As a child growing up in Paris, France, Mathilde was struck by how many people seemed to be dispassionate about their jobs. It felt normal for everybody to dread the next Monday, to complain about the long hours, and to resent their boss. It was at an early age that Mathilde committed herself to finding meaningful work—for herself and for the people around her. It was this notion that led Mathilde to co-found Front with Laurent Perrin in 2013. Today, Mathilde is CEO of Front and has raised more than $138 million in venture capital funding. Front has more than 200 employees and has offices located in San Francisco, California, and Paris, France. Years later, their company mission remains the same: to help people everywhere work happier.
Rather than pitch VCs, founders can hit up fellow entrepreneurs—people who have already succeeded in what the upstarts are trying to do.
What I’m looking for in a board member is a combination of two things. One is, I want to make sure that they really care about me. And at the same time I want to make sure they challenge me. Building these relationships ahead of your fundraise is extremely critical, because it’s going to be very hard during a fundraising process to know if you have this care and challenging relationship that you expect.