My story
Like everyone, I’ve experienced highs, lows, successes, failures, and constant rebounds. These experiences have shaped my perspective on life, work, and what I believe is essential to be fully fulfilled, grounded, and resilient—both personally and professionally. Here’s my journey, shared through answers to the questions I’m most frequently asked.
What’s the story that led you to become the coach you are today?
I grew up in a small village surrounded by forests, about an hour from Paris. After completing preparatory classes and graduating from ESCP, I started my career as a financial analyst at Société Générale Corporate and Investment Banking in North America. That’s where I developed a taste for modeling things — but I quickly realized that spending my days in front of Excel spreadsheets wasn’t going to make me happy.
I traveled for several months before returning to Europe to join the Corporate Strategy department at Rexam, a global industrial group based in the UK. The team reported directly to the CEO, and I worked on exciting projects: company acquisitions, international expansion, and formalizing the strategic plans of the group’s subsidiaries. It was a rare opportunity at my age and one that immersed me in intrapreneurship.
After a while, I felt the need to broaden my horizons. I joined Oliver Wyman, a leading strategy and management consulting firm. I loved the diversity of industries and challenges, while learning to manage pressure, collaborate with talented teams, and turn complex problems into actionable solutions within tight deadlines.
But as intellectually stimulating as it all was, I felt deep down that I remained an observer, an advisor to those who were taking action. And the more time passed, the clearer my desire to build and create became.
So, you left Oliver Wyman to start your own venture? Why did you make that choice?
Yes. The turning point was sudden. I was 30 when my father passed away in a motorcycle accident. I found out while at the office, between two assignments. That event profoundly changed my perspective on what it meant to truly fulfill myself, both professionally and personally. And it no longer aligned with what I was doing. I wanted to build something new, something that would contribute positively to the world.
So, my brother and I created a health-tech startup aimed at improving interactions between patients and practitioners via a mobile app, bridging the gaps between patient consultations. We knew absolutely nothing about tech but were eager to embark on this journey together. It was an adventure I’m proud of—we managed to self-fund the business for three years while hiring a team of three. However, after two pivots and despite all our efforts, we still hadn’t found our “Product-Market Fit.”
At the same time, I experienced another major personal upheaval: the birth of my first son. With it came a life-changing surprise—we discovered at birth that he had Down syndrome. What was meant to be, with my wife and family, the happiest event of the past four years turned into a very challenging moment and a new hurdle to navigate.
My wife and I have always shared a core belief: what truly matters isn’t what happens to us, but how we respond. So, we decided to turn this challenge into a strength to move forward and find happiness. We redefined our professional priorities. For my part, I focused on two key objectives: regaining financial stability to support my family and staying connected to the world of tech and entrepreneurship, which I now knew was my true passion.
Was that when your journey with Deliveroo began?
Yes. During this time of upheaval, several investment funds approached me to discuss entrepreneurial projects they had backed. Index Ventures suggested I meet William Shu, the CEO and founder of Deliveroo. At first, the project didn’t really appeal to me, but Will impressed me with his vision and energy. I was also blown away by the technological product they had developed and the data science that they demonstrated from the start. I had never seen anything like it. To me, it spoke volumes: I had so much to learn from this team.
I joined Deliveroo as the 20th employee, tasked with launching and leading the company’s first international expansion in France. There was nothing to invent—the product, business model, and legal framework were already established and managed from London—but I had everything to prove in terms of my ability to execute flawlessly and scale this high-potential startup. I gave it my all. I crafted a meticulous launch plan to secure our position in Paris, an already hyper-competitive market. Will gave me three months to make our first delivery in France. Mission accomplished. And more than that, in just five months, we had conquered Paris and expanded to Lyon, Lille, and Bordeaux. By the end of the first year, the team in France had grown to nearly 150 employees, we had launched in 10 other countries worldwide, and France had become the second-largest market after the UK, significantly contributing to the funding rounds in 2015 and 2016.
Shortly after, the board entrusted me with the role of leading Europe, overseeing operations in six countries. Among other challenges I had to restructure the Germany and Spain teams, both of which were hampered by dysfunctional leadership dynamics, all while navigating the hyper-growth and intense competition we faced across the continent. I worked seven days a week, traveling every two weeks. In just 3 years, Deliveroo grew from 20 employees to over 2,000 globally, with its valuation skyrocketing from $20 million to $2 billion.
Those years at Deliveroo taught me, in practical terms, the art of scaling an organization and its teams under maximum pressure, while staying agile and maintaining a clear direction and strategic vision. However, they also put my personal balance to the test in a way that was unsustainable in the long run, leading me to reassess my priorities.
Why did you leave the company while it was still skyrocketing?
I had a personal reason to leave and a professional reason not to stay. During that time, I had the immense joy of becoming a father again. By 2017, we had two young children, with my eldest requiring very specific care and support. I knew I couldn’t keep up with such an intense pace. My family’s happiness and the balance of my marriage were my top priorities—and those were non-negotiable.
