Xavier Wartelle ( Li 82), CEO at AFAM, CEO at Avatar Medical and founding partner at bang bing factory, participated in a school conference organized by Sandra Cologne, in charge of Parcours Entrepreneuriat et Innovation Technologique (PEIT) at Arts et Metiers school. The conference took place on September, 22th.

Xavier came in the US to work for Thales at the beginning of his career. He has been living and working in Silicon Valley for 26 years now. He is a founder of 7 startups, 4 of which were sold. Xavier organized and led more than 1000 coaching sessions with entrepreneurs all over the world.

Xavier told PEIT students about  the Shasta program and mentioned that AFAM team is about to launch a new Yosemite mentorship program for gadz'arts entrepreneurs ( more information to follow)

Then he gave a presentation about startups, corporate differences in French and American cultures, main elements of a successful startup venture and Brixlogic business case.

Xavier Wartelle: "Successful startup model is first of all a successful team model. As an entrepreneur you need to be humble and learn everyday. "

Another speaker of the conference was Julien Artur de la Villarmois ( Cl 218). Julien is a Georgia Tech and Arts et Metiers student pursuing a dual degree in Atlanta. Julien is a young researcher and entrepreneur. During the conference he shared his rich and diverse 2-years experience of working at AutonomHy on a prototype of a small hydrogen station.

We hope that AFAM will continue to take part in PEIT events and may be some of PEIT students will become Yosemite mentees in the future ( stay tuned for more detais coming soon on a new AFAM's mentorship program).

Xavier Wartelle (AFAM) and Sandra Cologne (PEIT) during the online conference

Julien Artur de la Villarmois during the online conference