The third edition of the award, run by the Luxembourg branch of Junior Chamber International (JCI), will be given out at a ceremony on June 29. The finalists were chosen from twelve applicants by a jury comprised of decision-makers and leaders in Luxembourg, who sought to find young entrepreneurs who have used imagination and creativity to solve problems or approach a market. The three finalists will also be nominated to compete for the worldwide award, in which Xavier Buck finished fourth last year.
The finalists themselves, and the companies they represent are very different to each other: from Sylvain Zimmer’s free music sharing platform, Jamendo, through Jérome Bloch’s communication solution, MyOfficialStory, to Stéphane Ledermann’s fractional jet ownership business, Smart Air. What unites the three, the quality they share, is a devotion to their projects and dedication to their business that borders on a passion: Zimmer is an accomplished musician, Ledermann is a qualified pilot and Bloch has been aware of his entrepreneurial streak since childhood.
Jérome Bloch: social networking? Not exactly!
“MyOfficialStory is a media tool,” says Jérome Bloch. The description is entirely apt, given the transmedia nature of the project, which encompasses a magazine, a website and books. He states that the service has “more than 1,000 users, of which most are CEOs. Those people are not on LinkedIn and they certainly are not on Facebook: nor do they want to be there.” Effectively, MyOfficialStory acts like a data bank in which the clients “store validated, high-quality content,” enabling them to share that content, be it an article or a high-resolution photo, at any time they wish, but also to control how their image is portrayed in targeted media outlets. The client list also includes various clubs and businesses as well as personalities.
A tie-in magazine, Andy A Luxembourg, serves as what 36-year-old Bloch terms “the paper mirror of the website,” in which a selection of stories and personalities from the site are featured. Finally, Bloch brings up the example of books. “I published one about business and golf. I sold 6,000 and I am always amazed at the power of books,” he says.
As a pro golfer, the sport remains close to his heart, even if working as a pro was never really enough for him. And those who read his first book, he feels, “were suddenly connecting with me in a very strong way, even if they had already known me for years.” The books, like the magazine and website, follow the same guidelines for article length and structure, and the content is validated to build a controlled profile of the client.
“To be honest, it represents a challenge to keep progressing,” says Bloch about his CYEL nomination, also describing it as a “great opportunity to meet a lot of people at the same time.” While he also feels gratified to have been identified for potential, he believes now is the time to improve and develop. Furthermore, having been present in Luxembourg since 1995 when he took a job as a clubhouse pro at Kikuoka Country Club, Bloch is enamoured with the country, saying that he “has felt at home since the beginning, although perhaps a golf club is like a big family.”
And as a location for entrepreneurs? He is equally effusive: “It may not become the next Silicon Valley, but it can be the next Entrepreneur Valley! We can attract people from anywhere. If they have a really good idea, do it here first. You can get all the help you need to develop, from finance to coaching. In this regard, it is a paradise.”
Stéphane Ledermann: come fly with me
“We have confirmed clients already and plenty of interest,” says Stéphane Ledermann of his fractional jet ownership company, Smart Air. This is definitely a string to the Luxembourg-financed company’s bow: as the 38-year-old further points out, “and we will not be taking delivery of the aircraft, the Diamond D-jet, until early 2010!” This is not complacency on his part, but it does highlight his pleasure at how the product has been embraced.
Although there are other fractional aircraft ownership companies, Smart Air is the first in the world to offer the D-Jet, and delivery of the aircraft is, in the case of this company, guaranteed, enabling Smart Air clients to enjoy the benefits before any others, once the eight Luxembourg-registered aircraft are delivered by the second quarter of next year.
Moreover, as Ledermann elaborates, even complete ownership of an aircraft doesn’t have the same benefits as fractional: “We have structured Smart Air to guarantee 100% availability of a plane to all clients at short notice, 361 days per year, taking into account the number of clients and aircraft. There are other fractional ownership aircraft solutions, but none that offer the package we do, at the price per hour we do.” The scheme works on a similar principle to holiday-home time-sharing.
Each aircraft is divided into 10% shares, with each of those 10% shares entitling the holder to 50 hours occupied flying time per year. To secure a share, it is necessary to pay a one off fee “roughly equivalent to a well-equipped luxury saloon car,” and then a monthly management fee of just under 3,000 euros per 10% share, followed by tailored hourly rates depending on which pricing zone the clients are flying into or out of. These are tallied together to make a flexible invoice.
Ledermann is also pleased with the general feedback he has received as Smart Air representatives have travelled (and will continue to travel!) across Europe, taking in trade shows and demonstrating their D-jet mock-up.
“Although we are based in Luxembourg we are a European company. And the feedback suggests there is serious potential further afield for us to establish a presence at a global level,” he says. And what are his feelings on being nominated? “It is an honour for the company, not just me,” he smiles.
After a peripatetic career in which his ambitions were not always met, one gets the feeling Stéphane Ledermann has found his calling.
Sylvain Zimmer: from pet project to break-even business
“It’s obviously an honour. There were a lot of quality contestants,” smiles Sylvain Zimmer when asked about his thoughts on being one of the three finalists. At 25, time is still on his side, yet this is already his second appearance on the podium, having been placed third in the 2008 edition, “although it would be nice to do better this year.”
The founder of the free online music sharing platform, Jamendo, which currently employs 25 people, doesn’t buy into the notion that Luxembourg does not provide favourable conditions for young entrepreneurs: “We were based in Technoport Schlassgoart for two years. Without their help there is no way we could be where we are today. Anything I’ve learnt about entrepreneurship I learnt there,” while he also highlights the “support of the state, as well as other institutions.”
As a location for starting a business, Zimmer sees another advantage of the Grand Duchy on a human resource level: “We were able to hire some skilled people because this country has a favourable jobs market. I think it is a magnet for skills in the middle of the Grande Region – at least the technical ones.” Although he acknowledges that Luxembourg can be a conservative environment for business, Zimmer believes the government is aware it needs “the banks but also young start-ups. These are what drive innovation.”
And in a time of crisis? Has there been a practical change in revenue for Jamendo? “Yes. Business has increased! We launched Jamendo Pro in January.” This is a service designed for professional rather than private users, helping them to buy commercial licences for music. It has boosted revenue by simplifying the purchasing process and removing intermediaries. “Professional users can buy tracks, whether for an advert, a documentary, even restaurants and shops can construct playlists. We allow the artists to talk directly to those professional users,” explains Zimmer.
Furthermore, the artists can manage exactly how their music is used and in what kind of project, all of which contributes to Jamendo being, in the words of Zimmer, “simply the next generation music licensing platform, and while we may have competitors, we are the ones who have a vibrant community on one side and a licensing service on the other. We find new revenue streams for the artists.” So what does the future hold? “The situation at the moment is that investors are hard to find. But we want to be profitable by 2010, so we just have to keep innovating and doing what we do.”