Olivier Sichel, 39, a graduate of Essec, a French business school, ENA (the Ecole Nationale d’Administration), and a former Inspecteur des Finances, joined France Telecom on 1998. Two years later he was named Chairman and CEO of Alapage.com, which he positioned as a leading operator in French e-commerce, growing sales from €21 million to €43 million in 2002 – despite the downturn in the Internet world – and turning the company profitable.
In November 2002 he was named Chairman of Wanadoo, a E... View
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Olivier Sichel's Keynote speech
When, fifteen year ago, it appeared clear to us that there will soon be billions of mobile handsets in the world, we decided to invest heavily in the mobile space.
But the space was not, and is still not, as friendly for start ups as, for instance, the Internet or semi conductors. This is because a start up can easily be squeezed between the big players that are, on one hand, the handset manufacturers, and on the other, the carriers.
So when people began to adopt the mobile phone, we looked at it…very carefully and far-sightedly in order to identify the areas where a start up could add value. And I’m pleased to say that we found those areas that added value — and so much more. Those areas we found ultimately became disruptive technologies and change agents within the wireless space.
Olivier Sichel, 39, a graduate of Essec, a French business school, ENA (the Ecole Nationale d’Administration), and a former Inspecteur des Finances, joined France Telecom on 1998. Two years later he was named Chairman and CEO of Alapage.com, which he positioned as a leading operator in French e-commerce, growing sales from €21 million to €43 million in 2002 – despite the downturn in the Internet world – and turning the company profitable.
