat Fee (31%) Seat-Based (28% vs. 42%) Usage-Based (27%)
We have decided to make our research available for free on a search engine, including +1,000 pricing pages, founder interviews, and historical changes, etc.
The project is live on Product Hunt (my first one 😇), please show your support 💪
Do you have Product Hunt? 🧡 Support the project, it's a big day for us.
The link of the project: https://www.producthunt.com/posts/saas-pricing-explorer
Don’t tell to people what you will do, show them what you did!
It’s becoming a ritual for me, taking time off, focusing on analyzing my year, and ensuring I’m still working in the right direction to achieve my dreams.
2022 was a STRANGE year for me, exhausting with many different tasks and launching a project that didn’t have strong links. I had this feeling to be a little bit of Schizophrenia.
The only thing I’m sure about last year is that I was super busy and took big risks (personally & professionally).
In this review, I will talk about my solopreneur journey, facing the limit of this model. I will also project you inside 3 of my Side Projects: Growth.Talent, Kara.ventures & my Youtube Channel.
I’m expecting you to ask me questions and tell me if you want to work closer to me next Year,
because 2023 will be built to be the complete opposite of 2022. 🙂
But let’s focus on 2022!
So what do I decide to include in this review?
🙌What I'm proud to have accomplished this year!
Building a community (Growth.Talent) and launching a VC Fund (Kara.ventures) it was the year of ambitious side-projects. I spend most of my year in Africa. It's a mix of personal and professional learnings all around the year.
My 2022 Goals's achieved.
Deep Dive: How did I make Money in 2022?
Deep dive into more personal topics
⚡️ Deep Dive into my Content/Media strategy in 2022 Double down on Linkedin and invest massively in Youtube. Let’s talk numbers.
🤩A list of unbelievable experiences I lived Remember to offer you a unique experience and personal Gift. This year I authorize myself to invest more in my happiness.
💰 Zoom on my VC Fund (Kara.ventures) What is a side-fund, and how we made it? Let me present to you Rena who made this project a reality.
😠 Life is also challenging; here are my bad and frustrations during 2022
2022 was an intense year, and I have plenty of frustrations. It's very important to share them.
🌍 A quick timeline of the place I have been
Working remotely and traveling around the world was my top priority. Some places weren't planned :)
🎯 What are my goals for 2023? Don’t tell people what you will do. Show them what you did! Ok, few pillars for next year.
Have a good reading 📚…
🙌What I’m proud to have accomplished in 2022.
My first year (completely) independent, split into 4 main projects across different continents. I reached the dream life I had when I left Spendesk: working remotely, advising startups, having a community, and investing in Africa.
For example, in my last review, I had 4 pillars for 2023:
I will travel a lot, mainly in Africa. ✅
I want to triple my yearly income and continue to invest in a different types of assets (startups, real estate, wine, trading) ✅
I want to launch a media and produce more content. ✅
I want to spend more time with my friends and family. ✅
Let me deep dive inside my accomplishment:
💼 PROFESSIONALLY
Launched my VC Funds (Kara.ventures) to invest in 20 African Startups with Rena Kakon
That was the most ambitious project I had in mind for this year, and I needed the right partner to make it happen. I’m so happy to meet and work with Rena, who may be the perfect opposite of me regarding skills and mindset. But we’re reunited with the same passion for Startups in Africa.
It can seem crazy to imagine that one of our side projects this year was launching a VC Fund. But we did it.
We raised money with our network to be able to invest in 20 startups.
We set up all the Legal + Admin aspects to be able to operate
We implemented a robust back-office + CRM to work efficiently
We visited & explore more than 12 countries on the continents: 🇸🇳 Senegal, 🇷🇼 Rwanda, 🇲🇺 Mauritius, 🇰🇪 Kenya, 🇲🇦 Morocco,🇹🇳 Tunisia, 🇺🇬 Uganda, 🇿🇦 South Africa, 🇬🇭 Ghana, 🇳🇬 Nigéria, 🇨🇮 Ivory Coast
We interview +180 startups.
And we invested in 6 of them. 🙌
This is just the beginning of this 10 years side project, where I currently invested most of my cash.
Create a Community (Growth.Talent) to change the mindset about Growth in France I can’t pass the page on Growth while leaving France without keeping connecting with my peers.
I wanted to bring the support I missed when I started my career in Growth in Paris.
