Mixvoip: A Regional Force in Connectivity
Loïc Didelot, the founder of Mixvoip, describes his path from a passionate but “unschooled” Luxembourg entrepreneur to becoming a regional force in connectivity. He explains how he exploited emerging communications technologies to meet Mixvoip’s customers’ expanding needs. However, he laments the inflexibility of government in supporting independent start-ups.
“As we got fitter, when we won in the market, signed customers, delivered success, if customers are happy… it’s the team”
Loïc Didelot, the founder of Mixvoip, describes his path from a passionate but “unschooled” Luxembourg entrepreneur to becoming a regional force in connectivity. He explains how he exploited emerging communications technologies to meet Mixvoip’s customers’ expanding needs. However, he laments the inflexibility of government in supporting independent start-ups.
Can you describe your company in a few words?
We don’t talk about customer-centric, blockchain, available software as a service. We keep it simple. Customers describe their needs: We have a passionate team of tech people and salespeople who love to demonstrate what we do. Mixvoip is a little bit smaller, smarter, more sympathetic, more flexible, and cheaper than the competition. But we have our own phone numbers, IP addresses, and internet lines. Whatever touches computers, internet, security, we do it. We have expanded from Luxembourg into Belgium, Germany, and now France and are regulated and compliant in those countries. That’s where additional business comes in: like a Microsoft Teams integration, Microsoft 365, and Azure that we have added to our portfolio.
Tell us about the challenges of starting Mixvoip
Entrepreneurship is a challenge because nothing goes as planned. Hiring my first employee, I had never done a job interview, neither as an applicant nor as an interviewer. I didn’t know how to do it. You do not know the law. You have to learn how to lead people and how to put a structure in place. It’s like going to a fitness center. It hurts, but afterwards, you are happy. As we got fitter, when we won in the market, signed customers, delivered success, if customers are happy… it’s the team. Then comes compliance. It’s working well in Luxembourg. But when you go to Belgium Germany and France, they each have a different set of rules.
What is your vision and how do you see the role of government in supporting entrepreneurs?
We developed VoIP early. It’s still 40% of our business. Today the AI features we are adding to our products will quickly come to market. That’s not hype, it’s because we love tech. Luxembourg always pioneered technologies no one believed in. Luxembourg has the money and the capacity. The country is small and flexible. But every time start-ups request subsidies you get the default “No” from the government. After a fight, you get “Yes.” What if the government switches to “Let’s make it happen and say yes at the start?” Not everyone is a gangster, not everyone is doing crazy shit to get money from the government. The country would become more agile, and more flexible.
