SAVVY YOUTH: Adriana, you define yourself as an "entrepreneur(ette)". What is an entrepreneur for you?

Adriana Vecc: I like the following definition: "Someone who pursues an opportunity beyond the resources he or she currently controls"

SAVVY YOUTH: That's a nice one!

 

Adriana: Indeed, an entrepreneur to me is not only someone who starts a business, but someone

who's constantly on the hunt for opportunities, for ways to improve our life and then takes action.

We all complain about small things, entrepreneurs decide to go further.

"Beyond the resources they control" because they do not see difficulties as obstacles that stop them, but as other opportunities.

 

SAVVY YOUTH: Talking about resources and obstacles; what is your experience? Have you, as an entrepreneur, started off a business? What where your difficulties and obstacles to overcome, and most importantly HOW did you overcome them?

Adriana: One of my first "entrepreneurial" experiences dates back to 2003 or 2004... I was a teenager then.  With a group of friends, we had prepared a play for the school. As the play was made for teenagers, it contained many rude words and tackled embarrassing issues that made some teachers blush... and banned the play. We did it anyway in the school's main room, giving out flyers to friends to advertise the play so our teachers wouldn’t find out. I think like 60 people came, even one of our teachers who supported the initiative - people enjoyed the gross, immature humor.

We wanted to do a sequel of the play but the teachers found out and went mad. A member of the cast got expelled and we stopped the adventure there.

But, to come back to entrepreneurship, we spotted an opportunity:  we faced obstacles and overcame them (such as the administration) and we got people to come by word-of-mouth. I wish we would have social media at that time; it would have helped a lot!

 

SAVVY YOUTH: True! We tend to forget that social media hasn't been around so long.

Adriana: And we learned a lesson: when you do what you love, you are not afraid. We did not care that much to go against the teachers' ban, we knew we would have a lot of fun.

SAVVY YOUTH: Fantastic; follow your passion. That's what we like ;)

 

Adriana: This is a very anecdotal story, but it meant a lot to me. It was probably the first time I did something

truly personal.  It was not to prove anything to anybody, therefore I felt I had total freedom, and creativity was

flowing within the group.

 

Otherwise, I started a business last year with friends.

 

SAVVY YOUTH: What was it? How did you come up with the idea?

Adriana: The idea was not mine, but I loved it and the team. It was to distribute cute, sexy, customizable electric motorbike in Paris for less than 1000€. Electric motorbikes look ugly today, let's face it, and on top of that, they are expensive.

SAVVY YOUTH: So how did you start this idea off?

Adriana: The idea came from one of our friends who lived in Shanghai. Such scooters already exist there. The idea was to import them and adapt them to the French market... that's how La Petite Charlotte is born.

We pitched it for the ESCP Europe start-up week-end and won the first prize!

SAVVY YOUTH: CONGRATULATIONS! Import them and adapt them? Wow. And how did you do that? Any difficulties encountered then?

Adriana: (Hahah) Thanks. First we would import the product as is. We would think of many possible adaptions later on (customization, for example). We wanted some traction first, test the product and receive feedback from users.

 

SAVVY YOUTH: And what about funding?

Adriana: Only us, friends and family. We wanted to auto-fund the first tries to have a tested and solid project before raising any money from VCs , etc.

But now the project is on sleep mode.

SAVVY YOUTH: How come?

Adriana: The timing isn’t right for some of the team members… and timing is key. But the project is certainly not dead, we just have to figure out what we want first.

SAVVY YOUTH: So far, as I understood, you just tested the product, correct? How was the feedback?  What is the next step?

Adriana: the product was fully tested by the French community in Shanghai ;) Everybody has one there, that's how we figure it would work in France. It's cheap, it's cute, it's convenient, it gives you more freedom than relying on public transports. It’s perfect for students and young professionals!

 

SAVVY YOUTH: How about competition?

Adriana: Ah, competition is a difficult point. First, barriers to entry are low, any car or motorbike company could have started a similar venture with few funds, and faster and better than us. We met two teams with very close projects, which  shows how important eco-friendly transportation is today. I guess the key is to be very fast and exploit the first-mover advantage, then build a strong brand to retain customers.

 

SAVVY YOUTH: So what are your hopes for the company?

Adriana: Hard to say as I stepped out! But I believe this is a very strong idea, and other start-ups will blossom in that field.

 

SAVVY YOUTH: Why did you step out? What are your personal career plans for the future? :)

Adriana: Timing, as I said. I had signed up for an exchange program abroad with my university, and i did not want to miss that opportunity. I have still many things to discover and do not want to shut some doors yet. I would like to discover a new city, new business areas, but I know i have a passion for web technologies and luxury - I am thinking very hard on how to conceal both!

 

SAVVY YOUTH: Well then, one final question for you Adriana; What advice would you give to entrepreneurs (or future entrepreneurs) that want to, like you, turn their ideas into something concrete?

Adriana: Well, since I am still very young, with a lot to learn I would rather give advice following what my guts tell me, rather than based on my experience.

The advice would be: don't keep your ideas to yourself; tell them, share them, confront them, test them. Don't be afraid to start super small. That’s how you’ll find out how to make them grow.

 

SAVVY YOUTH: Fantastic! Thank you so much for your time, Adriana.

Adriana: You're welcome, thank you for giving me this opportunity :)