Around different pillars:
Create a community of experts who share the same mindset and ambition. Not another boring Slack where everyone is here.
Capture the best Job opportunity in the market and make them available
Document & Benchmark our jobs, starting with the Salary Benchmark.
Create powerful matchmaking based on specific request
Organize events to connect and celebrate together
Helps companies to understand the jobs better
Thanks to @Timothée, in a few months we released the website and platform: growthtalent.org, monetize the community, reach 1,000 members, and launch many initiatives.
I prepare a Deep Dive about it lower in this newsletter.
Spendesk becomes a Unicorn 🦄 In January last year, Spendesk announced recent funding with Tiger Global and reached the Unicorn Statut 6 years after its creation. It’s a massive milestone for early employees like me, who gave us credibility worldwide, and I hope for financial power for the rest of our lives.
Finally, launch my Youtube Channel.
Youtube is from far away my favorite platform, since a teenager, I have spent hours every week learning new things. I always wanted to produce videos, and after the substantial success of my Spendesk Departure Video, I knew I needed to explore this channel.
I decided to hire a talented & ambitious video Marker: Augustin Chenard
And in the last 6 months, we explored, tried, created, and iterated to understand how Youtube was working.
I had a lot of fun on this project, which cost me a lot (from salaries and freelance to pro video material), with no clear ROI. It is more like a passion than a project or job.
I will continue to invest in it next year.
You can find more results about the Youtube launch in the Community Section
My African Tours and the robust network that I built on the continent I planned to travel around Africa for years and finally took the time to do it this year. It’s difficult to explain, but I invested so much time, money, and energy in this project that I was tired when I came back to France.
I explored Senegal 🇸🇳, Mauritius Island 🇲🇺, Ghana 🇬🇭, Nigeria 🇳🇬, Sao Tomé 🇸🇹, Cote d’Ivoire 🇨🇮.
It was a revelation for me, and I succeeded in building strong online connections, talking with people, and creating friendships when I was there. I was welcomed almost like a president and got the opportunity to learn so much about the culture, history, and startup scene.
I will definitely continue next year to learn more and explore this continent. Next stop: Egypt 🇪🇬
I’m entering the 6-digit Solopreneur Categorie.
It was my first year as a full-time freelancer (or Solopreneur), and I finished the year with +250k€ of income. It’s definitely a lot of money, double my Salary as VP of Growth at Spendesk. But I can confess that I had to work more to get this result.
I made so many mistakes that cost me to have done double this number, I also generated a considerable amount of stress at some part of the year, when sleeping was difficult.
I decided to talk more about this complicated year as Solopreneur in the Challenges section.
Growth.Awards 2022 – We made it: The Biggest Growth Event in 🇫🇷 Imagine having a Theatre of +300 Growth People, with a jury and 6 different trophies to showcase why France is the capital of Growth. It took me 6 months, to find the right partner, and sponsors to make this event a success.
I wasn’t scared to animate the party in front of all those people, and now I know that I can manage a big event alone from 0.
The feedback is unanimous, it was definitely a success, and we will come back next year, with enormous ambition and more trophies.
My collaboration with Timothée & Augustin
Last year I contracted Timothée, to help me with Growth.Talent, he dedicates a lot of energy and time to making this project a success. We took the decision to stop the collaboration back in June, and I’m so happy to see that he is now Lead Growth in a startup of my portfolio. This guy is talented. Follow him ;)
I was also lucky enough to hire another futur Rockstar: Augustin, who is managing and producing Youtube content with me.
PS: Merci Tim & Gus 🙏
The (indirect) success of Scalability For more than 1 year, I have supported and advised Benjamin Donteville, who launched Scalability, A Growth Agency focusing exclusively on Outbound.
I start to help him when he was “just” a freelancer with 3/4 of customers. He is now the owner of one of the most promising Growth agencies in Paris, onboarding a cofounder, and hiring a talented Growth Outbound Manager. X
This year was the year of all records for Scalability, and I’m proud to be part of it!
Becoming a Board Member of a startup studio in Africa: mStudio I will never imagine that that will happen! If you ask me last year during the same period when I started to prepare 2022, that was not planned, but a few months later it happens. I’m now a Board Member of a Startup Studio in Abidjan 🇨🇮
mStudio has the ambition to launch 4/6 startups to support the informal sectors in West Africa.
My mission is to find an onboard talented founder while helping startups grow and find the product market fit.
