*
Equity
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Strategic Alliances
* I invested without understanding anything... but I understood the basics
He was 19 years old.
Barely out of his teens, he had that mixture of quiet confidence and inner fire that only true enthusiasts possess. He came to see me, a little intimidated but sure of himself, to talk to me about his project. It was a tech project, clearly ambitious and probably complex. He wasn't asking for much financially. But I could see in his eyes that it meant a lot to him.
I listened to him. For a long time. He spoke quickly and precisely, stringing together concepts I didn't understand and terms I had never heard before. I nodded, concentrating, not to pretend, but to grasp something other than the words. What I was looking for wasn't technical understanding. It was a deeper signal: does he know what he's doing? Does he really believe in what he's saying? Does he have a clear vision, even if I can't see it yet?
At the end of the conversation, I told him yes. Yes, I'll invest.
When he left, my colleague, who had been present throughout the conversation, turned to me, a little taken aback:
“Did you understand what he was saying? Because I honestly didn't.”
I smiled. “No, neither did I.”
She remained silent, surprised. Then she asked, almost worried: “So... why did you agree?”
And I simply replied: “Because he understood. He knows exactly where he's going. He has a plan, energy, conviction. And that's worth more than any business plan.”
Two years later, that investment was worth a hundred times what I had put into it.
But deep down, it's not the return that sticks with me. What sticks with me is that on that day, I chose to trust. I bet on a person, not on an Excel spreadsheet. I bet on intelligence, clarity, and inner fire.
And that's the kind of intuition that no algorithm will ever replace.
It's people who make projects happen, not business plans
It's people who make projects happen, not business plans
Investing isn't just about allocating resources; it's about choosing to be part of a story in motion. Behind every project, every team, every strategic insight, there's more than just potential for profitability—there's a vision, an ambition, a creative tension between what exists and what remains to be built.
A true investment is never neutral. It is an act of informed faith, a deep commitment that goes beyond numbers. It means accepting the discomfort of the new, the fertile doubt of innovation, and the imperfect but sincere momentum of a team that wants to transform something in its own way.
At *athoé, we are not just looking for returns. We are looking for meaning, convictions, and models that challenge the status quo. We invest in human energy, in ideas that disrupt, in structures that evolve, and in stories that transform. Each investment becomes a co-construction: an active partnership, a constant conversation, an alliance in the service of a desirable future.
We believe that value is built on relationships, on longevity, on the ability to navigate cycles without losing sight of the goal. Cultivating trust, bringing out collective intelligence, providing support without imposing a mold—that's what makes the difference for us between injecting capital and truly contributing to a project.
Investing means taking a stand. It means committing to seeing further, listening more deeply, and acting with rigor and kindness. It means participating not only in what the project is, but in what it can become.
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