Serial Entrepreneur: How to Systematize Success with Hugo Bentz

A Journey Born from Failure

One of the first lessons Hugo shared is that his entrepreneurial journey was born from a failure. He failed his first year of business school, too busy going out and not studying enough. Faced with his banker’s refusal to extend his loan, he had to find an alternative: finance his studies through a work-study program.

Meeting a Mentor: Christophe Charle

That’s when a decisive turning point occurred. Hugo joined a small company of five employees, which was soon after acquired by Christophe Charle, co-founder of Cdiscount. Overnight, he found himself working alongside a serial entrepreneur. His goal became clear: to make himself indispensable and propose creating an entrepreneurial project within the group itself.

School Touch: The First Adventure

This first venture was called School Touch, a personalized textile company for students. The first year generated 150,000 euros in revenue. The second year, with a team of about ten people aged 22 to 23, the company exceeded one million euros. Hugo then discovered his passion for textiles and entrepreneurship.

The Mentor’s Role: Focus on Revenue

Christophe Charle’s role was simple and radical: only revenue matters. How many clients? What production capacity? The more sales increase, the more resources follow. He also conveyed a key principle: the perfect is the enemy of the good. It’s better to act imperfectly than never launch. The main driver remains commerce, sales, and market share.

Systematizing Success: Duplicating Skills

Hugo explains that his entrepreneurial model is based on duplication. He launches several verticals around the same business, without having to relearn the fundamentals. Tools, suppliers, support functions, and methods remain identical; only the market changes. The idea is tested quickly, without waiting for a perfect site or heavy investment.

Kymono: From Opportunity to Success

Kymono was born from an exchange between Olivier Hamel, Hugo’s future partner, and Alice Zagury of The Family. Olivier recounted having created a custom hoodie in high school. Alice explained to him that The Family receives daily requests for personalized textiles and objects. The opportunity was obvious. Decision in December, launch on March 1st.

The Kymono Concept: Culture Designer

From the outset, the vision was clear: Kymono would not be a mere textile player, but a global player in corporate culture. Textiles were just the first building block. This was followed by offerings in accessories, office design, event management, and then corporate culture consulting. They define themselves as culture designers, a name registered with the INPI.

Recruitment: When in Doubt, There Is No Doubt

Hugo shares a key principle in recruitment: when in doubt, there is no doubt. Never recruit by default, even in an emergency. A bad hire costs more than a delayed hire. Their process is rigorous: phone interview, video or in-person interview, interview with a member external to the relevant team, and systematic reference checks.

The Preferred Tool: Google Sheets

His favorite tool remains Google Sheets. Before any CRM, Hugo structures his commercial approach with simple tables: company, email, phone, LinkedIn, and several follow-up stages. For one to two years, this system was sufficient to effectively attack a market.

The Piscine Mistake: Focusing on Margin

Hugo reflects on his biggest failure: La Piscine, a factory launched in 2015 with heavy fixed costs. He focused too much on growth and revenue, with insufficient margins. Despite a revenue of 3.7 million euros, the debt became unsustainable. The company eventually closed, leading to layoffs and debts still being repaid.

The Key Advice: Focus on Profitability

His main lesson today: focus on margin and profitability. Hugo no longer thinks in terms of revenue but in terms of generated margin, which he tracks weekly with his partners.

Leadership: Making Room for the Partner

Hugo deliberately takes a back seat in managerial leadership. He partners with complementary profiles who can lead teams daily. He positions himself as a starter, letting those who excel in management and leadership shine.

From Competitor to Partner: A Management Lesson

One of his best management memories involves Kermesse. Faced with a promising young competitor, Samuel, Hugo chose openness rather than confrontation. He offered him a partnership. Today, Samuel single-handedly runs Kermesse, a company with over two million euros in revenue and a team of ten people.

In a nutshell

This Masterclass with Hugo Bentz delivers strong lessons:

• Take action without waiting for perfection
• Never recruit by default
• Prioritize margin over revenue
• Surround yourself with complementary profiles
• Multiply encounters to seize real opportunities

Don’t miss the next Masterclass!

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• The Drowned Managers? – Roland Massenet
• Franprix Monoprix: Growth Leadership – Jean-Paul Mochet