That was the first time I got paid for a mission on the African Continent.
I help 46 Talented Growth Profiles to change their career This is maybe the most significant achievement of the year, supporting 46 talents to find their new challenge in Growth. And at the same time helps 46 startups to build their Growth Team.
Special mention to Mojo, Polar Analytic, Le Wagon, & Deep Reach for the perfect collaboration 👌
💰Deep Dive: How did I make Money in 2022?
More important than the final amount, the way I made +250k must inspire you.
I’m always interested in connecting and talking about a potential collaboration, let’s talk about it: jeremy@goillot.com
My business was focused on 3 pillars:
VP Growth Part-Time I support B2B SaaS companies or Growth Agencies and Startups Studios to Grow. I mainly work with the CEO and the Head of Growth.
I like to work like a Github Issue Framework, I have a list of problem assign to me and need to solve them.
This can be: Hire a Head of Growth, Change the pricing or Launch a new acquisition Channel.
This job is custom for each customer. I put in place simple pricing based on the time dedicated. Most of the job is done in Async with Recurring meetings every week.
Most of my customers have 6 months agreement.
Building a Growth Team and hiring the Head of Growth for startups This is still the money maker of my activity because it answers one of the biggest needs of startups. Hire one of the most vital profiles of their teams.
I try a lot of different formats, and at the end of the year, I was satisfied with the type of customers that I have and the satisfaction behind my work.
I work exclusively with a Retainer (money paid upfront), and I get a success fee if the job is over.
It’s different than Headhunter because I spend more time teaching the CEO how to hire a Head of Growth rather than contacting the profile myself.
Most of my customers are Inbound or referrals.
I want now to focus on the Head of position, completely remote, and managing a team.
I need to be better at rejecting wrong-fit customers, who bring me more problems, and who don’t succeed in closing a candidate.
At the beginning of the year, I wanted to “Productise my Headhunting” activity by launching a job board. Inspired by RemoteOk.com.
I was always frustrated by the job offers about Growth because most of them are boring, without context and clear missions. And none of them have a Salary range!
We design with (Anagram.club), leveraging 200 members of Growth.Talent, the best Job offer possible for a Growth candidate. Make them very clear and attractive.
We charge companies for the redaction and promotion of those job offers as Flat Fees. We don’t take commission or fees if the candidate is hired.
It was a substantial investment in money (+40k€) and time (4 months), and as of today, the project is now profitable.
I’m working with other Growth.Talent members who help me to redact and edit the job description.
I have a lot of ambition for next year, making all the Job Board “Web3 Friendly” where members get paid to post offers or refer candidates.
Our end goal is to make the best option for candidates to access the best opportunity in Growth.
“I made the mistake of managing my business like a unicorn rather than a solopreneur.”
I learned how to manage a business in a profitable way, I always had my Spendesk Reflex in mind to always hire in advance, works with the best freelance, take a bold decision, and not always check the ROI of a project…
💡 Here is my biggest mistake this year as Solopreneur:
Invest more money than needed. My saving is very low in the end. I can’t take 1-month break.
I hired 2 full-time people when the revenue was heavily dependent on me, I bring a monthly recurring cost on a non-recurring revenue. Some months were scary, I remember in July checking my bank account every night before going to bed.
Investing 40k€ in branding + platform, buying the Rolls Royce as a first car instead of learning how to drive with a “No code” car 🙂
Repeat the same mistake with youtube, +10k€ of equipment rather than an iPhone. I may have the highest cost per interview if you include plane tickets + hotels. Why didn’t I start with a simple Reel before traveling all around Africa with a professional caméra?
I realized about this problem during the summer and switch my activity around profitability. These are not easy decisions to make, but bring you peace of mind and cash flow.
💡 I faced the limit of the Solopreneur model (according to me):
Being alone is not done for me, I need team spirit and diverse types of profiles. I miss my Spendesk team.
Your business relies on your Name and not on a company. People want me, I can never be sick, tired, or send someone else. They want me.
Your energy/motivation is your revenue. When you are not motivated, your revenue is down.
I was not able to take brake/vacations, I’m depressed when I see that I’m missing business opportunities or potentially missing revenue.
My Qonto account during the year 2022
😇 PERSONALLY
On a personal side, it was a busy and intense year. I took important decisions and commitments in my couple's life while supporting the people I love. I also offer fun to myself.
