[Entrepreneur story] - Elodie BRASEY

• A few words to introduce yourself?

Hello,

My name is Elodie Brasey, I was born in 1988 in the Var region of France and grew up in Paris. I am the President of INOCO, an IT consulting start-up that I co-founded in September 2018 with Greg Teixeira, another member of the Rennes School of Business Alumni network.

For me, every week is different, as I juggle different activities that contribute to enrich my experiences and connect me with people through diverse networks. For example, I have been a first aider and team leader for the Protection Civile de Paris for the past 3 years: I am involved in victim rescue during on-call duty in fire stations, for the SAMU and at first aid stations during major events (concerts, rollerblading tours, etc.). Passionate about chess since I was a child, and after having stopped playing for 18 years, I joined the Parisian Tour Blanche club in 2020 and I love participating in competitions. What’s more, although I had never played a musical instrument before, I started the violin 5 years ago with weekly lessons, and now play from time to time in a small orchestra. I am also vice-president of the Rennes Alumni Association and co-lead the IT club with Pierre Goffaux. Finally, I joined the APM (Association Progrès du Management), a network of entrepreneurs whose aim is to train managers on key issues.

• Tell us more about your academic and professional background?

Before joining Rennes School of Business, I was searching for my way forward and tried exploring different fields: law, applied art, 3D animation... then advertising, by following a course at the Ecole Supérieure de Publicité as part of a 2-year work-study programme.

It was then in Rennes, during a round table on commercial jobs, that I discovered the commercial function and the IT sector. I decided to join the first class of the new work-study programme launched by Rennes School of Business, the IT Business Manager course. I worked for 6 years for an IT consulting firm specialised in finance, where I started as an intern before progressing to a managerial position, and finally partner of the firm. At the beginning of 2018, I decided to look for a new idea to start afresh. It was then that I bumped into Greg at a Club Paris Alumni event that our project was born. Six months later, we launched INOCO.

• Can you present Inoco?

Employee turnover, dehumanisation, opacity of accounts, feelings of injustice... After having worked for 6 years in the IT consulting market, I was convinced that its often-criticised practices needed to be revisited. We therefore wanted to "break the codes" and implement the values of commitment and sharing in a reinvented service company.

INOCO is an innovative, responsible and committed IT consulting company; today there is almost 40 of us, all of whom are passionate about innovation and who work for major clients (SG, Engie, Decathlon, Air Liquide, etc.) on their IT service needs related to the development and the management of projects in highly innovative technological contexts: Devops, web, Cloud, Big Data, cybersecurity. Our second financial year ended with a turnover of €2 million, and this year we expect to reach €4 million.

Since our launch in 2018, we have put in place a mechanism that is still unprecedented in this sector: shared ownership for all our employees. In concrete terms, INOCO's recruits are offered a share plan that allows them to become shareholders in their own right, and to benefit from the company's growth by making capital gain when they sell their shares. This strong commitment is a guarantee of transparency for the employees, a way to really share the value we create together. For our clients, it is a guarantee of committed and loyal consultants, with little or no turnover.

• What is your greatest achievement?

After working for 3 years in coworking spaces, we have just moved into our own 170m² premises in the heart of Paris. We have designed and fitted them out in accordance with our values: shared, friendly spaces, with a space dedicated to training, meetups, a projection room (cinema, broadcasts, etc.) and a break area. For our consultants, it is a third space, in addition to the clients' premises and their homes, where they can come to work and exchange with colleagues, cooperate and create strong links within the team. It is a committed action in favour of remote working, of which I am very proud!

• What advice would you give to a young entrepreneur?

I think the most important thing is to surround yourself with good people. I would therefore advise a young entrepreneur to choose his partners carefully or, if he plans to go it alone, to think twice. The entrepreneurial experience is most meaningful when it is shared... Like everything in life, right?

Find Elodie on LinkedIn : Elodie Brasey | LinkedIn