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Sweat,Tears and Equity
Welcome to Sweat, Tears and Equity, a podcast by Fortech Investments, where we discuss the untold truths of founding and funding start-ups. Our guests are founders, investors, and other players from the ecosystem who learned these valuable lessons the hard way. They share the things they wish they knew earlier about the challenges that lie in this journey, the things that no one prepared them for, so you and other founders can navigate this bumpy road successfully.
Sweat,Tears and Equity
Ep.06-"You need to be a bit crazy to be an entrepreneur"-Grégoire Vigroux, Serial Founder & Investor
In the 6th episode of "Sweat, Tears and Equity" our host, Sorin Badulescu, sat down with Gregoire Vigroux, a French serial entrepreneur who has been building businesses in Romania since 2006. With multiple successful exits under his belt, including the sale of CallPoint (1000+ employees) to Telus International and Fenix.eco to Recommerce after just 14 months, Gregoire brings tons of experience in scaling and selling companies. As the founder of Beyond Business School and a prominent voice in the Romanian startup ecosystem, he combines his entrepreneurial journey with education to address the gaps he's observed in the local business environment.
In this episode, Gregoire discusses:
👉 Why entrepreneurship is a "gigantic graveyard" and what it takes to survive
👉 The stark reality of burnout in the business world and his personal six-month recovery
👉 Why Romanian professionals excel at problem-solving but struggle with sales and risk-taking
👉 The counterintuitive approach of befriending competitors and planning exits before launch
👉 The importance of family support and mental health in the entrepreneurial journey
👉 His unique perspective on the Romanian business ecosystem after 17 years in the market