Rébecca Menat

@RebMelMen | LinkedIn Profile

I started working at The Assets as the Content Director of the company – which means I’ve been in charge of writing and curating content delivered across various channels – and I have recently been appointed as the Director of Communication.

How would you characterize the FinTech / start-up scene in Paris as compared to London, Berlin, or New York City?

Admittedly, the Parisian startup scene is seen as more nascent than its London, Berlin and NYC counterparts. But the very fact that it has not yet come to maturity gives entrepreneurs the feeling that everything is still possible. Incubators are popping up all over the place and an increasing number of graduates are turning to entrepreneurship or taking a job at a startup, instead of working in an established company. On the other side, investors are becoming a little less timorous. The entrepreneurial mood is taking root in the City of Light! With regards to Fintech, the main stakeholders have taken the bull by the horns: with 35 other companies, The Assets co-founded France Fintech to bring the members of this ecosystem together under one roof and increase its visibility worldwide. All of this has been facilitated by the attitude of the French government which is putting an emphasis on digital affairs and Fintech in particular. Given our political culture, this is a huge move that could make the Paris startup ecosystem as strong as the US or UK one.

The diversity numbers within the tech community have received quite a bit of attention lately. What has your experience been with respect to this issue? Do you believe it is improving?

I think it’s great to raise awareness about the lack of diversity within tech – and male-dominated sectors in general. I feel like a lot of men now feel concerned by the issue, and are actively trying to increase the level of diversity within their company, while others are doing so just to communicate about it. Whatever the intentions, things are getting better. At the same time, education should take note and aim to give girls and boys exactly the same spectrum of studies. Engineering schools are still full of guys in France, but it’s primarily because girls think it’s not for them! It will take time to change this. And it will take time to get rid of the age-old patriarchal model so that women can feel equal to men when they enter the workplace.

What key career advice would you provide to younger women interested in participating in FinTech?

Just don’t think of yourself as a woman! The question of gender shouldn’t even exist when it comes to work. Being a very young sector, Fintech is embracing this modern attitude, so it’s highly unlikely that you’re going to encounter someone who won’t consider your opinion simply because you’re not a dude.

Several countries in the Nordics have introduced quota’s with respect to the number of women serving on company boards. Do you agree with this approach?

As I said before, I believe there shouldn’t be a gender bias at work. So I don’t quite like the principle of quotas. However, I wonder if we can truly reach equality without this transition stage, which consists of supporting the minority to come forward.

Who(m) do you believe has had the most influencing with respect to influencing your own career?

My mum! First, as a role model: the one of an independent woman. And because she never treated me as “a girl” when giving me career guidance. She actually pushed me to go to engineering school! I didn’t in the end, but I understood at a very young age that being female shouldn’t prevent me from achieving any of my ambitions. Actually, both my parents raised with the idea that nothing was “for girls” or “for boys”. It was only later that I discovered that some people thought this way!

Who do you consider to be strong women leaders in the banking / FinTech space?

In France, I would definitely say Céline Lazorthes, who founded Leetchi.com when she was 27. Her company is now very well known in France and is a prominent member of France Fintech. More generally, I think Eileen Burbidge is very inspiring: as one of the most prominent UK Fintech investors, she is certainly leading the way for many others!

What do you see as the leading future trend for FinTech?

As we are positioned as a B2B company, I’ll give you an answer for this sector: optimization. I believe that companies are going to embrace the sharing economy and become conscious of the value of their underutilized resources. Optimizing their resources means more agility, more cash, and being able to innovate at a faster pace. The Assets was born with the intention of helping all companies achieve this!