We signed a PACS with Maria ❤️ I’m still in Love with the person who shares my life and supports me, trust me, it’s not that easy (to support me). After moving together last year, we’re now officially living together for both France & Colombian governments.
I got my 🏍️ Driving Licence and I own a Vespa PV150 Yes, I’m this type of hipster driving a 1995 Vespa. I got my driving license in Colombia, and it was a fun process, very different than in France.
I planning to keep the Vespa for a while before switching to a bigger moto. Do I still a minimalist after adding this item to my collection list? :)
Let me know if you are in for a road trip in a Royal Enfield in Colombia.
I support Maria in her life change.
After pushing/helping Maria, she decided to quit Mercado Libre, one of the biggest unicorns in LATAM, and start to study at Ironhack, the Bootcamp in Paris. She wanted to work in a smaller environment with more flexibility about Remote.
She also launched her own podcast (El Brief de UX), and published 26 episodes 🤯 and reach 1,000 followers on Linkedin.
I help my Brother to start his career in the Startup Nation Geoffrey is the complete opposite of me, but he decided to do his first interview in the startup nation at Moka.Care. I was there to help him identify companies and create a persecuting spontaneous application.
He is now looking for a 6-month internship as a Sales person inside Seed or Serie A startup. I guarantee that If he is not doing his quota, I will help the Growth department for free 😂
Continue to discover Africa That was my main goal for this year, to learn and discover about African countries, and for this time, I focused a lot on west Africa. I lived something quite magic, but I also faced corruption and injustice.
But one thing is sure, Africa is the past and the future of our civilization.
Renovate my Flat in Paris and reach profitability on Airbnb After purchasing my apartment in November 2021, I took the time in May with my dad to fully renovate the kitchen, toilet, living room, and stairs of the Apartment.
The result is impressive for 5 days of work and I clearly see the impact on Airbnb (+30% of the night price, +140% of occupation).
Next year I want to build a Terrace in the bedroom and install the AC.
I did not escape the hype behind NFT, I was lucky enough to learn everything from my close friend Valentin Salmon. Who succeeded in 2022 in launching one of the most extensive collections of NFT.
Behind the hype, I was impressed to discover a lot of new technologies and payment solutions.
“Why are gas fees too high?”, I had this type of newbie question back in time 🙂
Spend precious time with my Family ✅
Living abroad and becoming older make you realize your family's importance. I’m happy about what I succeeded in creating in 2022 with the people I love the most. From a Mum's birthday trip in Portugal to camping 2 nights in the mountains, and hiking with my dad. Definitely not enough, but a perfect start :)
Welcome friends in Colombia In 2022 Colombia became my second country. Some Colombians are saying that I’m more Colombian than them now :) It’s always a pleasure to receive friends or friends of friends here.
If you plan to discover Latin America, Colombia is definitely a place to come, and you will be well received!
Build a ‘Work from Home’ Setup Yes, I was this type of remote worker, selling expensive services while working from the dinner table. I spend a fortune on Coffees and coworking daily passes during the year. I took a step back and started to follow the Instagram Account CalmSetup, and the little geek inside me accepted his pulsion to invest in this setup.
Work from Home Setup, still missing pieces, I will be finished, I hope the 1st of February. 😊
⚡️ Deep Dive into my Content/Media strategy in 2022
Building content is a routine and a constraint that obligates me to be more creative, formalize more ideas and become more social. I don’t want to become an influencer and get money to create content, but I believe in building a product that can reach millions of people, start by doing it with yourself.
I learned faster than anyone the power of the network. When you grew up without any connections, you have to invest more than others. This is why I am building content!
I tried to dedicate between 12 to 16 hours per week to this content creation. When I was focusing on Youtube, it was almost 4 days per week :)
Last year I focused and doubled down on Linkedin and started to invest massively in Youtube
Have fun posting, don’t do it for the likes or business: I had a lot of fun producing posts this year
Talking about Main Stream Subject generate more reach (Africa vs. Growth Marketing)
Controversial posts have a good reach
Reproduce your viral post is a good strategy: My analysis per African Countries
Personal news is still your best post
A short post, just with a picture can perform well
The Senegal community is strong on Linkedin :)
Video is not performing well for the moment
The time you post has a strong impact on your reach
What I will love to try
Repost/Recycle all my successfull post of 2022 in 2023
Continue to share more videos on Linkedin
Produce more posts in Spanish or English
Succeed in talking about Remote Work without generating Virtual Signaling
Talk more about travel and lifestyle
🔴 STATS ABOUT YOUTUBE
Youtube has always been my favorite platform, and I have always wanted to have a Youtube Channel. This is also the most challenging type of content. Speaking alone in front of a camera is not easy. But if I succeed in mastering it, the rest is history 🙂
I was also interested in having a platform where your content “never dies.” If you have a successful video, people will always watch it. For example, 4,000 people have watched my Spendesk Departure video from Last year 🤯
As an entrepreneur, I’m convinced that this channel will be one of the most significant acquisition levels in my next life. I need to understand the code. #LongTermVision.
