Owen Simonin: from YouTuber to Start-up entrepreneur

Owen Simonin, (EDHEC Intl BBA, 2019) is just 22 years old and, having started out as a YouTuber, is already the head of a company that sells and leases information tools.

Here’s a look back at his exceptional career so far.

EDHEC ALUMNI: TELL US ABOUT YOUR PROJECT. HOW DID IT COME ABOUT?

Owen Simonin: I’ve always been on the lookout for good deals online and I’ve always been a fan of technology. In my first year at EDHEC, I came up with the idea of setting up a YouTube channel which I would use to introduce the most complex and promising technologiesI had discovered to the wider public. At a time when I only had 5000 subscribers, I advised the community to invest heavily in crypto currencies, and one in particular that I really believed in: Ether.

A few weeks after giving that advice, which, looking back, was actually inconsistent at the time, Ether’s value had gone from €4 each to more than €1200 by the end of 2017. By then I had my first Business Angels and a core group of subscribers who had the means to help me go further.

Just-Mining was the result of a request by that community on you Tube. I arrived on the Blockchain and crypto currency markets at a time when there weren’t any serious players. People were looking for simple (turnkey) solutions, but also and above all someone they could trust. I managed to combine the two and it all took off from there.

EA: WHAT DRIVES YOUR MOTIVATION IN THIS ENTREPRENEURIAL ADVENTURE?

OS: What I love in entrepreneurship is all the interpersonal exchanges, the fact that you have to maintain all these different relationships (staff, clients, suppliers, investors, etc.), relationships which are all different and have distinct objectives but can make a positive contribution to the business structure and the way you interact with your environment. It is by refining all of these relationships and exchanges that one really secures the long-term survival of a business, and I find that fascinating. It is in this world that I learn the most. It was on the path to entrepreneurship that I had the opportunity to meet the most brilliant people in my network: people who have – or find – solutions. I feel like I am growing and maturing more quickly. My capacity for production, my management and decision-making, but also all of these different encounters, are becoming increasingly relevant with time. I wouldn’t be able to put into words what is going through my mind as I write these lines, but the most tangible notion I can communicate is this: “I feel as though I am constantly changing scales”.

EA: HOW HAS YOUR EXPERIENCE AT EDHEC OR WITH THE NETWORK OF GRADUATES HELPED YOU ACHIEVE THIS PROJECT? 

OS: To be honest, it all happened very quickly. The biggest contribution EDHEC made was the education I received during my first two full years and the semester I spent at the University of Dayton (exchange programme). As a matter of fact, that exchange was one of the director’s conditions for allowing me to follow my own path. One of my close friends and now business associate is none other than my former partner at EDHEC Junior Consulting. My closest friends, and especially those able to keep up with, measure and understand the pace at which I do things, all come from EDHEC. In reality, the network I acquired through EDHEC, my education and also the associations I was involved in are all foundations for the robust knowledge that I capitalised on to sustain these levels of growth.

Crédit : Just Mining

EA: WHAT IS YOUR INITIAL ASSESSMENT OF THIS ENTREPRENEURIAL ADVENTURE? DO YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE FOR OTHERS FROM EDHEC LOOKING TO BECOME ENTREPRENEURS?

OS: First I would say that this adventure has exceeded the most arrogant dreams I had back then. Seven business entities across four different sectors (Blockchain, Artificial intelligence, Real estate and Textiles), a combined staff team of 40 and several million euros of revenue with exports to nearly 100 countries.

And even with all these achievements, I don’t really think I’m in a position to answer you and give advice on entrepreneurship, at least not yet. Although if I had a message to give to myself as a young first-year three years ago, I would say this:

• Surround yourself with the best people from the outset, even if every euro seems like an extravagant expense.
• Before giving everything up to pursue your dream, quantify the “demand”. Even if you’re not ready, even if you don’t have a team or even any real idea of “how to start and rise up”: if there is demand for your product, there will always be a line pulling you forward. The rest will fall into place as you work ever harder. You need that line if you’re hesitating to abandon everything and take the plunge. That’s the only thing I have never lacked since the beginning, and I make the most of that to prepare intelligently for when it does happen.
• Usually you still haven’t understood the importance of human resources at that early stage. Understand that people will be your biggest strength, but also your worst enemies. And that recognition can come in the form of a salary. And also that the most important thing is not knowing who is no good, but rather who is good. And how to work with them.
• Quick money can be made. But there is no such thing as easy money. So even if you become scalable and turn out large volumes, there will always be matching efforts to be made to achieve that. Very often you have to sweat it out and endure sleepless nights, but the more you advance the easier it will become. The first acceleration is the hardest. It’s about more than being the “most active”; you must quickly become “proactive”.
• Don’t let people who’ve never achieved anything tell you “what they would have done” in your place.

I still get embarrassed every day when I discover wonderful tools and learn certain things, thinking to myself: “how have I managed 3 years without knowing that?!” In any case, this is just the beginning. So learn quickly, very quickly.

EA: WHAT’S NEXT FOR YOUR BUSINESS? WHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS FROM THE COMMUNITY OF EDHEC GRADUATES? 

OS: Today and since day one, our business runs on self-financing and doesn’t need any more resources, which is why we have never opened up our capital to investors. However, we are about to step up a gear once again. This is an acceleration that will require support not with financing but from mature business associates with networks that extend beyond France. We are building a team with senior members, which is something we can now afford.

I want to develop Just Mining as much as possible. I’m proud of what we have achieved so far, but when you look back at the journey, you think that the potential is vast. My objective is for Just Mining to serve as the reference for anyone wishing to invest in blockchains; we should be the obvious choice. At the same time, we are working on our international development, as the model we put in place in France can be duplicated in many other countries. The next phase will target North America and Africa.

MORE INFORMATION

Owen has pitches on blockchain technologies on BFM and TEDx:

BFM Business

Source: https://bfmbusiness.bfmtv.com

TEDxUniversitéLyon3

Website: https://www.just-mining.com/

YouTube: Hasheur

Twitter: @PowerHasheur

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