Laurent Lefebvre (EDHEC Master 2004), co-founder of HelloCSE, tells us about his company and his role at Club Entreprendre

Tell us about your career since EDHEC.

After EDHEC and some time with Arthur Andersen (EY), I started out in corporate banking working on mergers & acquisitions. For 15 years I had the chance to advise many top executives and investment funds on their strategy and long-term projects. It was an enriching experience with a total of more than 40 transactions completed and interactions with nearly 1000 businesses! 

Tell us how your business came about.

In 2017, I visited my works committee’s website for the first time, which was managed by ProwebCE/Meyclub, to buy some cinema tickets. It was a website straight out of the 90s with bugs on every page, and I wasn’t able to complete my first order. So I thought to myself, in 2017 employees deserve better than an ancient platform where none of them can find what they’re looking for. After discussions with elected members of the Social and Economic Committee (CSE in French), there was real demand for a new player, and above all for innovative solutions that could help employees on a daily basis. HelloCSE was born. 

What’s your business model?

First of all, we offer licences to CSEs for SaaS solutions allowing them to manage all of their tasks and missions: employee benefit platforms, communication website, managing social and cultural activities (subsidies, money pools, reimbursements). This is available across all media, including our dedicated mobile app HelloCSE. A new offer was released at the start of 2020 with our electronic gift tokens – another market that was behind the times – which have been a huge success, with more than 50,000 e-tokens distributed in the first year. And we have a marketplace with more than 100,000 preferential electronic offers which also generate a source of revenue, as well as all our one-off services for CSEs, such as training, communication or customised travel arrangements.

What does your business look like now (key figures, values, commitments)?

In 3 years, HelloCSE has earned the trust of +650 CSEs with more than 200,000 employees using its benefits platform. Elected CSE members were quick to take up our simple and high-quality digital solutions with enthusiasm. Our service approach has also been a key element and a central expectation of our clients. COVID has sped up the digitalisation of CSEs with extremely high demand since March 2020. We are now fortunate enough to be recognised as the reference player in the market for CSE solutions, and we were even chosen by BPI France as an expert in CSE digitalisation in France. Our commitments are threefold: quality, service and innovation.

What have been your finest successes?

 My first success was to team up with my two associates and friends. Entrepreneurship is a human adventure that is above all about the people you meet, taking on talented people and the exchanges it generates. The second is successfully shaking up a sector dominated by 3 big players, and in just 3 years developing a new competitive offer ahead of our competitors. Lastly, my third success is sharing the experiences of others! I have supported and met with more than 150 entrepreneurs over the last two or three years, particularly through the EDHEC club. Every discussion or encounter is an enjoyable moment where I can help others and learn.

What advice do you have for current or future entrepreneurs from EDHEC?

The first piece of advice is to quickly test your clients’ reactions. Waiting for the perfect version is not a strategy that works. The second piece of advice is to build up profitable business models, because too many start-ups nowadays find themselves perpetually fundraising with models that will become profitable in 5 years if everything works out ... Under that approach, only a few will make it, maybe 5 to 10%. The culture of profitability has disappeared in favour of growth. But loss-making growth can’t be a solid foundation over time. The last thing I would say is to surround yourself with the right people, because this is an adventure with ups and downs. Good associates, colleagues or advisers will help you overcome each obstacle. It always comes back to the human dimension, which is essential!

You’re an ambassador for Club Entreprendre, tell us about your role.

It’s first and foremost about maintaining EDHEC’s dynamic entrepreneurial fabric. But it also involves acting as a bridge between EDHEC and alumni in coordination with Martin Barbier’s team. Finally, it’s a tangible role in which I need to take the time to listen, share and support EDHEC students, graduates and projects. 

What’s this club’s purpose?

Our mission is to serve as an umbrella structure for entrepreneurship at EDHEC, which means linking up the different structures (EDHEC, EDHEC Alumni and the EDHEC Incubator). We then bring together all of the dynamic forces within the EDHEC ecosystem interested in entrepreneurship to exchange views, help and support projects, whether new or already in development. For example, we organise entrepreneurial breakfasts, pitching sessions and theme-specific events on the EDHEC campus in Paris (and remotely since COVID). A WhatsApp entrepreneurs group was also set up, as well as an “experienced entrepreneurs” group to publicise some of the wonderful projects developed by EDHEC graduates and encourage mutual support.  

Why do you think it is important to share and talk to others when you’re an entrepreneur?

Because sharing your experience is a driver of growth for anyone willing to listen. We can all learn to develop the right reflexes or avoid errors when we talk to others. But listening doesn’t necessarily imply putting into practice. Everyone is free to select the advice that matches their own vision of business, the characteristics of their specific project and their values. 

What would you say to those who don’t know the club but might be interested?

Club Entreprendre is an opportunity that can benefit the whole EDHEC network. It’s a link between all of the different EDHEC ecosystems as well as the external ecosystem based on the experience of its members. The club is also for anyone who’s just curious. You’re not born an entrepreneur, you become one.