Dean: So please join me in welcoming, very loudly, Victor Lugger and Tigrane Seydoux, co-founders of Big Mamma and Sunday. I have to say one thing. I'm actually quite surprised they invited you again, because the last time Victor was here on this campus, he literally set it on fire. Victor: Come on... Dean: Well... 50 fire trucks, 3,000 students evacuated... Victor: I was trying to roast coffee! Tigrane: They say they're the impossible... Victor: Have you not heard the saying? Dean: Well, I've heard another saying: Don't burn the campus, Victor. Victor: Well... yes. Thank you. Thank you, Dean. Thank you, HEC. It's pretty rare, for a graduation speech, but today we're not going to tell you what we built. We're going to tell you what built us. There's one thing about being a duo—two partners, Tigrane and I. When we graduated twenty years ago, we were too focused on what to do next. What city to live in. What first job. What, what, what... But the few choices that really made a difference in our lives were never about the what. They were always about the who. And as many of you are about to make some of the biggest decisions of your lives, we'd like to share a few stories about how people shaped our path. Our first story starts with my best friend of over twenty years. Actually, since the day I was born. His name was Aurélien. He was my brother. In 2008, he took his own life. I was twenty-one years old, in my final year here at HEC. Before the phone rang, I didn't even know he was depressed. Aurélien had done everything right. He had become a successful diplomat. He had the right degree. The right job. The right title. The right what. But the who around him had broken him. The people. The environment. The culture of the team he had joined. It killed him. And we didn't see it coming. I was sitting here, in the very same chairs you're sitting in today. My brother's death gave me the greatest clarity of my life. At the time, I had a golden ticket. A job offer from one of the most prestigious investment banks in the world. Everything was set for what looked like a successful career. But I turned it down. Instead, I chose to follow my intuition—to pursue something I could truly feel in my blood. Something that genuinely excited me. Something that surprised me. Unlike Aurélien, I wanted to work in a place where people could be seen. Where people could be heard. Where people could be happy. And, as simple as it sounds, that place was restaurants. So don't wait for someone to die before asking yourself: What will truly make you happy? Not successful. Not rich. Not recognised. But proud. Passionate. Don't try to fulfil your parents' dream. Don't spend your life ticking the boxes others expect you to tick. If you aren't impatient to wake up in the morning and get to work, then you're simply not being ambitious enough. I remember, in the very early days of Big Mamma, we were sitting with a journalist. She asked us, "Are your customers always right?" And this guy answered, "I don't care about my customers." I was livid. Where on earth was he going with this? Then he added, "We care about our team. Our team cares about our customers." From that day on, everything became infinitely clear. We had to become more ambitious than simply chasing the what. It had to be about pursuing the who. Looking back, all of our best decisions were never really about ideas. I mean... we cook pizzas. They were about betting on unexpected people. And let us give you a few examples. Thirteen years ago, we said to each other: "Why don't we recruit only Italian people for our Italian restaurants?" Why not? OK, let's do it. Two years later, we were employing more than a thousand Italians in Paris. Everyone was telling us we were crazy. But it created the most joyful company culture we could have imagined. Then we asked ourselves: "Why don't we work only with people we love?" Small, family-run producers in Italy. Why don't we even raise our own cows? Have our own trucks? Fifteen years later, we still work with more than 200 of them. They've grown with us. If you can believe it. Then one day we asked ourselves: "Why don't we bet on this guy?" His name is Samba. Yes, Samba. Samba arrived at Big Mamma when he was twenty-one years old as a dishwasher. He had come from Mali after a journey so brutal that, the day he told me about it, I cried. Samba was incredible. Four years later, he was managing thirty pizzaioli at La Felicità, one of the biggest restaurants in Europe. Guys, that's probably the greatest lesson restaurants have taught us. Restaurants are a people business. If you only do the expected things, you'll only get the expected results. But every time we've bet on someone unexpected, they've taken us somewhere unexpected. To this day, the two of us still live by one golden rule. You're young. Go grab a beer—or two. It's OK. Have crazy ideas. Write them down. And the next day... Do them. Our second story... ...is actually a superhero story. Imagine having a superpower: Never arguing with anyone. Not your family. Not your partner. Not your colleagues. Never. Well... Tigrane and I seem to have that superpower with each other. In thirteen years, we have never argued. We've never raised our voices. We've never left