On November 6, for the third year running, engineering students from École des Ponts had the opportunity to immerse themselves in the world of entrepreneurship. to immerse themselves in the world of entrepreneurship when they visited the Ponts Alumni incubator at Station F, the world's largest incubator.

Six founders of incubated startups were on hand to share their experiences and daily lives: Auditoo, Nutrition et AI (Sportyum), IRMA Match, Lignos, Echo Silence, Bixoto .Meeting objectives:

• For startups: recruit talent from among engineering students, whether for an internship or a job.
• For students: understand the nuts and bolts of entrepreneurship, project themselves into this profession or find an internship.

More and more Ponts students, attracted by the entrepreneurial adventure, are choosing to do their internship in a startup. This type of experience enables them to discover the specific challenges of a young company and to assess whether this path is right for them.

An enriching sharing of experience

The entrepreneurs present all agree that the Station F campus is a particularly inspiring place for them: the services available, the atmosphere, the exchanges with other strategists, all contribute to making their incubation easier and even more stimulating.

The exchanges enabled the students to obtain answers to crucial practical questions. Gauthier Favier, founder of Auditoo, described his day-to-day work as follows: "We talk a lot about our projects, we test them to make them evolve. It's important to always be in tune with the needs expressed by the market. "

Find your first customers

One of the key questions asked by the students was how to find the first customers. Olivier Godet, founder of Lignos, emphasized the importance of networking. Gauthier Faviera shared his personal experience: ". What counts is having a vision and knowing why you get up in the morning. "Gauthier Faviera was unanimous in his advice to go out and meet customers right from the start. "You have to get your product out into the market very quickly to understand real needs".

Tips for future entrepreneurs

The discussions also provided an opportunity to offer advice to future entrepreneurs. It's important to have a team, ideally 2 or 3, that shares the same vision: "Many startups fail because of disagreements between partners".

Finally, the network of Ponts alumni was cited as a valuable resource. "Contact them, tell them about your ideas and keep them regularly informed of your progress. "

The meeting ended with a convivial snack. The students, inspired by these exchanges, gained a concrete insight into the opportunities and challenges of entrepreneurship. The practical advice, testimonials and infectious energy of the founders helped everyone leave with a better understanding of what it means to create and develop a business.