Jean Fahmy

Quite a change for me. After 11 years of starting, building and selling businesses in technology, I decided to join an existing corporation. I am now an 'intrapreneur'.

Wikipedia says : An Intrapreneur is the person who focuses on innovation and creativity and who transforms a dream or an idea into a profitable venture, by operating within the organizational environment. Thus, Intrapreneurs are Inside entrepreneurs who follow the goal of the organization.

So what would push a hardened entrepreneur to switch gears ? From my own experience, I can talk about a combination of variables.

Time with family
As en entrepreneur, the family is usually the stakeholder that is the least satisfied in the entrepreneur's ecosystem. In order to keep my clients, my suppliers, my employees and my investors satisfied, it often demanded super-human patience and understanding from the ones I love. Funny how the first people in your heart are sometimes the last in your calendar.

My wife works with Child Protective Services and the job isn't an easy one. I often say that I get to meet and work with the cream of society, while her clientèle are child abusers and neglecters... the bottom of the barrel in my mind. And soon our third boy is going to see the light of day and it was a bit of a wake-up call for me. Are we both going to keep living fast lives where I am preoccupied by demanding clients and she is preoccupied with emergency abuse situations ? I certainly don't want to reflect back on my life and say I should have spent more time with them.

Focus
An entrepreneur has to learn to juggle multiple hats and perform tasks that are often outside their unique ability. Focusing on this unique ability is a luxury that most can't afford, especially in the beginning phases of startup life. In my current role, I can focus on one expertise : digital strategies. I help internal and external clients optimize their content and digital reach.

Learning
One of the reasons I joined a corporation was that I was seeking new experiences and new learning opportunities. I've done the entrepreneur thing for 11 years, and while I still have lots to learn, I felt I have sufficiently experienced it... for now. This certainly does not preclude the fact that I will return to my own business in the future.

Colleagues
I was a consultant for the company a couple of months before joining them, so I got to appreciate the team there. They are believers in the mission, they are experts in their field and they are genuinely nice people.

Challenge and openness for change
Finally, the organization has demonstrated a huge appetite for change in the media industry. They are Canada's biggest paper publisher and their understanding of future growth potentials in the digital world is refreshing and motivating.

The people and the challenges were the most important factor in my decision process.

Now, I'm addicted to startups, so to help my weaning process, I still
- mentor and coach Montreal tech start-ups
- teach engineers at the Bachelor's and Master's level how to start and sustain their businesses
- participate actively in the Montreal tech startup community

Oh, and I will still keep blogging on entrepreneurship and strategies in this space...

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