1. Benoit, who are you?
I’m French, dad of 2 and co-entrepreneur with my wife since 2005. The first company was a social network for travelers. The second one was a marketplace dedicated to cheap translation and the current one, Worders, is still in the translation business but this time with a very strong focus on quality. Oh, and I forgot one point. Before those online adventures, I was glass blower and trust me, there is a long road between glass in fusion and a Macbook pro ;-)
2. Why have you expanded in South East Asia?
My deep relation with SEA comes from a personal experience. When we sold the 2nd company, we decided to try a new family adventure on the other side of earth in South East Asia. Everything started from this point. The 3rd company has been created at this moment and our first customers was SEA based. Since then, we kept an eye on this booming part of the world.
3. What is your main advice for a company expanding in South East Asia?
If you want to do business in SEA, you have to move in SEA. You can’t understand how it works if you stay in your office in Europe or in the US. Everything is different in SEA. From philosophy to habits, your targeted audiences are way different than any other ones on earth.
4. Could you explain the role of your lawyer(s) in this expansion?
A good lawyer is almost as important as a good VC for a fast-growing company. There is plenty of reasons for a company to crash out of the business itself. When you know that you take your decision based on a reliable legal advice, you are sure to avoid a large part of stupid and expensive mistakes.
