Delving into entrepreneurship at HEC Paris with François Marie (H.15) from the start-up Workiz
Interview with a young entrepreneur, François Marie, whose startup Workiz is part of the HEC incubator.
Workiz.com speeds up business development thanks to its student network.
I am one of the co-founders of Workiz.com, a platform that enables businesses to strengthen their workforce and accelerate their growth, through paying students upon achievement of the business’ pre-defined objectives.
Each one of the businesses specify the fundamental business objectives that they wish to be achieved by the students (a sale, obtaining a meeting, a made to measure prospecting file), and the compensation if they are successful. The student who accepts the assignment is then paid if, and only if, he manages to attain the goal. Therefore, businesses can grow and expand into new fields, thanks to an exceptional sales network spread all throughout France.
Today, Workiz is made up of 2500 students, 1420 assignments posted and more than 280 client businesses.
An idea that blossomed in 1st year of the Grande Ecole program
An idea that blossomed in 1st year of the Grande Ecole program
The Workiz concept dates back to my 1st year at HEC. The classes and different programs offered by the school allowed me to gradually train in entrepreneurship until the creation of the Workiz company.
The first stage, the E-commerce academy, organized by HEC for its M1 students: an intensive program leading to the creation of an operational E-commerce website, a strategy and a SEO plan in order to market an innovative product within three weeks, with the help of a web designer and a developer from Epitech. At this point, I realized how important learning to code was to be able to understand issues related to the web, the constraints; over the next four years, I learned how to code so that I could speak this language with my team and quickly take action on the web pages.
The FACT INNOV program then allowed me to, for a period of 4 months, mix with the Mybee team (today known as PayinTech), the European leader in ‘cashless’ systems in the leisure and tourism industries. While studying, it was both inspiring and practical to also be alongside entrepreneurs launching new products and developing their businesses.
Finally, it was in the student association, HEC International Society, that I could put into practice the management and entrepreneurship classes taught at HEC. I helped to organize dozens of events throughout the year to welcome international students on the campus.
The last highlight of my entrepreneurial path at HEC is the Entrepreneurs Major. In a very real way, the classes as well as the different assignments enable students to work alongside entrepreneurs on different issues (creation, takeover, corporate recovery), to develop a business plan and executive summaries…An exercise which will become habitual in proving the viability of the concept, communicating with investors, participating in different competitions and thus launching the business.
Speeding up its development
A launch made possible thanks to the HEC incubator which provides high-impact support at a time when the business is still vulnerable: free premises to work in teams, to mix with other entrepreneurs on a daily basis and learn together; mentorship, expert interventions on various issues, etc. Today, it is this support that now helps us to improve our service, strengthen the team and speed up our development at national level.