IÉSEG Network’s Entrepreneurs Club, the community of IÉSEG entrepreneurs
04/27/2022
Within IÉSEG Network, the IÉSEG Alumni Association, the professional clubs are places for exchange, networking, discovery and even collaboration, bringing together members of the IÉSEG community around a sector of activity (Real Estate, Finance, Digital Marketing & Innovation…) or a center of interest (CSR, Lead.her…).
We met Nicolas MAIRE, co-founder of the “Entrepreneurs” Club and entrepreneur himself (Ekinnox, a start-up that aims to help therapists and their patients to improve the rehabilitation process), so that he could tell us a little more about this professional club dedicated to entrepreneurs.
Can you introduce us to the Entrepreneurs Club and what it consists of?
The IÉSEG Network Entrepreneurs’ Club was launched a year and a half ago, in the summer of 2020, under the initiative of Théo Robache, a graduate from IÉSEG and an entrepreneur at heart, who asked entrepreneurs who had graduated from IÉSEG whether such an initiative might be of interest. He approached Antoine Elias and myself, and we launched the Club together. Today, we have more than 350 members. The objective of this Club is multiple. First of all, we realized that many entrepreneurs had studied at IÉSEG but that few of them knew each other. There was a lack of connection, and we sought to create this missing link in order to create synergies and common interests and to bring about possible collaborations between us. We also want to emphasize the idea of sharing: the more experienced ones who have already gone through certain challenges share their experience with those who are just starting out. Finally, our third objective is to build bridges with IÉSEG students who want to create their own business.
The idea of the Club is thus to bring to life this network of IÉSEG alumni who have started or wish to develop their business.
How did you manage to build the Club in the midst of the pandemic?
We relied mainly on online events. We held webinars on “How to create an impactful pitch” and “Being a Business Angel”, as well as a speed dating session to allow entrepreneurs to meet each other easily. Since then, we have also held our first physical event: an aperitif in Paris that brought together about 20 people, with the aim of continuing this type of event and proposing new ones very soon. We work a lot with IÉSEG Network which provides us with creative ideas. Our next event will consist of a simultaneous aperitif in several cities in France (Paris, Bordeaux, Nice, Lyon…), we are currently thinking about a date for this one.
How can we join the Club as a graduate, student or staff member?
All you have to do is apply for membership on the LinkedIn group and answer a few questions so that the Club can fully understand and identify the motivations of each applicant. To date, we have about 50 applications pending. In addition, we would like to expand the team by integrating new profiles to help us in the management of the Club and the organization of events.
The “Entrepreneurs” Club, which aims to bring together all of IÉSEG’s entrepreneurs, is the logical continuation for graduates of all that the School offers to its entrepreneurial students. The entrepreneurial spirit is indeed everywhere at IÉSEG, whether through its programs (entrepreneurship major in the Grande École Program, Master in Entrepreneurship & Innovation in partnership with Loughborough), its teaching (Créenso module, “Projet de Création d’Entreprise“…), its Incubator and its student associations (How I Met Your Start-Up, Enactus or Impact Makers) dedicated to entrepreneurship.