Outro

Guillaume closes, asks how to follow Arthur, and thanks him for the conversation; mentions LinkedIn for updates.

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Transcript

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Transcript

Episode notes

Today on BILLIONS, I’m sitting down with Arthur Waller, one of the sharpest French founders of his generation.

He sold his first company to Booking.com in his twenties — and instead of retiring, he came back to build Pennylane, a fintech that turned accountants from enemies into growth partners and became one of europe fastest-growing unicorn.

In this episode, we will discuss how six co-founders actually share power, what founders get wrong about fundraising terms and dilution, and what Arthur thinks about secondaries, freedom, and building a company that lasts twenty years.

If you want to understand what it really takes to scale, cash-out without selling out, and keep your ambition alive after success - then this episode is for you!

TIMELINE :

00:00:00 - 00:03:37 : First exit to Booking.com at 25 - the $80M deal structure

00:03:37 - 00:08:08 : Why the earn-out worked and 3.5 years at Booking

00:08:08 - 00:13:58 : Coming back stronger - choosing accounting as the next battlefield

00:13:58 - 00:18:12 : Seven co-founders sharing power and equity splits

00:18:12 - 00:24:01 : Fundraising strategy - diluting less than 10% early rounds

00:24:01 - 00:30:34 : Making accountants allies instead of enemies

00:30:34 - 00:36:08 : European expansion vs US market strategy

00:36:08 - 00:41:56 : Secondary transactions - $30M for employees, $70M for founders

00:41:56 - 00:46:38 : Staying private vs going public - the Stripe model

00:46:38 - 00:48:43 : The one advice for young founders

REFERENCES :