Meet The Founders of Lynxter
Watch our interview below and see what our 3 co-founders have learned by being young entrepreneurs in industry 4.0 and additive manufacturing.
INTERVIEW
STARTING A BUSINESS
Turning passion into business, bringing together talents who make it work, managing a cash flow for the first time and making a company grow by being 3 partners with different personalities, these are some of the ambitions that Karim Sinno, Thomas Batigne and Julien Duhalde had to achieve to build the company Lynxter.
WHO ARE YOU ?
TB: Hello, my name is Thomas Batigne, I am the president and co-founder of the company Lynxter. I am 27 years old.
JD: Julien Duhalde I turned 30,not long ago, I am one of the three co-founders of Lynxter
KS : Karim Sinno, I am a co-founder and General manager of Lynxter. I am 29 years old, soon to be 30.
LYNXTER IN 3 WORDS ?
TB : Energy, innovation and performance.
KS: The buddies, Audacity and madness.
JD: buddies. Ambition and performance.
WHY START A BUSINESS ?
TB: I think that when Karim, Julien and I created the company, it was somewhat a rejection of the system in which we belonged. We wanted to feel good. We realized that we were passionate about the project, that we could spend hours and hours… We did not count the hours in the week, we challenged each other.
KS: We wanted to be independent. We did not want to report our work to superiors but wanted to be autonomous in the decision making.
2 RECOMMENDATIONS TO YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS?
KS : What I tell a lot of entrepreneurs is to put things down, don’t go off on a tangent and to stay focused on their market on the needs that customers share with them.
TB: The only advice to give, is the “product market fit”. In my opinion, this is the most important. Let’s say that everything else follows from it. It’s not easy if the product doesn’t fit with a market, because it’s not the right moment, not the right value proposition. Finally, you can implement everything, a whole bunch of financing systems, organization, optimization. And it will be ultimately useless in the long run. On the other hand, if you have a product that fits the market, the rest will unfold by itself.
JD: Go all in so you don’t regret anything in case it does not work. If you go all in, you will never regret that you did not try a little harder.
LET’S TALK ABOUT OBSTACLES AND DIFFICULTIES
KS: Cash management was complicated to manage because it can be very anxiety-provoking. Finally, with experience, you learn to put things into perspective. We managed to find solutions ahead of time and above all, we managed, thanks to certain people in the company, to keep a good overview, to project ourselves and anticipate this type of problem. Because when it happens, It’s true that it can be a bit stressful.
JD: Collaboration and partners, especially when we have different points of view and opinions that are different. But that is also what leads us to great ideas that develop in new directions and that allow us to get the best out of everyone for Lynxter.
TB: To get on board too. Meaning, to be clear when we state our value proposition. And that was not easy. The three of us have an educational background in mechanical engineering, in industrial engineering. So we have a vocabulary that is quite technical. We have to simplify, we have to explain what we want to do to everyone. And it is from the moment we manage to make yourself understood it is from the moment that we manage to express our value proposition in simple terms that we can adjust it and get constructive feedback on it. And then to get to this famous “product market fit” which is very important.
WHAT ARE YOUR PROUD OF TODAY?
JD : To be here today with a team of almost 25 people. I have the impression that everyone comes and works with a big smile. Everyone is happy to work.
TB: We can be proud of the cohesion that we have internally. Together with other entrepreneurs, we sometimes discuss the relationships you can have with different employees and collaborative partners as your company grows bigger. We have learnt that although we are a company of about 25 people, we manage to stay close in our team.
KS: when we started to really expand and sign important contracts…There was a sense of pride. We tell ourselves “OK, now, in fact, we have passed a milestone.”
WHY 3D PRINTING ?
TB: 3D printing has always been a dream for users, engineers. The technology is a little magic. We can observe the parts appear in the machine. The view on 3D printing has evolved. Needs have matured, the understanding of materials, of manufacturing issues are clearer. And so these types of processes are suitable for many applications which can be very interesting, and very advanced in terms of performance as in the medical field or in the aeronautical field but also for all kinds of applications that make everyday life easier for everyone, in the workshop, for specific custom tooling and for troubleshooting in case of supply problems, for example.
KS: There is an element that fascinates me, it is the manufacturing process, the materials and their use. And I find that additive manufacturing, 3D printing brings a new way of manufacturing parts, may it be for customized small production or emergency manufacturing and it brings a lot of agility.
YOUR PASSIONS?
KS: Any activity that is going to be close to the sea and the ocean. So fishing, whether it is from the shore, in a boat, or in a kayak, whether in France or abroad, in an exotic country. Spearfishing, surfing.
JD: New technologies, everything that is technical, everything that allows me to tinker.
TB: I am a passionate maker, really. And the three of us, we are all makers that’s also why we connect. I make things, I build thing, I design systems, Well, I just build things.
