The students were more ‘blugh’ than ‘bla’ this morning as we all piled on the bus at 07:30am en route to BlaBlaCar headquarters in Paris. BlaBlaCar is an innovative car sharing service, which builds trust based on personal ratings and encourages conversation during, what, would have been long, boring journeys. BlaBlaCar’s values of ‘Fun&Serious’, fashion a workspace that resembles more of an adult playground than a traditional office. Dorky photo booths, modern granola dispensers, randomly placed foam cubes, colouring-in books, and colourful bunting and wall decoration impressed the students. It also helped that, upon arrival, we were presented with an impressive Parisian breakfast banquet in the headquarters’ lobby. Intrigued by the layout of the headquarters, students settled into a presentation and discussion by Nicolas Brusson, co-founder of BlaBlaCar.
Monsieur Brusson introduced his adventure of establishing and building a start-up. Marcus asked about the branding of the company – what importance does the brand of ‘BlaBla’ have, and its affects it has on the company’s business model of rapid expansion. Monsieur Brusson also discussed the strategy for expanding outside of France and Europe, and Sarah enquired about how the company built a successful relationship of trust between strangers. After a tour around the offices upstairs, some students began to envision themselves working in a similar environment of creativity and innovation, however Counsellor Jules was particularly passionate about our visit to BlaBlaCars, as he contributes to the Ambassador team!
The afternoon saw Summer@INSEAD students take over Les Champs Elysees for a couple hours. While some opted for 20+ chicken nuggets each, the girls took the opportunity to explore the famous boutiques of Paris, the delicious macaroons and the counsellors indulged in a family sized bread basket for lunch.
After some free time exploring Les Champs Elysees, we convened at Les Frigos in the 13th quartier of Paris. Les Frigos is an area famed for street art and community life. Despite being taught from an early age not to draw on walls… students branded Summer@INSEAD in paint, as well as taking the opportunity to tag their names on the wall in a graffiti workshop.
We arrived back home late, and enjoyed another filling INSEAD dinner, and off to bed, with dreams (or perhaps nightmares) of the YFCD filled day to come…
Monsieur Brusson introduced his adventure of establishing and building a start-up. Marcus asked about the branding of the company – what importance does the brand of ‘BlaBla’ have, and its affects it has on the company’s business model of rapid expansion. Monsieur Brusson also discussed the strategy for expanding outside of France and Europe, and Sarah enquired about how the company built a successful relationship of trust between strangers. After a tour around the offices upstairs, some students began to envision themselves working in a similar environment of creativity and innovation, however Counsellor Jules was particularly passionate about our visit to BlaBlaCars, as he contributes to the Ambassador team!
The afternoon saw Summer@INSEAD students take over Les Champs Elysees for a couple hours. While some opted for 20+ chicken nuggets each, the girls took the opportunity to explore the famous boutiques of Paris, the delicious macaroons and the counsellors indulged in a family sized bread basket for lunch.
After some free time exploring Les Champs Elysees, we convened at Les Frigos in the 13th quartier of Paris. Les Frigos is an area famed for street art and community life. Despite being taught from an early age not to draw on walls… students branded Summer@INSEAD in paint, as well as taking the opportunity to tag their names on the wall in a graffiti workshop.
We arrived back home late, and enjoyed another filling INSEAD dinner, and off to bed, with dreams (or perhaps nightmares) of the YFCD filled day to come…
Eleanor Bett
Counsellor at Summer@INSEAD