Number of videos posted: 15
Number of Shorts posted: 31
Number of subscribers: 1,029 🎉
Number of views: 31,6k
💡Learning & Mistakes:
Start small and post a lot
Produce video quickly, less travel, fewer speakers, more selfie content iPhone recording.
Short/Reel are more content viral and gets visibility to your channel
I didn’t find a video format that I love (VLOG + TRAVEL + STARTUPS)
For the interview format, we need to get people who already have visibility and people are interested to see
It’s better to have 300 views where people watch 100% of the video than 10,000 of 5 min
The script of the content of the video has to be aligned with the video
Youtube Analytic during the year, first video uploaded in September.
👍 My Favorite Content consumed this year
📚 My favorite book – The Almanack Of Naval Ravikant: A Guide to Wealth and Happiness
🎥 My favorite documentary – Downfall: The Case Against Boeing (Netflix)
Being back in Mauritius Island – Fall in love about the island in 2018, I made a lot of friends, and it is a paradise. 💜 Manu, MERCI!
Assinie-Mafia Boat Tour with Cédric – One of the most peaceful place I seen in 2022, welcome by the best guest.
Insightful moment with friends – I did my best to create those moments, from Guatapé to Belleville.
Steve McCurry’s exposition in Paris – This is the type of Art I loved, portrait of people inside war countries.
Camping in the Pyréneés – All my family together for 2 days in the mountains, sleeping in tents. A “Madeleine de Proust” feeling
A lot of Golf – I started to Golf, mainly practice, very funny activity. We tried 5/6 different spot this year.
Football Game in Medellin: El Clásico Paisa – You can’t imagine the atmosphere when 2 teams from Medellin are playing agains each others.
My addiction to Karting – Another activities we discovered in 2022, where we spent a little bit too much money. I have to say that Rayan 🇨🇮 was the best driver I’ve faced.
New Year in Providencia 🇨🇴 – This little island in the Caribbean was so peaceful, celebrating with new friends in a paradisiaque beach.
💰 Zoom on my VC Fund - Kara .ventures
Quote from 2021 Review:
“What’s next: Launching my own small fund next year to invest in emerging countries (LATAM + AFRICA).”
2021 was the year where I discovered Angel Investing. I made 19 investments, mainly in Fintech, in France, UK & USA.
Angel investing is an expensive hobby that stimulates you a lot. I’m always addicted to startups; I can spend my Saturday night watching startups on Crunchbase. Difficult to explain why.
After all those investments, I had the feeling that every investment was quite similar, from the founder's background to the Acquisition playbook. So I didn’t feel amazed anymore.
I started to connect & network with startups in the emerging market, particularly Africa, and I was learning new things every day. And to be honest, I was very fascinated by it.
To launch a project, you need to meet the right person, and this is what happened to me in February.
I met with Rena Kakon, a startup lawyer with solid experience in Africa, who wanted to start investing in Africa. It was the perfect match.
We start to connect weekly about this idea of investing together, then create a collective to finally decide to build a fund. Yes, I know having a lawyer as a co-founder is an unfair advantage.
(30 Sec - Start a VC Fund playbook) Here are the different steps we did before our first investment:
We write down these: how much money we will invest, what stage of the company, the average number of tickets, the number of tickets…
We list down why companies will accept our money
We make it very clear how we can support the company
We aligned on the type of investment we wanted to do
We start to connect with a lot of startups, I travel to Senegal and Rena to Kenya to test our thesis of investment in front of a startup.
We started to get interested in startups
We raised money, and even though Rena and myself invested 20% of the fund, we connected with other investors to onboard them in our project.
We incorporate the structure in Delaware: “Invest with Passion LLC” (that was the most expensive & complex part, kudos to Rena).
We continue to connect & reach out to startups. The best startups are not looking for money you need to chase them.
