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Hello, my name is Célestin, I’m 16 years old.
Today, I’ve left school to create a startup,
launch my project, launch a company!
Rest assured, I’m not the next Bill Gates
or the next Mark Zuckerberg.
Why? Because my project isn’t computer-related but industrial.
So, what’s the vision? The vision is to create, produce,
and supply electricity for places that don’t have any.
What’s the product? The product is a mobile,
independent, renewable electricity generation unit.
So, of course, this project, this product has
a story that’s also my own in a way.
Why? Because when I was 13,
I started building something, I filed a patent.
At 14, I entered the Lépine Junior contest, and came in first.
I kept on when I was 14, I entered the Lépine Européen contest,
I was named 2012 best young inventor by the WIPO,
the World Intellectual Property Organization.
And I stayed on this path, at 15 I went to the
Concours Lépine in Paris, and came in third.
Also when I was 15, I created my company, a startup to develop
and market the product, the invention.
I told you that I left school, and today, I’ve finished
high school as an independent student
to pursue my passion, follow my dreams!
Impossible? Today, many things are considered
impossible, but a lot of people are able
to overcome this notion of impossibility.
People succeed in spite of everything!
Of course, when I started, things weren’t so glamorous,
I started with a trailer, a makeshift project, and finally
the project developed, improved, there was a whole process,
a whole story around it, opportunities, meetings…
And that’s the story I’m going to try
to share with you, and summarize.
So, the project started like this:
an idea came to me from a trip to Niger, when I was 10,
I went to Africa and there, I realized that we might take
electricity for granted but isn’t so easy to come by,
not everyone has it.
So, at 13, I wanted to create something that could have helped,
that could bring electricity to people that don’t have any.
The idea is very simple, it’s basic. It also seems impossible,
it seems utopian to create something like that considering
that there are hundreds or even thousands of companies today
that reflect, create, that think about developing these kinds of products.
But at the time, I didn’t know it was impossible,
so I started with reused materials: a trailer,
a gasoline engine, solar panels…
And then there were meetings, opportunities and finally a company,
an industry that used the prototype to create a new prototype.
So that was the end of the first step,
things came full circle, with the invention.
Why? Because afterwards, my life changed,
I don’t mean a turning point in my career, that would be silly
since I’m only 16, but my life changed, took a new direction.
Why? Because I met someone.
I met a man called Bruno Wattenbergh. Bruno is director of the BEA,
the Brussels Enterprise Agency, and he asked me a simple question.
His question was, “Who do you want to become?”
Who do you want to be in 5 years, 10 years, 30 years?
The question is really simple, but it’s hard to answer.
We reflected on it together and came up
with three main possibilities, and a choice to make.
The first possibility would have been to be an inventor,
to invent two or three things in my garage.
The second would have been to be a craftsman and entrepreneur.
To produce a few units in my garage, alone in my corner.
And the last, the most exciting, is the one that inspires me today,
my passion, to be an entrepreneur aiming for growth
and developing a product on a large scale.
Great, at that moment I had my vision, my dream, my desire,
but of course there were many obstacles.
At the time I had many good reasons not
to set out on this path, not to start.
And ultimately never to start, never to follow my passion.
The first obstacle was time. I was in school, I had classes every day,
homework, other things, all related to school.
So the first thing was time.
The second obstacle was money.
I simply didn’t have money and I didn’t want to ask my parents
to pay for my hobbies, because financing a company isn’t exactly free!
And another obstacle, the third obstacle, was my engagements.
I was young, 15 years old, my relationships
with adults could have been complex, could have been difficult.
The last obstacle, maybe the most obvious,
was simply that I was a minor.
In fact I’m still a minor. I’m not legally old enough to create a company,
I don’t have the legal permission to create my own company.
So if I’m here tonight, it’s because in the end,
the four obstacles were overcome, were resolved.
First, in terms of time, I went to see my school’s administration.
The school said, “OK, you can do what you want, you can fail
or you can manage your school attendance
and your project as long as you pass in school.”
So now, I’ve told you that I left school to finish my studies.
So there you have it, I’ve still spent two wonderful years
with my project, completing my studies at the same time.
Great, the first obstacle is dealt with.
The second obstacle was money. S
imply put, I found money. I asked around, went to see people,
convinced people who supported me, big companies, small companies.
Today my company is raising funds to be able to continue
and to develop the product with a host of partners.
Great!
The third obstacle was engagements.
It turns out that being young opened doors, many opportunities,
meetings, and ultimately, when conversations started,
being young didn’t hold me back. In fact, it even helped me.
The last point, maybe the trickiest, was the legal aspect, the law.
I was called before the judge of the peace, the justice of the peace!
And the judge summoned me, for the project, fortunately!
The judge granted me a special exemption allowing
me to create and manage my own company.
Great! I had all the keys to get started,
to follow my passion and finally pursue my dreams.
Great, I got started and that’s how the project got off the ground.
But if I’ve come here tonight, it’s not really
to tell you about the how, but about the why.
I’ve reflected on this and today, I would like to share
with you the “why” of getting started. Why? Why take action, why go from
the status of inventor to the status of entrepreneur?
Why change, why choose a path, why change and start something?
Based on my experience, I think the answer can be summed up
in three points, three basic pillars.
The first would be passion.
Why? Because you have to have a passion,
you have to do what you love, you have to enjoy what you do.
This is really important. People follow you, they help out, they invest,
they assist you, if you have a passion, if you’re motivated.
The second point is having meaning.
Why? Because you have to have a passion,
you have to love what you do, but of course you need meaning.
You have to know why you do things.
In the end, if you love to do something
but don’t know why you’re doing it, it’s pointless.
So having a passion and having meaning.
And the third point, probably the most fundamental,
is to have a goal.
So the goal, it’s not, I mean in my opinion, you know,
because this is based on my experience…
The third point is to have a goal, but a goal that comes from within,
from down in your gut. Ultimately, it’s a dream,
a dream that has to be a goal, a vision, an objective to reach.
To conclude, I think that bringing together meaning, passion
and a goal, I think that could be the three pillars for happiness,
for following your dreams!
Thank you very much.