Grégoire Martinez: “being able to balance openness and inclusion on the one hand, and excellence on the other is what makes 42 magical.”

After working as a tech journalist and communications director at STATION F (the largest start-up campus in the world) Grégoire Martinez is now the director of 42 Paris. Having spent the last 2 years supervising the construction of the main 42 Paris building, while ensuring the campus’ daily operations ran smoothly, he now aims to expand 42 Paris’ imprint in the french educational and tech ecosystems.

Can you please talk to us about your background? What is your education and what were you doing before 42?
I have quite an unusual background for what I do — in the sense that I did not spend a long time at school — but the guiding thread has always been tech. I started out ten years ago as a technology & economy reporter for a French national radio station, and shortly after, I joined STATION F, the world’s largest startup campus, to manage community, communications & events. My goal was to get a glimpse of what was happening behind the tech and start-up scenes, and to be able to work directly with entrepreneurs, in a more hands-on manner. I’ve been at 42 for over two years now, having initially joined as Chief Operating Officer, working mostly on topics linked to the network, before recently switching full time to 42 Paris, as director of the campus.

What brought you to 42 in the first place?
I’ve been following the 42 story for a while now — actually my first visit to the 42 Paris campus was in 2015 as a journalist during a visit with Xavier Niel and Emmanuel Macron (he was French Minister for Economy at that time). I’ve always been attracted to the project, the pedagogy behind it, and, of course, the main topic here: tech. Having met with Sophie Viger later on, I had the chance to join the team!

What do you like the most about your position at your campus?
Without hesitating one second: discussing with students. Being able to connect with them, watch their progress, and collaborate with the staff to tackle their challenges is the best thing!

42 Paris is often described as the network’s “flagship campus” — what does being the director of such a campus mean to you?
Lots of topics? Kidding. But of course managing 42 Paris is both an honor and a challenge. I think being a flagship or not, the thing is to try to be the best version possible of 42, make the most of our values of inclusion, excellence and more and remain an innovation lab where we always try new stuff. I think part of it is also ensuring students benefit from everything they need to learn in the best conditions possible, connecting with leading players in the field, hosting events that are references in the ecosystem…

What is your vision for the future of education?
That’s quite a question — more of the 42 spirit and peer-learning everywhere?

Lastly, 42 has 4 pillar values: openness, excellence, tech, and ethics. Which one is the most important to you and why?
I am going to cheat and select two as I think they should always go together: openness and excellence. People often think that openness and inclusion go against excellence — I think the exact opposite and that’s also what makes 42 magic. Here, no matter where you come from and what’s your background you’ll benefit from a training that has excellence as one of its core values.

Grégoire Martinez in the premises of 42 Paris building