And then, we did it, our first ticket, inside the beautiful Payroll Software: Workpay 🇰🇪
It’s not over; this is just the beginning; a VC Fund needs between 7 to 10 years to be profitable. This is when we will know if yes or not we made money.
We visited 10 countries, interviewed 187 startups, and signed 6 investments. This is Kara Ventures.
As you may understand, I put most of my cash inside Kara Venture, I can’t invest in startups anymore, but I did 4 investments in France 🇫🇷 in 2022. Only in friend startups. Let me present them to you:
🌍 Tocco.earth 🇫🇷 Launched by the talented Baptiste Debever Supplier management platform focused on sustainable sourcing. The company's platform helps in sourcing sustainable products, automating procurement processes, and managing the carbon footprint, enabling clients to reduce sourcing costs and offer better and more affordable products.
🚢 GerCargo.io 🇫🇷 Founded for 2 ex Spendesk, Aurélien & Max CRMs are dead; use your data warehouse. Imagine running your campaign directly from Snowflake. An alternative to customer.io & Braze directly connected from your Data Warehouse.
🕯️ Meterly 🇫🇷 Launched by Lucas Bedout (ex-VP Eng Spendesk)
Solving billing issues of Software companies to allow them to test, iterate and deploy different pricing simultaneously. Finally, a billing software aligned with usage-based pricing.
🪵 Louis.design 🇫🇷 Created by Thomas Devineaux Manufacturer of furniture intended to serve offices, made in France, sustainable, and fully customizable. They make office furniture sustainable that never gets old. Most of Spendesk tables are done by them 🙂
2022 was all about investment, and most of my energy went into it. Let’s talk about my big frustrations in the year.
🤯 Life is also challenging; here are my bad and frustrations during 2022
💼 PROFESSIONALLY
I only have Side-Project, not Long term project that can change my life. Ok, I did a decent amount of money this year. I have been busy working on cool topics that I choose. I succeed in making it happen very fast.
But now that I have this Solopreneur life, I want more. I want to have a business that is bigger than me, that solves one problem of thousands of people, and build a talented team to solve it. I want to build a startup again!
A lot of accounting & URSAFF issues
I made the big mistake of taking an “Online Accountant,” which was not expensive when I created my company in March 2020. It was just a side business. But when this business grew, I just got nightmares and nightmares with the administration. Tax not being paid …
I spent most of 2022 fixing those issues with my new accountant. I still do not understand how VAT collection failed all the time.
It has become normal in France to work with a broken system. We all the time find excuses, like our National Health Care… But the way we’re treated by the administration is unacceptable.
All this shows for not “ticking” the right box in the Qonto settings.
How I managed my business + money I already talked about it, I managed my Solopreneur business like a startup with big ambitions. It took me ages (7 months) to understand that I needed to keep the extreme majority of Cash and not invest it (in the same business).
Not launch a Podcast or Show about Remote Work This is the subject that motivates me the most, and I didn’t produce any content relative to that. I sometimes need to choose who I am. Am I the Growth guy from Spendesk? The crazy Investor in African Startups? Or another Remote Worker?
I need to keep in mind that people remind you for one thing and need to make that thing so obvious.
My inbox EXPLODED (👋 Inbox 0)
I like to reply fast to emails and be super reactive, but in 2022 I failed terribly…
First, my Linkedin became as busy as AirFrance support during a strike, and I didn’t pass the cap to “not reply to people.”
Second, I didn’t prioritize it, for me, “Doing my mail” is an activity when you have nothing else to do. I always find something more “urgent” than INBOX 0.
Third, How do you manage Whatsapp? I just got FULL of messages all the time!
Next year will be different. I want to be better on Whatsapp, Linkedin & Email, have templates to reply to, inbox 0 most of the time, and spend at least 1 hour in my Inbox daily.
I don’t know who my followers are
I reached the cap of 25,000 followers on Linkedin, there are people who have the feeling to know me, but I never heard about them. Here are 2 fun facts.
I went to my bank in the countryside in France (Ariège 09), and the guy at the front desk said: “Oh Jeremy, I follow you on Linkedin..”
More seriously, while traveling in Africa, I interacted with people who followed me and made my life so much easier, giving me a car, connecting me with people, organize trips for us.
I’m sure that behind these 25,000 numbers are my next co-founders, roommates, investors, or best friends.❓ Any tips to know you better?
