When the internet arrived in the mid-90s, Rappaport sold his shares in the company he was working for and spent almost three years researching the web – how it worked, where it was headed and how the world would work now the internet had landed.
Since then, Rappaport has founded both video-sharing site Dailymotion, a company valued at €120m with over 128m monthly unique visitors, and location-based dating app Happn.
The interview touches on how these businesses came about and some of the challenges Rappaport has faced since.
Rappaport also speaks about where Happn is headed, saying: “We want to make it profitable by the end of 2017 and we’re pursuing a freemium model, so a small proportion of users are paying for extra services. We’re combining that with brand partnerships.”
Despite his success, Rappaport hasn’t lost his interest in research, saying he still spends a portion of his day looking at what’s going on in the world, the trends that are cropping up and what his competitors are up to.
The CEO said: “Being an entrepreneurial chief executive means simply achieving things – ensuring that they happen, nothing else.
“Having ideas is great, but the people who think about changing the world aren’t the crazy ones; the crazy ones are those who are going out and doing it.”
You can read the full interview here.