The speaker's grandfather's life exemplifies resilience and hard work, being born as a no-land farmer without a father, supporting his family from a young age, joining the resistance during World War II and losing part of his hand, working multiple jobs to sustain his family. The values instilled by the grandfather, such as the importance of hard work, determination, resilience, questioning 'why', and understanding that nothing worthwhile is easy, have deeply influenced the speaker's outlook on life.
Maëlle Gavet is the CEO of Techstars, a pre-seed investor focused on early-stage entrepreneurs. It boasts a market cap of $111.6 billion, and supports founders in programs that span from Tokyo to Lagos to Alabama. Maëlle champions hard work, gratitude, and a questioning nature, qualities her grandfather imparted while she was growing up in France. She has carried her curiosity through a wide-ranging international career, in start-ups and scaled corporations. We hear lessons drawn from her vast experience, including the transformation of Ozon — the "Amazon of Russia" — in the early 2010s, to leadership roles in global travel and real estate. And we get a sample of the advice she often shares with Techstars’ founders, about how to balance their values and the needs of their company, always with an optimism about entrepreneurship as a force for good.
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