A lifelong entrepreneur, Fabrice Sergent is the Founder and CEO of Cellfish, one of the largest mobile and social media application publishers with a reach to over 150 million music, sports and entertainment fans around the world. He is a media and Internet entrepreneur with 20 years of experience. He is based in the company’s New York headquarters.
Under Sergent’s leadership, the company has completed three successful acquisitions since its founding in 2004: Bandsintown, the No. 1 concert discovery application with over 10 million registered users, ToneMedia, a leading digital advertising platform built solely around music content reaching 120 million consumers every month, and Cellfish Studios (formerly Airborne Mobile), a mobile app publisher.
Today, Cellfish generates nearly $100 million in revenue and employs a global team of 240 across offices in New York, San Diego, Paris, Montréal, and Düsseldorf.
Sergent also serves as chair of the Advisory Board for the Mobile Giving Foundation, for which Cellfish provides the technology platform in order to process mobile-giving transactions that empower non-profit organizations and donors. In 1995, Sergent was the Founder, Chairman and CEO of Club-Internet, one of the first and largest French consumer ISPs, which was purchased in 2000 by Deutsche Telekom’s T-Online (the largest European ISP) for a historical €1.2 billion transaction, a landmark deal in the European new media space for its time.
Sergent also served for 11 years as the CEO of Lagardère Active Broadband, the digital arm of Lagardère, one of the world’s largest media groups headquartered in Paris. Between 1998 and 2006, he served as a member of the Executive Board of the TV and radio subsidiary of Lagardère (Lagardère Active).
Additionally, Sergent served as a member of the supervisory board of Deutsche Telekom’s T-Online for many years while it was a public company, and a board member for Europe1 Interactive, Hachette Multimedia and Le Monde Interactif. Sergent holds an MBA from Institut Telecom.
He is married, has two children and resides in Westchester County in New York.
Fabrice belongs to Internet Pioneers in France and to this exclusive club of Frenchy entrepreneurs who are now very successful in the US…In many ways, we can feel that he even thinks and executes his business like an American !
That is a chance for us since Fabrice is one of those who can teach us how to grow HIGH & FAST !
Fabrice is also this kind of guy who doesn’t forget to pay homage to his father…and on Frenchy, we like that !
Many thanks Fabrice and a very warm WELCOME on Frenchy !!!
Frenchy : Your favorite word(s) ?
Fabrice : Life, Fight, Light, Bright, Happy, Funny, Hope…
Frenchy : What would you change if you had a magic wand ?
Fabrice : Children shouldn’t get serious diseases or be handicapped. I just can’t stand this unfairness.
Frenchy : What is your favorite quote ?
Fabrice : Impose your good fortune, Hold on to your happiness and walk toward (your) risk. Watching you, they will get used to it. – René Char
Stay hungry. Stay foolish. – Steve Jobs
Frenchy : What could seduce you immediately ?
Fabrice : Why not who? Just kidding…!
Jazz or Electronic Music, creative thinking, human beings: I like people.
Frenchy : What is, according to you, the secret of happiness ?
Fabrice : Everyone should have their own recipe. Being curious, open minded, able to detect instants of happiness when other wouldn’t. Being driven by a cause, a belief.
Frenchy : If you were a dessert ?
Fabrice : I am not a dessert. I would prefer to cook the meal rather than be the meal.
Frenchy : What in your day to day life remains so French/American ?
Fabrice : Don’t want to send clichés.
Frenchy : What do you enjoy the most in the US/Fr way of life ?
Fabrice : Being different is a chance not a handicap in this country.
Frenchy : In the US, failing is seen as the first step to be successful later, how to bring such a state of mind in France ?
Fabrice : Very French way to ask this question !
Americans are risk takers and consequently admit the possibility / likelihood of failure. There is no risk without the risk to fail. So, the question is more about bringing the values of risk taking to the French culture. That comes with the ability to grow respect for success and value the effort to succeed.
Frenchy : Who are the 3 entrepreneurs who most inspire you ?
Fabrice : Besides My Father (who no one knows)?
Steve Jobs definitely brought a rare legacy, which combines not only product innovations which changed the world, but also the way he approached entrepreneurship and innovation.
I do admire many others such as Maurice Levy from Publicis, Mark Zuckerberg, and the Google founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin.
Frenchy : The 3 most promising French/US start-ups, top of your head ?
Fabrice : Many great companies partly run or founded by French teams such as Lending Club, Criteo, PeopleDoc…
Frenchy : According to you, what is the French touch ?
Fabrice : Thinking “out of the box” with style !
Merci Fabrice !
More About Fabrice :
– Interview BFM Business
– Interview FrenchWeb
– Interview Good Morning Business
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About Cellfish :
An industry pioneer with headquarters in New York and offices in San Diego, Montréal, Paris, and Düsseldorf, Cellfish is a leading digital publisher of innovative mobile content and applications. Since 2004, they have been creating and distributing best-in-class content and applications via their distribution network and solutions group. Cellfish’s mission is to deliver the most engaging and innovative consumer-entertainment experience by harnessing the power of mobile devices and social media.
Cellfish is on Facebook and Twitter.
Frédéric a accompagné les entrepreneurs Tech français, dans leur implantation au UK, pour le compte du gouvernement britannique pendant 15 ans. Il incarne aujourd’hui une expérience unique de Storytelling / Production de Contenu vidéo. Véritable levier d’influence et d’acquisition, en appui RH à la « Marque Employeur », il magnifie la parole du Dirigeant et traite le monde de l’Entreprise comme le ferait un Réalisateur de cinéma, en se centrant sur l’humain.
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