Maya Noël: from finance to the top of tech

Following various internships in finance with corporate clients and then with the general management of an SME in the luxury ready-to-wear sector, I realized that I was more suited to working in a small structure, close to management, and that the sector was just as important to me as the position I held. What's more, I realized that despite my business school diploma, I hadn't yet been confronted enough with sales situations, and that I absolutely had to learn how to prospect if I wanted to set up my own business one day. With this in mind, and thanks to the network, I joined Mobiskill, a recruitment agency set up by a TBS alumnus, as its first employee. In addition to helping with the company's business development, my day-to-day work consisted of matching companies and projects with candidates.

Two years later, I launched my own company. On the borderline between entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship, I teamed up with the founders of Mobiskill and an engineer I'd recruited from a scale-up company, to create YBorder. A platform that matched job vacancies with candidates located all over Europe. Human contact and networking were still my day-to-day business, and having grown up in a family of entrepreneurs, I'd always wanted to start my own business. It was the perfect opportunity.
Creating YBorder was an obvious choice for me. I knew the main issues and needs of the tech job market.
In the end, I had a wonderful four years that enabled me to remove certain psychological barriers, experience the ups and downs of entrepreneurial life, and develop a number of skills.

"It's important to get started even if everything isn't perfect, because it's by doing that you learn. If you're motivated and believe in your idea, go for it and give yourself the means to see it through. Where there's a will, there's a way."

At the same time, the very essence of my job and my involvement with StartHer (an association now known as Sista) have enabled me to continue developing my network and making encounters that have greatly influenced the course of my career, without necessarily being intentional. I'm a great believer in the concept of serendipity!

"It's by developing your network and creating connections that you provoke opportunities." As part of YBorder's actions, I joined the France Digitale association in 2017 to campaign for the creation of a simplified visa for foreign developers (a battle won in 2019 with the creation of the French Tech Visa). At the time, I could never have imagined working for this association, or even heading it.

As chance would have it, I met Frédéric Mazzella (founder of Blablacar), who at the time had launched the "Reviens-Léon" initiative aimed at promoting the French tech ecosystem internationally, and inspiring expatriate French engineers and tech entrepreneurs to come back home (a reference to the Panzani advert from the 80s). This project had many similarities with YBorder, and we were very much aligned in our vision of innovation and the place France and Europe should take. As a result, he took over the presidency of France Digitale and asked me to join the team of permanent staff to take the initiative a step further and professionalize the association. So I made my debut in 2019 and took over as director in 2021, after having held a number of different positions.

France Digitale has been fighting since 2012 to see innovation champions emerge in Europe. We are both a professional network and an educational lobby that federates and defends the interests of the entire French ecosystem of startups, scale-ups and venture capital funds.

In concrete terms, we create bridges and business opportunities between all players in innovation, whether they be major corporations, public decision-makers, investors, entrepreneurs or employees of startups and scale-ups. We help entrepreneurs save time by sharing experiences, best practices and best tools. And finally, we launch awareness campaigns aimed at politicians and the general public.

As Director of the association, I'm in constant contact with our 20 elected directors and I manage a team of 25 permanent staff, but above all I continue to do the same job as when I started, which is to put the right people in touch with each other so that everything aligns and opportunities emerge.

I'd say you shouldn't be afraid to think outside the box, and above all you should dare to initiate professional meetings, because it's through these that you open up new horizons.

"Be bold, dare to change, give yourself the means to follow through on your ideas! "