In this Startup Sessions Podcast, I am joined by Gauthier Van Maldaren, Founder & CEO of Perlego. Perlego is a subscription service company for textbooks. I find both the founder's and the company's story interesting in many levels. Here is a brief overview of some questions and discussion topics.

-Personal story of Gauthier leading up to the decision to become an entrepreneur and founder.
-Role of "execution": Perlego was not the first business to come up with the idea of "Spotify for Textbooks" but it was the successful one. Why?
-Importance of getting the product to market *before* it is beautiful.
-Being mission driven rather than profit driven: "Build world's online learning library."
-Role of timing: How do you know it's not too early, too late, but just right? Look at those suffering in your market. In Perlego's case: Publishers were seeing their revenues decline, students resorted to piracy. Importance of creating a new revenue stream for publishers.
-How does piracy push commercial progress in markets?
-How big of a competitive advantage do reputable schools provide? What is the biggest one of those and do they act as barriers to entry for others?

I would like to extend my thanks to Gauthier and the team at Perlego for taking the time. Visit perlego.com to find out more.

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If you would like to be guest in the Startup Sessions either with your personal expertise or the story of your startup, reach out to me via ozan@commonwisdom.co.uk