Why I am joining Scortex

I am writing this blog in December 2020 from INSEAD’s Singapore campus. In February I will be joining Scortex, a startup in Paris. I want to explain why I am making this decision, not only to the world but to my future self.

I am often encouraged to write more. The act of writing not only helps clarify your thoughts, but you get more feedback from others with public writing than other mediums. As I am writing I have 4 followers on Medium, so I hope just writing clarifies my thoughts enough as I imagine feedback will be limited.

So lets get to it

There are 4 reasons I am joining Scortex

The first reason is fit, both in sector and function. My background is in manufacturing as a quality engineer and project manager. After INSEAD I wanted to move into the technology sector. Scortex is a technology company focused on manufacturing quality, and I will be working in a project management role…. Basically as close to a perfect match as I could have hoped for.

The second reason is the people. Working with Aymeric, the CEO, has really got me excited to join. He has a really clear vision for Scortex, and has attracted a great team around him. When joining a small company a large part of the bet is on the people not the product, and I feel happy in this choice.

The third reason is the product and vision. The product is simply exciting. Bringing ML to the factory floor to make manufacturing things more efficient is exactly the impact I want to have on the world.

The final reason is I wanted my decisions to be more consequential and visible. In most big companies you are protected from the consequences of your decisions and actions until you are a P&L or function owner. Even then in a large organisation there are so many parts of the company that it can be hard to identify your role in success or failure. With Scortex being small my performance will have consequences that I will have to answer for, good or bad.