Pierre-Edouard Stérin is a well-known entrepreneur within the French ecosystem. His journey is atypical! A student at La Sorbonne, he joined emlyon business school by Admission Sur Title, before taking charge of Smartbox as well as several investment vehicles.
Pierre-Edouard Stérin, a student without particular facilities
He admits it shamelessly: he does not correspond to the archetype of the brilliant student capable of mastering as many concepts as possible. A hard worker, he obtained his baccalaureate, with honors, after having repeated his Première as well as his Terminale. A value instilled in him by his father, an entrepreneur, during his youth spent in Dreux.
During his childhood, he navigated between his two passions: finance and video games. He became introduced to the financial markets very early on, starting to buy and sell a few stocks while he was still a teenager.
Professionally, he moved to Société Générale then to Exane in order to perfect his knowledge of finance. However, he does not break with his first love: entrepreneurship.
A born entrepreneur
He is not part of this galaxy of entrepreneurs carrying out their coming out entrepreneurial late in life. At Pierre-Edouard Stérin, entrepreneurship is in his genes. So in high school, he bought computer components imported from Ireland – where they were sold cheaper – and also began illegally copying games in order to distribute them unlimitedly in his high school for a subscription.
It was in the world of video games that he began his career as a true entrepreneur. In 1999, in the middle of the Internet bubble, he launched Black Orange, a video game distributor. At the time, distribution platforms like Steam did not exist and unlimited game subscriptions like Stadia or Apple Arcade even less. Video games were installed through physical media (cartridges, discs, etc.) which he was responsible for marketing. In its first year of operation, the company achieved more than 3.5 million euros in turnover.
But the bursting of the Internet bubble and easy and (almost) unlimited financing put an end to the ambitions of Pierre-Edouard Stérin who had to return to live with his parents, at the age of 28, at the time when his classmates were starting their careers. flamboyantly.
While the young entrepreneur fails job interviews with many banks, to the extent that he no longer fits the mold, he is therefore forced to become an entrepreneur.
How to keep your head on your shoulders after such striking success
Being at the head of such a large company means keeping your head on your shoulders and your feet on the ground. For Pierre-Édouard Stérin to do this lies in two points. The first is having experienced a large number of failures before being propelled to success. He actually set up no less than a hundred companies before finding the right one which was a great success. He knew full well that success did not come with talent, but rather with continuous and regular work. The second point is the fact that he is married to a woman who knew how to remain simple despite what fortune can bring. He tell : “She raises our five children at home, and therefore remains deeply anchored in reality, outside the world of work and its sometimes more superficial relational sides. I think this situation helps me to keep my feet on the ground, and not to have developed an oversized ego! »
A pretty crazy association
This obligation to undertake led him to work with a Belgian who discovered a new concept at the FNAC in Antwerp: a gift card that can be used in many leisure places. This Belgian gave him the idea in exchange for 50% of the capital of the company in which Pierre-Edouard Stérin invested €5,000 thanks to a loan from his parents.
This idea made his fortune: Smartbox was imported into France under its old name (Weekendesk) and took off in an incredible way: from 0 to 100 million euros in business volume between 2003 and 2007. He thus took the opportunity to buy the Belgian entity (40 million euros of business volume) thanks to the borrowing facilities provided by Natixis.
This success did not come without difficulty: while in its infancy, the company’s activity was threatened to the extent that he was accused of illegally practicing the profession of travel agent.
He then denounces the “communist” vision of police officers who did not understand that a business manager could not have a large private office. He therefore forges a libertarian vision of state action, which leads him to be critical of the action of organizations like bpifrance, accused of leading to a significant increase in valuations, which he considers ” particularly due to the abundant liquidity present on the market. Those brought by the BPI or by the FEI play an important role in increasing prices. These public investors have lower requirements than more traditional investment structures. It’s a kind of somewhat artificial competition with the corollary of bringing to the surface a certain number of files which should never have raised funds. Furthermore, I believe that it is not the role of state structures to act as investors in start-ups. In my opinion, it would be better to use taxpayers’ money in other ways. » (NextStep Magazine)
A successful investing career
If he still runs Smartbox today, while having nearly 90% of its capital, which allows him to pocket juicy dividends, he also pursues a bold investment policy, which makes him one of the first private investors in France.
His greatest feat remains his investment within TheForkan application then in its infancy, charging only 50 cents per place. With only around twenty seats per day, the company was in a very delicate financial situation. An investment of 8 million euros allowed it to acquire 80% of the capital (leaving 20% to the founding team), to restructure the organization by concentrating in large cities and multiplying the commission by four. When Tripadvisor bought LaFourchette four years later, it collected 66 million euros. The company then produces more than 20,000 place settings per day, and will continue to grow.
Building on his success, he set up Smartholding, a Belgian structure which hosts his investments. However, he fails to return Gault&Millauwhere its 8 million euros invested to acquire and then digitalize the institution resulted in a resale at a loss, at only 2 million euros.
Subsequently, he started Otium Capital in 2015, which he separated into two branches: Otium Brands in order to finance B2C startups including many DNVBs (Feed, Merci Handy, Oh My Cream for example) as well as Otium Ventures (PayFit , Doctrine, etc.). Two teams which became independent in 2018 (via Frst And Eutopia).
half of the earnings made by Otium will be reinvested in businesses like the past, and the other half in charitable causes. One billion in capital has been raised over the past ten years. This sum is profitable on average at 20% annually, which represents 200 million per year. “From 2022, half of these earnings will be donated to a new endowment fund dedicated to specific causes. The other 100 million will remain as before in Otium Capital, which will continue its role as an investor in companies in the creation or growth phase. »
A dream: to leave nothing to your descendants
By 2024, he plans to no longer own his fortune. Pierre-Edouard Stérin wishes to leave no inheritance to his children and now invests his dividends in the financial markets through the purchase of listed securities. His ambition is to become a “saint”, wishing to finance charitable and philanthropic actions thanks to the fortune thus made.
To read the story of two Central residents who became (almost) billionaires:
Datadog: the success story of two central residents
