Episode #34. Hi there! I'm Gilles, repeat entrepreneur and author of The Timestamp. I hope you enjoyed ‘NFTs for Dummies’ we published last Sunday. This week, we are lucky to get a special guest, Emmanuel Arnaud, CEO of HomeExchange. He is a graduate of HEC Paris business school and the Harvard Kennedy School (Arthur-Sachs Fellow).

A few months ago, we were lucky to interview Emmanuel. Very lucky because you will not find a lot about Emmanuel on the internet. In this interview, he shares in The Timestamp his favorite books, podcasts, and where he gets his inspiration.

Who is your major source of inspiration?

I do not have one person who is a significant source of inspiration. Rather I try to be inspired by many people from the small and great things they do. I tend to be cautious of idealizing one person too much, no matter what their accomplishments are.

How do you keep learning on a daily basis?

By setting new challenges for myself and the company, which requires me to evolve in my role and hence to learn.

What are your learning routines?

I am action-oriented, so I seek knowledge to reach a specific goal, and once that goal has been reached, I move on to the next challenge and learning opportunity.

What are your favorite books and why?

Honestly, much of what I read are sci-fi or fantasy books - I especially love anything by Brandon Sanderson because, well, they are simply awesome. In terms of management/start-up books, the one that has most influenced me is The Lean Startup. I am struck by how often, even today, it helps me cut to the bone of an issue and find a way to test things rather than speculate about them.

What is your favorite podcast and why?

My favorite podcast is a French podcast called Les Baladeurs (which translates as "The wanderers"). It features in-depth interviews with modern-day explorers, like people who studied chimpanzees in the heart of the jungle, or who traveled aboard the International Space Station, or wildlife photographers focusing on extreme climates, etc. The more I found myself under lockdown and with my freedom to move restricted by Covid, the more I became an avid listener of these amazing stories about the great outdoors.

How do you remember what you learn?

I tend to forget most of what I learn since I learn many technical things necessary to get a specific action done but are useless afterward (e.g., specific legal, fiscal, and financial intricacies). As for the more important lessons, I am afraid the way I remember them best is by making a mistake and then making sure I never make the same mistake twice.

What would you tell the 18-year-old version of yourself?

Relax and believe in yourself.

What is the most important thing you learned over the last 12 months?

How to lower the bar. With four kids at home, with schools closed and Covid hitting the business hard, and moving the family from the US to France, I had a lot on my plate. Giving up often on some aspects of what I thought of as "normal" really helped me. For instance: having the kids in PJs all day long? That's OK. Being late for Zoom calls and having them with a toddler on my lap? That's OK. Pizza dinner for the 3rd day in a row? That's OK. Being behind on work all the time? That's OK. I think the trick here is to find what matters, whether professionally or personally, and making sure I get that right while giving up on most of the rest.

What is the biggest challenge you had to overcome this year?

Hmmm... Covid?

If you were to stay alone on an island and could only bring one item, what would it be?

A book on "how to get off islands where you're stranded alone..."

More about HomeExchange and/or Emmanuel Arnaud:

🎙Podcast “40 nuances de Next / Episode 23” where co-founders Emmanuel Arnaud & Charles-Edouard Girard are interviewed by Olivier Mathiot & Thomas Benzazon (link to the podcast click here 🇫🇷).

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See you next Sunday!

🚨🚨🚨 Rare Interview with an expert of the …

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