<p>Today on <em>BILLIONS</em>, I’m sitting down with <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/arthur-waller-a793a611/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer"><strong>Arthur Waller</strong></a>, one of the sharpest French founders of his generation.</p><p>He sold his first company to Booking.com in his twenties — and instead of retiring, he came back to build <a href="https://www.pennylane.com/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer"><strong>Pennylane</strong></a>, a fintech that turned accountants from enemies into growth partners and became one of europe fastest-growing unicorn.</p><p>In this episode, we will discuss how six co-founders actually share power, what founders get wrong about <strong>fundraising terms and dilution</strong>, and what Arthur thinks about <strong>secondaries, freedom, and building a company that lasts twenty years</strong>.</p><p>If you want to understand what it really takes to scale, cash-out <em>without selling out</em>, and keep your ambition alive after success - then this episode is for you!</p><p><br /></p><p><strong>TIMELINE :</strong> </p><p>00:00:00 - 00:03:37 : First exit to Booking.com at 25 - the $80M deal structure</p><p>00:03:37 - 00:08:08 : Why the earn-out worked and 3.5 years at Booking</p><p>00:08:08 - 00:13:58 : Coming back stronger - choosing accounting as the next battlefield</p><p>00:13:58 - 00:18:12 : Seven co-founders sharing power and equity splits</p><p>00:18:12 - 00:24:01 : Fundraising strategy - diluting less than 10% early rounds</p><p>00:24:01 - 00:30:34 : Making accountants allies instead of enemies</p><p>00:30:34 - 00:36:08 : European expansion vs US market strategy</p><p>00:36:08 - 00:41:56 : Secondary transactions - $30M for employees, $70M for founders</p><p>00:41:56 - 00:46:38 : Staying private vs going public - the Stripe model</p><p>00:46:38 - 00:48:43 : The one advice for young founders</p><p><br /><strong>REFERENCES :</strong> </p><p>- <a href="http://booking.com" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Booking.com</a> </p><p>- <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/felix-blossier?originalSubdomain=fr" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Felix Blossier</a></p><p>- <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/tancr%C3%A8de-besnard-7b721033/?originalSubdomain=fr" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Tancrède Besnard</a> </p><p>- <a href="http://linkedin.com/in/alexandre-r-18165590?originalSubdomain=fr" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Alexandre Roquoplo</a></p><p>- <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/charles-philippe-letellier-13b36465/?originalSubdomain=fr" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Charles-Philippe Letellier</a></p><p>- <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianhalligan/" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Brian Halligan</a></p><p>- <a href="https://www.partech.com/" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Partech</a></p><p>- <a href="https://payfit.com/" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">PayFit</a></p><p>- <a href="https://alan.com/" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Alan</a></p><p>- <a href="https://qonto.com/" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Qonto</a></p><p>- <a href="https://www.indy.fr/" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Indy</a></p><p>- <a href="https://quickbooks.intuit.com/" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">QuickBooks</a></p><p>- <a href="https://www.netsuite.com/" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">NetSuite</a></p><p>- <a href="https://salesloft.com/" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Salesloft</a></p><p>- <a href="https://www.outreach.io/" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Outreach</a></p><p>- <a href="https://www.sequoiacap.com/" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Sequoia Capital</a></p><p>- <a href="https://carta.com/" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Carta</a></p><p>- <a href="https://www.cegid.com/" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Cegid</a></p><p>- <a href="https://www.shine.fr/" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Shine</a></p><p>- <a href="https://stripe.com/" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Stripe</a></p><p>- <a href="https://www.revolut.com/" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Revolut</a></p><p>- <a href="https://a16z.com/" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Andreessen Horowitz (a16z)</a></p>