Articles
Le Journal du Dimanche – The Companies that are Withstanding the Crisis
Published 2009-02-01
Rentabiliweb Earns with Every Click
IN THE HIGHLY FORMAL WORLD of business, Jean-Baptiste Descroix-Vernier is a surprising figure. At 38 years of age, this former business lawyer turned company head from Lyon, lives on a barge in Amsterdam, remains passionate about theology and video games, wears a kilt and has his hair in dreadlocks, Rasta-style plaited ringlets. This does not prevent him from making a thriving success of Rentabiliweb, the cyber-SME that he founded and floated on the Stock Exchange, and of which he still holds 57 % of the capital. “Unlike most people who have made a fortune, I have not adopted the uniform, he proclaims. That does not make any difference to my balance sheets. But it is true that people are less forgiving when you have dreadlocks than if you have a smart tie. ”
The kilt-wearing company head captivated the Chairman and Managing Director of LVMH, Bernard Arnault
Rentabiliweb provides a range of tools allowing websites to make cash: an online advertising network, Audiotel surcharged telephone services and surcharged SMS messages. For the 2008 financial year, for which its accounts will be disclosed in March, the company forecasts a turnover of €60 to €65 million (as compared with 50 million for 2007) and a net income of €7 million, minimum. This growth is set to continue in the current year. “We are feeling the effects of the crisis say Jean-Baptiste Descroix-Vernier on his barge in Amsterdam, but it also has positive effects for us. The more websites need to bring money in, the more they are going to turn to us”, analyses Jean-Baptiste Descroix-Vernier.
Proof of the attractiveness of his model, the list of his partners looks like a telephone directory of the élite of the business world. Amongst his investors are Bernard Arnault, head of LVMH, and Stéphane Courbit, the former king of reality TV. They own 6.3 % et 10.3 % of the capital respectively. Jean-Marie Messier and Alain Madelin are also recent additions to his board of directors. Enough to boost the renown of the company – and that of its head. “I am not trying to attract the famous, but rather men with the most useful skills for the company” the man himself affirms.
Jean-Baptiste Descroix-Vernier describes himself as “aggressive and ambitious”. He directs his 110 employees – known as “ninjas”, a nickname usually given to hackers in reference to their agility – with a rod of iron. Most of the “underground programmers”, according to the chairman and managing director’s expression, are recruited in Romania and Russia. “Behind the success, there are courageous teams who work hard” he proclaims. His sense of strategy does the rest. In three years, he has created hundreds of websites (games, personal meetings/dating etc.) which attract 38 million visitors a month. He has widened his range of activities with direct marketing and has just launched the Justice privée website, a conflict arbitration service for private individuals. There also remains the company’s continuing external growth. After the acquisition of the Montorgueil publisher of adult websites in 2007, he abandoned his project of buying out his competitor Hi-media in mid-January, because of marked differences of corporate culture. This is not likely to discourage this “aggressive” company head, who describes himself as “forearmed should an opportunity arise”.