Edouard Renard: The Maverick

Guest: Edouard Renard

Based: Nomadic (Currently planning co-living space)

Edouard Renard walked away from a thriving robotics startup just before they were set to raise outside investment. Today, he teaches robotics online to students worldwide. Now he's opening a co-living space, proving that success isn't always measured in revenue.

In this conversation, Edouard shares how he left his co-founded robotics startup to travel and teach, built an online course business that serves students globally, and why he's starting over again with a completely different project. We explore the reality of "passive income," the importance of making education accessible, and what it means to measure success in student testimonials rather than investment rounds.

This is a story about walking away from the conventional definition of success to find what actually fulfils you.

Timestamps

00:00 Introduction

00:23 Guest Introduction

01:28 Why did you want to become a Nomad?

02:07 Co-founding robotics startup, three years of building

03:16 Educational robotic arms: 10-20x cheaper than industrial

04:20 Why he left: not aligned with industrial market direction

05:43 Walking away before raising investment

07:21 First destination: Mexico, having a backup plan

08:14 Giving up Paris apartment, organizing nomadic life

09:22 The skill set combination: robotics + marketing + teaching

11:17 Starting with written tutorials and SEO

12:09 Trying own website vs. Udemy: platform won

14:06 India as second market, geo-targeted pricing

14:56 Success measured in testimonials and impact

17:00 When it felt like it was working: enabling the lifestyle

19:06 About a year to leave unemployment benefits

20:15 Five years in co-livings, solving workspace and community

23:13 Not passionate about robotics teaching anymore

26:56 Why open a co-living: looking for more purpose

29:16 Co-living values: homey, authentic, family feeling

30:54 Defining co-living: \"It's a feeling\

34:50 Track record of projects, where he'll be in 3-5 years

36:34 \"Passive income\" reality: maintenance and adaptation

39:48 Closing thoughts

Full write-up and transcript: https://www.ibimalik.com/podcast/edouard-renard

Guest website: https://www.auluscoliving.com

Watch: https://youtu.be/aK7KLCQ72fs