At VivaTech, the investors from *Qui veut être mon associé ? * unveiled QVEMA Amplify, a digital and educational extension of the show. Behind the format lies a deeper question: How can entrepreneurial inspiration be transformed into a concrete method?
From the Screen to the Real World
For six seasons now, *Who Wants to Be My Business Partner? * has brought entrepreneurship into a rare setting: prime time. No longer just a topic reserved for incubators, fundraising rounds, or tech circles, but rather a conversation you’d have with family. A conversation in the living room—or sometimes over dinner—centered on a simple idea: What if I gave it a try, too?
At VivaTech, this dynamic took on a whole new scale. With Michèle Benzeno, Éric Larchevêque, Alice Lhabouz, and Jean-Michel Karam at the helm, the show was no longer just referred to as a television program, but as a brand capable of creating its own ecosystem. Its name: QVEMA Amplify.
The promise is clear: to extend the excitement of the show into a program available year-round. Content, community, support, a twelve-week boot camp, approximately 100 hours of programming, experts, entrepreneurs who have appeared on the show, and the show’s business coach: the goal is to transform that momentum into measurable progress.
Entrepreneurship as Popular Culture
The most interesting aspect isn’t the platform itself. It’s what it reveals about the current state of France.
For a long time, entrepreneurs were viewed with suspicion. The word “boss” carried almost a social stigma. “Who wants to be my business partner?” helped shift that perception: talking about profit margins, sales tax, risk, money, and success in front of a large audience is no longer an anomaly. It has become a viable narrative.
QVEMA Amplify takes this logic a step further. The show sparks desire; the platform aims to bridge the gap between idea and action. The speakers reiterated this in various ways: fear doesn’t disappear before you set out. You work through it as you move forward. Confidence doesn’t come before action; it’s often the result of it.
The pitch isn’t proof
The session also highlighted a useful truth: a good pitch isn’t enough. It captures attention, but it guarantees neither the quality of the project nor the entrepreneur’s strength.
For investors, the decisive moment often comes afterward: in the questions, the objections, the blind spots. How does the entrepreneur react under pressure? Does he know his market? Can he handle being contradicted? Can he defend his vision without simply reciting a presentation?
The pitch remains an art of intellectual seduction. But entrepreneurship demands more: adaptability, the ability to learn quickly, a certain inner strength, and, above all, the ability to surround yourself with the right people.
The Details
The first QVEMA Amplify cohort was originally intended to be small. It was ultimately expanded to 150 participants, with spots filling up in just a few minutes and a waiting list already in place. The announced bootcamp runs for twelve weeks, with approximately 100 hours of content and support.
Don’t Confuse Boldness with Rushing Headlong
Perhaps the most accurate message of this session lay in its nuance. Yes, you have to be bold. No, you shouldn’t confuse one thing with another.
Quitting school, leaving your job, opening a second location, moving to the United States, targeting the B2G market: every decision requires a careful assessment of risk. Make it profitable before scaling up. Test it before expanding. Keep a Plan B. Don’t put your family at risk. Boldness isn’t the absence of a method; it’s applying the method despite fear.
In a world where artificial intelligence already makes it possible to prototype, communicate, learn, and automate more quickly, entrepreneurship is becoming less of a solitary endeavor. But that doesn’t mean it’s getting any easier.
So the real promise of QVEMA Amplify isn’t to create unicorns. It’s more modest—and perhaps more valuable: to give those who are hesitant the initial support they need to move from a pipe dream to their first customer.
After all, entrepreneurship doesn’t always begin with a grand gesture. Sometimes, it simply starts with stopping waiting for the perfect moment.
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