the room angry. Not once. People find that hard to believe. And it's certainly not because we haven't had reasons to. We disagree all the time. We've lived through crises. We've been close to bankruptcy. We've had it all. I guess we just got lucky... Because we're perfectly capable of arguing with plenty of other people. Trust me. My first wife left me three months after we got married. So I'm probably not doing everything right. So... What's so special between us? Three things. Three rules. Rule number one: Don't marry an idea. Marry a partner. Let me explain. When I was your age, I had huge dreams. I wanted to save the world. My first venture, in sustainable development, failed. My second venture, trying to reinvent education, also failed. Then I met this guy. As Dean Eloïc mentioned, for six months we searched for the defining idea. A revolutionary idea. Something huge. Nothing came. The only thing that became obvious—palpable—was that every time Tigrane was in the room, all my fears... ...the many fears of a young man facing life... ...all my insecurities... ...simply disappeared. And I thought: "Whatever I do... I want to do it with him." So we stopped looking for an idea. And I joined his project. Do you know what that project was? A chain of pancake restaurants. Not exactly how you change the world. But it didn't matter. Because we were together. Exactly the same thing happened with Sunday, our second venture. At first, we had a small idea for a side business. Then our friend Christine—someone we'd known for ten years in Paris—was moving back to the United States. She's an absolute rock star. Together with her, we realised we could dream ten times bigger. So we tore up our original plan. We started again. The three of us. Ready to conquer America. It's actually exactly the same in your personal life. I didn't decide that I wanted to live in London... ...have three children... ...or spend my summers hiking in the mountains... ...before I chose my wife. We chose each other. And then, over the next ten years, we figured out the plan together. So if you already know—or think you already know—exactly where you're going... ...it's very difficult to build a true partnership. Start with the who. Not the what. Rule number two: Partner 50–50. It's pretty simple. Everything I own in my business life, Victor owns half of. We are fifty-fifty. Many brilliant investors will tell you that's a terrible idea. They'll say it leads to deadlock. We completely disagree. Yes, every penny he earns, I earn. But if I have a sleepless night... ...so does he. And when this guy gets invited to give a graduation speech... ...so do I. And when we disagree—which happens—we have no choice but to sit down and talk it through. It's actually exactly the same in your marriage or your friendships. If you're not fifty-fifty, someone has to be the boss. And then you don't have a partner. You have a passenger. Rule number three: Treat your partner as the most important person in your life. As a child, Tigrane was taught something very simple. When you meet someone important—or powerful, whatever that means—don't become part of their problems. Become part of the solution. While writing this speech, I realised that's exactly how he's treated me for the past thirteen years. As if I were some kind of VIP. So what exactly did he do? It's actually very simple. And maybe a little counterintuitive. He never expected anything from me. Never. Never: "I need Victor to do this." "If only Victor would deliver that." "Is Victor doing enough for me?" No. Never. Instead, he always focused on one side of the relationship. His own. He kept asking himself: "How can I make him proud?" "How can I be there for him?" "Can I be kinder?" "Can I be more present?" And I tried to do exactly the same for him. Guys, we're not saying it's easy. But if I can go thirteen years without ever getting angry with Tigrane... ...how do I allow myself to get angry at home? So don't keep score. Don't focus on what other people owe you. Because if there's one thing we've learned in thirteen years, it's this: If your partner is the most important person in your life... ...act like it. The grass is greener where you water it. Now, as we conclude... ...we'd like to ask you all to stand up. Please put your hand on your neighbour's shoulder. Like this. Everyone. Can we also ask the faculty to join us on stage? Please. All together. Please, please, please. I don't know if you can hear us... ...but this is exactly what we do with our entire team at Big Mamma before opening our restaurants every day. Conclusion Many entrepreneurs will tell you, in speeches like this, that you have to dream big. And we know. We've probably said it ourselves. But today, our message is different. Think who, not what. Look around this room. Or maybe even beyond it. One day, you'll meet someone who will change your life. A friend you'll travel the world with. A business partner. A husband. A wife. Focus on that. Because that person will become both the beginning and the end of every dream you ever have. You will grow old with that person. And when life gets hard—and it will— don't question the relationship. Fight for it. Never give up. Think who, not what. Thank you. [Applause]