My whole life, it seems that I’ve been waiting for something else, something different, something better. In high-school, I couldn’t wait to leave home and to finish with the general topics that I had no interest in learning or getting marked on. So I was waiting for something else, waiting for a eigher education program in an area of interest. When I reached university, I quickly got bored with the theory. I was reading tech blogs and news on my spare time, so despite my evident lack of experience, I couldn’t wait for something different: getting my hands dirty with some real-world experience. I’ve spent more than a year abroad, working for two different entities, handling different tasks and responsibilities. Yet, now that I’m in my final year, and two months away from… Read more
I am 22. I am 22 but it’s time I accept the fact that not only am I different than most people my age, but that if I want to continue to succeed, and live my dream and lifestyle, I will have to walk the walk alone. As the thoughts rush through my head, I am walking in the calm streets of Amsterdam, listening to AlunaGeorge and daydreaming about my life, past, present and future. Humans are extremely social and adaptable creatures, but the people I identify to, relate with, and connect with, on both a physical and intellectual level, are few in the world. They grew up in relatively comfortable environments, but recognise the value of hard work and making their own luck. They have had their shares of failures, and without romanticising it, these failures contribute to how successful they… Read more
So if you’ve paid attention, I’ve struggled through some of the hardest weeks of my (short) life. I’m in my final year of University and I just worked my a** off over the last few weeks and months and handed in my Final Year Project this morning. So what’s next? I’m going to Amsterdam today, until Saturday, to participate in The Next Web Conference and discover this city I’ve never visited before. I’m hoping to meet up with a few friends and locals that I know, and relax —so the sun will be greatly appreciated. Obviously, pictures will be taken so watch this space, as well as Flickr & Instagram, —in case you somewhat interested. Once I get back, I will have two more group projects to wrap up (with deadlines due in mid-may) and one exam to… Read more
Have you considered the way you interact with information and data lately? For most of us nowadays, it involves looking at a screen (laptop, smartphone and/or tablet). In all of these use cases, technology is supposed to help us communicate with our loved ones, enhance our lives, or entertain us. It involves our eyes, and most often our fingers. But this leaves several of our 5 senses unused. Some of us include voice (aka one-way sound communication) as another input, and dictate text or small instructions to our devices. And hey, sometimes we even get some audio notification (like Siri or Google Voice Search reading a result out loud) but 90% of the time, your eyes have time to read and assimilate the information before the voice. And thus comes my thesis: I think Audio is underrated. I… Read more
What happened? The rise of the “Web 2.0” (yes, I just wrote that…) and the second wave of Social Networks (Anything after Myspace, including Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, etc…) has led to an incredible growth for shared content. Anyone seeing anything interesting could share it with their friends, family, or professional circles, in a click or two. What are things like now? If you are an average internet user, you might be experiencing three big behaviors: You are present on several social networks (probably Facebook and Pinterest, or Twitter, or Tumblr, or something else) The people and brands you like and follow publish a lot of content. Everyday. All this activity leads in a low-level of addiction for most people, triggered mostly by the feeling of not wanting to miss a… Read more
For those of you around Brighton, or if you’ve been stalking me, you might have noticed a place I check-in to every once in a while for lunch, called The Troll’s Pantry. It is a burger truck in Brighton that serves the best burgers I’ve ever had. And I have had my fair share of burgers in my young life! I regularly come back to The Troll’s Pantry and every time, there is something different from the last time. After following him on Twitter and Facebook, it became apparent that the owner is above most local businesses in town, when it comes to the way he works, interacts with his audience, and markets himself in an area full of foodies. The more I thought about it, the more I started seeing things that other businesses and startups can apply in their respective… Read more
Le Contexte Il y a quelques années, je suis tombé par hasard sur un individu et son organisation. J’ai été profondément touché d’apprendre leur histoire. Scott Harrison était un promoteur de soirées dans des boites de nuit huppés de New York. Arrivé à son trentième anniversaire, il s’est retrouvé riche, ayant une vie extrêmement comfortable, mais n’était pas heureux. Il a décidé d’utiliser les compétences et ressources à sa disposition pour aider les plus démunis. L’histoire est bien plus complexe que cela, mais je ne vais pas m’y attarder aujourd’hui. Le 9 février 2013, j’aurai 22 ans. Et cette année, pour mon anniversaire, j’aimerai moi aussi faire ce que je peux pour aider les 800 millions de personnes… Read more
A little bit of context A few years ago, I stumbled upon an individual (and organization) that had a profound impact on me. Scott Harrison was a club promoter in New York City, and realizing that his wealthy life was going nowhere, he decided to use his skills to help people. There is a much longer story to it, but for the purpose of this post I will not develop it here. In exactly one month, on February 9th, I will turn 22nd. And this year, I want to give it all away to those who need it the most. I think it’s about time I act towards real change, and I want to set myself a challenge. Working in Digital Marketing, I get to witness the miracles of social media, and I strongly believe that the ultimate sharing experience is to selflessly give and help without expecting anything in… Read more
One of the (many) things I’ve decided to do includes re-learning to code (and once I get up to a better level, design is next.) This is not an end goal in itself, but I want to improve in order to understand more HOW and WHY things work. Here is a more detailed explanation: When you start a digital project, you first go through the concept, then you visualize it (through design), then build it, and once it’s all done, you can market/promote it. You can’t start talking about it and promoting it if you don’t have anything to show in the first place. Others have tried, and the answer is always the same: ask the VCs and Silicon Valley influencers, they’ll tell you to build it first and ask for VC money later (yes, this time they’re right about that stuff!)… Read more
Two weeks ago. The year was still 2012. A rather bad year, for me personally, and also for most of the people around me. I’m writing rather bad simply because it was not bad per say, but definitely a bunch of things throughout the year that made it much less enjoyable then 2011 (which, for me, had been the best year of my short life thus far.) Two weeks ago, I was in a distant land. An island, a country, smaller than a county. A place I had heard a lot about before. A place I realized I knew before even setting foot on its ground. Yet, despite knowing about its climate and its environment, despite knowing the parameters of this country, I was surprised about how much I learnt from it. I was surprised about how relaxing it was and the positive impact it had on me. I was (mostly)… Read more