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Pierre is a former pro athlete, father, well-being advocate, and multicultural expert. With both consultancy and startup experience and having lived on four continents, he has a wealth of first-hand insights into the struggles of being an entrepreneur from a multicultural perspective. We discuss the lessons and other endeavors that have given him energy over the years. Enjoy this episode!
Below is a NotebookLM-generated summary (script downloaded from Substack and uploaded to NotebookLM). At the end, you can also find links to the YouTube episode. Pierre urges everyone to seek an opportunity to learn more about the African market if and when given the chance. In the end, you’ll find some insights and reflections on how we thought our discussion went.
If you need a shorter audio summary, here’s a NotebookLM-generated one. (No significant hallucinations, the name of the company is wrong, and an extracted analogy was arguably misinterpreted)
AI-Summary of Just Thoughts Podcast #5 - Giving back, but receiving more in return.
Briefing Doc: Conversation with Pierre Jallow, Co-Founder and CEO of Remode
Source: Transcript of an interview with Pierre Jallow by Nicolas Dolenc for the "Just Thoughts" series.
Date: October 31, 2024
Main Themes:
Entrepreneurial journey and learnings: Pierre emphasizes the importance of patience and grit in entrepreneurship, especially in a world where quick wins are often prioritized. He argues that "failing fast" shouldn't mean abandoning a vision but rather iterating on approaches to achieve it. He draws parallels with lessons learned in his basketball career, where resilience and focus are crucial.
Well-being and bridging gaps: Reflecting on his previous venture, WeBridge, Pierre discusses his passion for well-being and bridging the gap between personal and professional lives. WeBridge aimed to provide corporate well-being solutions focused on individual needs and company goals. While the venture ultimately ceased due to timing and market challenges, Pierre believes that the core idea remains relevant, particularly post-pandemic.
Giving back and learning from youth: Pierre shares his experience organizing basketball camps in Gambia for over a decade. Initially driven by a desire to give back, he found the experience enriching, highlighting the untapped potential and wisdom of the youth. This experience fueled his passion for connecting Europe and Africa and dispelling misconceptions about the continent.
Remote's mission and impact: Pierre introduces Remote, his current company, which focuses on facilitating market entry for European companies into Africa and vice versa. The company goes beyond traditional consultancy, engaging in feasibility studies, partner identification, and even creating spin-offs of successful European companies in Africa. They also support fundraising efforts for African scale-ups, SMEs, and VCs. Remote embodies a win-win philosophy, emphasizing collaboration and partnership over a one-sided approach.
The untapped potential of the African market: Pierre highlights the often-overlooked growth potential of the African market, comparing it to the trajectory of Southeast Asia in recent years. He urges the audience to be more curious about the opportunities in Africa, to connect with experts like himself and his team at Remote, and to challenge pre-conceived notions about the continent.
Key Quotes:
On patience and grit in entrepreneurship: "So if you try something and it doesn't work, sometimes we give up way too easily on that process... There has to be this good balance of balance, trying something and knowing when to stop, but then also pushing, you know, to that point where you really have tried everything."
On the lessons learned from WeBridge: “Personally, I would think that maybe right around now, right after the pandemic, when these issues are really front and center on everybody's minds...How do you make these employees' well-being not only fit the entire team, but then how do you make it fit for these individuals?”
On the rewarding experience of working with youth: “I always remember that I went with this idea that, oh, I'm giving back. And then I left this thing that I gained even more than I expected... Interacting with those kids, understanding how different they are coming from different parts of the country and still learning from them was a major turning point in my life.”
On Remote's approach to connecting Europe and Africa: “So, so our whole idea is how do we create win-win relationships? And it's not, it's not an idea of we've created this, uh, use it as is, but it's how do we work together? How do we cooperate to make this product on a long-term or service on a long-term basis, even more valuable.”
On the call to action for the audience: "My only ask is to be a bit more curious to find out what opportunities are there. Ask the right people who can give you answers. And if you don't know who the right people are, it's PJ and Remode.”
Key Facts:
Pierre is a serial entrepreneur with experience in well-being solutions, youth development, and market entry consulting.
Remote is a growing company with a diverse team spread across Europe and Africa.
Remote specializes in connecting European businesses with the African market, focusing on win-win collaborations.
Pierre is passionate about dispelling misconceptions about the African market and highlighting its vast untapped potential.
Business Challenge: Pierre seeks to increase awareness and visibility of the opportunities in the African market. He calls for greater curiosity and a willingness to engage with experts to explore the potential for growth and collaboration.
Reflections
We thought we could’ve dwelled on leadership, not just entrepreneurship, and PJ remarked that I should tie back comments to highlight my experiences one way or the other, such as by highlighting my skills more. After the recording, we ended up discussing team dynamics, which laid the foundation for something I could cover in future Just Thoughts content, as I’ve done a few workshops on what effective teams look like by using my Leadership Framework (described in Just Thoughts #23 and #24) and combining it with thoughts from Patrick Lencion’s the five dysfunctions of teams.
Listening to the recording (also on Youtube here), we have a plodding communication style with PJ. We spend a lot of time thinking about how we want to express ourselves, whereas in other conversations, the back-and-forth may be a lot faster. The pondering nature of our discussion isn’t unique; instead, it’s a consequence of multicultural awareness and a desire not to be wrongly interpreted. Words cut deep.
Here’s one of the pictures we looked at during the episode, taken at Maki.vc, Lightspeed, and Atomico part at Slush 2022. From the left, Pierre, Lars Lydersen (VC at Futurum VC), and my partner Rosalie are wearing a Singa T-shirt (I worked with Singa at the time), and I with a Gubbe T-shirt (she worked at Gubbe). Good times!
Until the next podcast! Next week, we’ll have Ashish Mohite, CTO and co-founder of Hyperion Robotics, discussing entrepreneurship in a foreign country and what it’s like to be an entrepreneur in the construction industry.
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