Adopt a CTO: the success story of Olivier Czapka, project leader of 'MaPool'

How does a CEO with an idea get started? By adopting a CTO! 

Olivier Czapka, project leader of 'MaPool':

"When you announce your plan to start a business, everyone is quick to offer contradictory advice.

Whilst some roll their eyes in pity and encourage you to “raise funds and outsource your production”, others, more pitifully still, tell you: “Above all, do not outsource: manage your production yourself, be close to your ‘dev’, keep a grip on your funds, etc.”

My priority, meanwhile, has always been to move my project forward in an effective and good-humoured manner.

And so, I decided that in order to do so, the best route would be to combine forces, and make up for my lack of technical skills by adopting a CTO.

That’s how I ended up at Le Camping's event 'Adopt a CTO'.

CTOs, CEOs and an electric atmosphere

On arriving in the room, the mood is electric – there are around 100 people, CTOs and CEOs all mixed up together. Everyone is talking to each other, and I am alone with my nameless and logo-less project.

Then, the pitching session begins: you have just one minute to convince your audience. The CEOs pass one after the other with their pitches. Now it’s my turn – I panic, I present my project, I receive the “best pitch award” and everyone starts talking once again.

It’s a simply euphoric feeling; you want to talk to everyone so as not to miss out on any potential opportunities. Pierre is the first to introduce himself to me: “It’s funny," he says, “I’ve just come back from the U.S. and I’d really like to get involved in a project like yours…”

Working together towards a shared dream

After that, Pierre and I met up and shared our visions on work, the project and life in general.

Today we are associates and we unite our respective experiences and skills to bring to life our shared dream.

Of course, outside of the dream there are a lot of practical matters. We have undertaken a huge amount of work on the design of the final product as well as on our development strategy. Even at this early stage we already have a few Business Angels who are interested in our project.

The coming months promise to be very exciting indeed."

'Adopt A CTO' is back on the 1st April! Find out more here, and sign up here