Meet Mathieu Genty
Who is Mathieu?
Mathieu is a successful self-taught man. As school was not for him, he left it at the age of 16. He worked for many associations as an organizer and then as director. After several years he learned how to code and built an IT company. He bought his first laptop with his first contract… Today, Mathieu has many activities and a lot of projects for non-technological innovations.
Mathieu speaks about his experience in Grenoble.
Grenoble, July, Cowork in Grenoble space, 04:30 p.m.
"I became a restaurateur the day I bought a restaurant"
Mathieu cannot be pinpointed in a specific business sector, because he is very versatile. He became who he is now by achievement. And he is currently:
Restaurateur 3 days / week, and offer homemade products to his customers.
President of the association “Jardins du monde montagnes”, an NGO about people, plants and mountains.
Founder of the co-working space and entrepreneur community named Cowork in Grenoble which brings around 600 people per years from different backgrounds. 10 to 20 people work there everyday.
Founder of “Le Phare”, a start-up accelerator.
Founder of a new type of school of entrepreneurship.
And Mathieu has still a lot of ideas and projects…
"In Grenoble, there is a lot to do for non-technological innovations"
Mathieu moved in Grenoble for personal reasons. He noticed that in Grenoble innovation means R&D and technology. The city is driven by universities, big companies, public laboratories and technological innovations. There were not enough third places for non-technological innovations. That is why he created Cowork in Grenoble and Le Phare to offer help and tools for that kind of entrepreneurs. Mathieu thinks there is still a lot to do for non-technological innovation in Grenoble.
"We should not follow the Silicon Valley model but we have to create our own"
For Mathieu, people in Grenoble try to imitate a Silicon Valley they don’t know well. We should not create a new Silicon Valley with American standards but we have to develop our own ecosystem adapted to Grenoble and today’s challenges. We need to find new solutions and new tools. And Mathieu has some ideas…
How to meet Mathieu and entrepreneurs in Grenoble?
Go to “entrepreneur apero”, each first Thursday in café de la table ronde in Grenoble
Go to “apero pitch”, each third Thursday in Cowork In Grenoble
Visit the Cowork in Grenoble space
