Humans of AUP: David Biais
“I’ve been an entrepreneur for 10 years. I went to law school and I realized it wasn’t for me. Then I did some movie production for 8 years, but at some point I got fed up with the whole system where you had to be nice to people you didn’t like just to be able to work or find work. At some point I decided that I didn’t want to do that anymore, so I entered a company consulting military businesses on defense and terrorism and did that for three years.”
Image Credit: Sarah Plattes
"I found a product in Korea that I decided to buy and brought back to France. It was a little plant in a plastic capsule and I built a company out of it"
“While I was travelling around the world, I found a product in Korea that I decided to buy and brought back to France. It was a little plant in a plastic capsule and I built a company out of it. A brand called Baby Tree. Every time I sold one I donated some money to an NGO who planted trees all over the world. It became some kind of green promotional item for corporate companies filing to say ‘We’re green, guys! It’s not just an item we’re giving you, it’s something special and we’re planting trees.'”
Image Credit: Sarah Plattes
“A few years later I was at a party in Copenhagen with my current business partner, Ibrahim, who had just stopped working in an Italian restaurant. There was a food truck there and I was already curious about the business so that's how the idea came to us. We built a concept without a truck, food, or anything. Sold the idea to corporate companies and then after gaining 20 clients we rented a truck and started the business. A year after that, AUP got in contact with us for their 50th anniversary. It was a successful night and former students kept asking ‘How come we don’t have this?’"
Image Credit: Sarah Plattes
"Whatever you do and however tired you are, whenever I come back home and see her smiling, it makes it all worth it"
“My girlfriend and I welcomed our first child together this year. I think if you spend too much time worrying about what’s going to happen to your child when you bring it into this world, you don’t make a child. Being an entrepreneur was like having children, and so I never wanted a child until two years ago. Maybe it’s because I’m older and I felt more secure about having a steady business in The Amex Cafe at AUP. The mood and ambience of the place is getting back to how it used to be 10 years ago. But back to my kid. I love it! It is the best experience you can have in your life. It’s tiring but it also gives you so much energy and positivity. Whatever you do and however tired you are, whenever I come back home and see her smiling, it makes it all worth it.”
Image Credit: Sarah Plattes
"I was doing multiple jobs until I was 33 when I decided I wanted to be my own boss."
“One of the best things my father did for me: he was investing in me as long as I was studying but the day I decided not to go to law school anymore he said, ‘In 20 days from now you aren’t going to school anymore, which means that in 20 days from now you’re out of the house and I won’t give you money’. It was the best thing anyone did for me because I had to take care of myself. All you students have the opportunity to be here thanks to your parents and it is a gift. But it's not always a positive experience. Some students lose their way because they don’t know what to do with their lives. Their parents never asked them what they would like to do. But once you’re out of school, real life starts. Most of you will be fine. Don’t worry, you’re in your 20s. Who knows what they want to do in their 20s? It takes time. I was doing multiple jobs until I was 33 when I decided I wanted to be my own boss. I quit everything and the first company I made worked! It was an amazing experience. Once you succeed in the first one it doesn’t matter if the next one fails; you know that eventually you will succeed. And that’s entrepreneurship; you go up, you come down.”
Here is a video of the Super Bowl 50 at The Amex:
