“I started at the beginning of July... but it feels like it’s been six years!” But don’t let that make you think that Philippe Coulon is already tired of the hectic pace of the Luxembourg startup that was born just over a year ago. No, with his sparkling eyes and toothy grin, the 46-year-old former head of sales for Airbnb in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region has the appetite of the young HEC graduate he was a few years ago.
Alongside founder in the startup’s offices on the Grand Rue, Coulon explains that he has every intention of taking advantage of Fiveoffices’ accelerated growth to go much further, that he has a “multi-country vision” and that he is going to focus on “winning each new market one by one.”
Coulon, who previously worked as a consultant at Roland Berger and head of business solutions at Deutsche Bank, arrived at Airbnb at a time when it was still necessary to convince owners to put their accommodation on the American platform. The company also had to compete with market heavyweights, such as Booking, to show Airbnb’s appeal. “In 2015, there were still a lot of obstacles. People found it hard to imagine that they could rent out their flat--and therefore their bed--for short periods…”
We’re really on a roll
Obviously, the Luxembourg startup specialising in the “subletting of offices from one company to another” is not faced with this obstacle. It’s less personal.
“But we’ve noticed that some companies want to host companies or startups in their premises that are in a similar business. Today, convincing hosts is relatively easy, there are a lot of advantages and our platform offers a turnkey solution that’s easy to access. We’re going to work even harder with our ‘guests’ to make sure they understand our product. Our offer isn’t necessarily something they’ve thought of. For some, you have to look for new offices, negotiate everything... Whereas here, all that is taken care of. We are constantly proposing new offices with special features, because entrepreneurs are still attached to the idea that the working environment should correspond to what their employees expect,” says the new CEO. After Airbnb, Coulon also worked for TaxFix (a tax declaration solution) and Pleo (an expense billing solution).
In six months, the number of hosts has risen from 150 to 500, new contracts have increased from 150 to 200 and “events”--a word that covers new registrations on the site and leads--have increased fivefold. And the figures should double by the end of the year, adds Glaesener.
It’s still hard to say what share of this office rental market--fragmented into three segments (5% sublet, 5% coworking, 90% rental)--Fiveoffices will take, but “a few percent” seems to be a plausible assumption. While the technological and logistical heart of the startup will remain in Luxembourg, once Paris has been more widely conquered, Fiveoffices will turn its attention to London. It’s a question of potential in a wider geographical area.
“We’re really on a roll,” says Glaesener, who sees the company’s new CEO as the man needed to help the firm grow stronger and faster. Coulon will be the third CEO, following the departure of . “She wanted to devote herself to other personal projects,” says Glaesener.
This article was first published in French on . It has been translated and edited for Delano.