I didn’t build my Hotel, not enough cash in the bank… I always have in mind to build a Hotel for remote workers, where you can stay 1 month in a luxury apartment and enjoy the common area, pool, podcast studio, coworking, kitchen…
I already find the land in Medellin, where I want to build it.
This project is on hold until I can sell my Spendesk stocks to finance it. Otherwise, I have to convince a private investor, and I’m already raising a VC Fund; I ask too much money this year.
I will love to explore this possibility next year and make it happen.
😇 PERSONALLY
Not launch a side project with Maria, my brother, or my best friend Am I becoming used to having Side projects, right? But I failed in launching a “small one” with someone that I love sincerely outside of work 🙂
We had a bunch of ideas, from the Silent Room for Podcast or Zoom Call in Medellin to a new podcast about travel and work to selling Concrete frames. But nothing goes through.
Not invest in real estate… I learn a lot while buying and renovating my flat in Paris, I’m happy to live in one of the most profitable cities in the world on Airbnb (Medellin 🇨🇴). I need to continue to invest in real estate.
I definitely need to become more friends with Real Estate agents in Colombia.
Create more moments & memories with my family It must always be a frustration. To remind you how important they are to you. I want to continue to make those moments meaningful. Only one goal for next year, more meaningful moments than 2022.
I spend more time with strangers than with my friends. Most of my week I have between 20 to 35 calls from CEOs who raised money to people looking for a new jobs. I spend more time on the phone with “strangers” than my friends.
That may be rational, but I feel sad about it.
In general, I’m a frustrated person, and this is my engine in life. I’m working against frustration, but It always has been the same. It will still be in 2023. (and I have a lot to focus on 😂)
🌎 Places visited
I started 2022, Celebrating from Cuzco in Peru 🇵🇪
Huacachina 🇵🇪
Lima 🇵🇪
Salento 🇨🇴
Medellin 🇨🇴
Curaçao 🇨🇼 - to celebrate my 27 birthday 🎂
Ibagué 🇨🇴
Medellin 🇨🇴
17 February - Moving back to France 🇫🇷
Toulouse 🇫🇷
Paris 🇫🇷
Rennes + Mont Saint-Michel 🇫🇷
Copenhagen 🇩🇰
Paris 🇫🇷
Etretat 🇫🇷
Porto 🇵🇹
Paris 🇫🇷
Dakar 🇸🇳
Sally 🇸🇳
Sine Saloum 🇸🇳
Dubrovnik 🇭🇷
Split 🇭🇷
Hvar 🇭🇷
Paris 🇫🇷
Mauricius Island 🇲🇺
Paris 🇫🇷
Toulouse 🇫🇷
Medellin 🇨🇴
Ibagué 🇨🇴
Medellin 🇨🇴
Bogota 🇨🇴
Guatapé 🇨🇴
Paris 🇫🇷
Accra 🇬🇭
Lagos 🇳🇬 (The city I was the most surprised in 2022)
Accra 🇬🇭
Sao Tomé and Principe 🇸🇹
Accra 🇬🇭
Abidjan 🇨🇮
Asinie 🇨🇮
Accra 🇬🇭
Paris 🇫🇷
Toulouse 🇫🇷
Medellin 🇨🇴
Bogota 🇨🇴
Medellin 🇨🇴
Ibagué 🇨🇴
Medellin 🇨🇴
San Andres 🇨🇴
Providencia 🇨🇴 🏝️ to celebrate the end of the year in Paradise.
🎯 What are my goals for 2023?
Don’t tell people what you will do. Show them what you did! See you next year :)
But wait a moment, I know what I want for next year:
I want to spend more time in the same place and have a better routine
I will speak less and ask more questions
I want to have a BIG PROJECT on top of my current side project, where I allocate most of my time and energy for the following years.
It’s mean I want to build or join a very early-stage startup with strong ambition
I want to optimize my Fiscal & Tax setup
I want to spend more time with my family and friends
I want to interview 10 Celebrities that I admire for my Youtube Channel
I want to climb a summit higher than the Mont Blanc
I want to own another Real Estate Property
I want to dive deep into Meditation technics and breathing tricks
And I will continue to take risks, documents and share them.
2023 = 365 days; how will you use them?
From Providencia 🇨🇴 with determination for 2023.
Jérémy.
That’s all for this year!
If you enjoyed this year’s review, hit reply and let me know. I love hearing from you!
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