[SUMMER SERIES] Anne-Laure Constanza: dialogue with a seasoned entrepreneur

Continuation of my dialogues with experienced entrepreneurs, dedicated for this end of summer to a population that is unfortunately too rare: women entrepreneurs.

I am pleased to talk today with Anne-Laure Constanza, the founder and president of Envie de fraise, a maternity clothing brand sold to MK Direct in 2017. We had never had the pleasure to meet us in our entrepreneurial wanderings, but our circles of acquaintances have overlapped many times over the past few years. By forcing fate a little, I had the chance to talk with this brilliant entrepreneur (Kitesurfer too). You probably know her for having, in 2011, arrested the first lady when she was pregnant, but that is not her only stunt.

In the looming crisis, it is "super-distrust" that worries Anne-Laure Constanza the most:

For a starting entrepreneur? "It's a good time! I lived ten years in China, I am familiar with the notion of "WeiJi", crisis in Chinese: the "Wei" means risk and the "Ji" the opportunity. The crisis is often synonymous with opportunities: new needs, less competition, lower costs, etc. A very large number of global groups were created during the crises, but also the SARS epidemic in China in 2003 gave rise to or accelerated the biggest groups in Chinese Tech. We have to be frugal: this crisis forces us to start on the healthiest possible bases: reduced costs, maximum efficiency... We have never been so daring, inventive and good as when we is a little stiff in treso, believe me!"

What about your sector at the moment? "Without hesitation Edtech. Nothing more important than education. "Education is the most powerful weapon to change the world" said Mandela.

Read also: The Edtech of Nouvelle-Aquitaine invests the CES

And here again Anne-Laure Constanza draws a parallel with China. "We must learn the lessons of this crisis and invest solidly. During the crisis, in China (and this is a paradox), all students had access to a resource platform and live classes on twelve subjects. But the China invests 3 to 4 billion / year when France invests 90 million..."

And to revive the teams, what is your advice? "Communicate communicate communicate and tell the truth! Nothing is more anxiety-provoking for teams not to know. So total transparency on the figures, the impacts of the crisis for the company and on the reality of the challenges to be accomplished. The common challenge will be raising the bar and betting on transparency is the best way to unite teams and engage them Completely review the relationship with your team: organize a listening room and take stock of what worked and what needs to be improved improve, create a new way of collaborating remotely, plan rituals, celebrate small successes. Define a shorter term vision, we are more than ever in a world where volatility and uncertainty reign, so we must forget the course, move forward in stages, set yourself intermediate stages like when you climb a mountain, and celebrate small successes to commit: The key is to make the best decisions, day by day, according to the visibility that you have in the moment T. Finally, make the choice of optimism! Not naïve optimism of course, but in the storm everyone looks at the captain..."

For the recovery, are we all aligned? “I also believe more in a K-curve. Unfortunately, the recovery will not be for everyone right away. The pre-Covid period had already revealed the weaknesses of certain models or sectors and the success of other models or those who had already operated a beginning of transformation. The Covid is an accelerator of this trend, but with a much more drastic selection than before, in the Darwinian sense of the term! With, on the one hand, those whose crisis will accelerate growth because they meet new needs (e-commerce, gaming, tele-medicine, e-learning, etc.) and those who used more traditional models but who adapted super quickly, who have often re-shaped their organization to hold up, and who will come out of it thanks to their ability to question themselves and their agility, their ability to decide quickly. On the other side, there are companies in sectors that the crisis will permanently affect or those who have not been able to adapt..."

A way of also saying that you have to raise your head and look outside at what is looming!

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