I also felt that I had fulfilled my mission. All the European countries under my responsibility had achieved positive contribution margins. The markets in Europe were structured and consolidated. We were finalizing a Series F funding round of $660 million. The teams were stabilized. And for me, someone who had never been passionate about the food-tech sector, it was time to return to topics much more focused on the human sciences. Everything was aligned for me to make the decision to leave with confidence and peace of mind.
I’ll never forget how my departure was celebrated, in both London and Paris. Will, the board, and the teams gave me unforgettable moments and a rare kind of recognition that truly moved me. I left with real pride in the journey accomplished — and with a sense of relief too. Because I could finally refocus on what truly mattered to me at that moment: my family and its balance. And deep down, I also knew — without yet knowing what or how — that it was the beginning of a very different kind of professional journey.
You then shifted to coaching CEOs of scale-ups. How did that transition happen?
Very naturally, actually. When I left Deliveroo, several investment funds approached me to support the CEOs in their portfolios. It felt like an obvious next step to try. At Deliveroo, what set me apart—and was well recognized internally—was my ability to inspire and guide teams to reach their full potential.
I began working with several CEO-founders, moving beyond their initial need for ready-made answers to help them ask the right questions and discover their own solutions. I focused on helping them preserve and develop what makes them unique. At the same time, I trained in professional coaching at INSEAD, combining that training with my understanding of human dynamics and my past expertise and experience—particularly as an entrepreneur and in scaling up companies. This led me to develop my own hybrid approach, where I intellectually challenge my clients while emotionally supporting them when needed. My goal is to help leaders become even better—not just in their roles, but in their lives as well.
Ultimately, with Millimetr, my independent company, I have coached more than 200 well-known and respected CEOs, primarily in Europe, across a portfolio with a cumulative valuation of nearly $15 billion. And I must have done it well, as my client recommendation rate is 98%. You can find out more about my investment initiative in the future of coaching on my website: [adrien-falcon.tech](https://adrien-falcon.tech/). adrien-falcon.tech.
And Wave.ai? How did that ambitious project come to life?
I could have remained a luxury craftsman, working with a handful of exceptional leaders. But in 2020, I felt a visceral urge to create a new way for this practice I deeply believe in to reach far more people. Coaching, as it stood, was often too expensive, hardly accessible, and reserved for a privileged few. That’s why I founded Wave.ai in 2020, with a clear and ambitious goal: to make truly professional, high-quality coaching accessible to everyone.
For over four years, we developed and trained a proprietary AI dedicated to professional coaching. It supported up to 3,000 leaders per week, generated over a million coaching sessions, and collected more than 5,000 testimonials highlighting the transformational impact Wave had on their professional and personal lives. Wave was an incredible adventure, driven by a highly committed and talented team that took on a wildly ambitious project. Yet, because it was so focused on people and our clients constantly shared the benefits they experienced, it gave us the energy to move mountains every single day. And we achieved all this at a time when generative AI didn’t even exist yet, while working entirely remotely.
Like any entrepreneurial journey, Wave faced its share of challenges: COVID, the economic downturn that followed, the shifting mindset and expectations of venture capitalists, and the rise of generative AI. Four major upheavals in just four years. We were a small, R&D-focused company of 30 people, reliant on external funding. I wasn’t able to secure the final round of funding we needed before reaching profitability. So, I explored the options available to ensure the innovation we had created—and which had been serving thousands of users for four years—could continue to thrive. That’s how, in 2024, Wave was acquired by Alan, a company whose ambition, resources, and expertise in AI made it perfectly positioned to take our vision further than we ever could.
I am deeply grateful to my team, who made this adventure possible and with whom we were able to see our story through to the end. On a personal level, I’m proud to have ventured into entrepreneurship once again, tackling such a challenging project from my small office in the south of France— all while raising three kids.
What are your projects today, and why are you passionate about them?
Since the end of the Wave adventure, I’ve refocused on my coaching practice and personal projects.
I continue to support scale-up founders with great enthusiasm. I work with a select few at a time, prioritizing close relationships to match the demands of high-level entrepreneurship my clients navigate.
In parallel, I am developing other projects with a shared purpose: to create new ways of sharing knowledge with today’s and tomorrow’s entrepreneurs. These include writing projects, a newsletter, an investment holding, and a startup studio focused on professional and personal development in the age of AI.
My guiding thread and my mission always remain the same: to help, to the best of my ability, incredible leaders who propose projects with a very high impact to thrive personally and professionally, while building, with their teams, sustainable and impactful companies. And to do so without ever compromising my principles, and what I consider to be essential to feel happy in life, in my relationship, with my family.
Nota Bene
Adrien Falcon and the Art of Coaching CEO-Founders
Adrien Falcon: The Journey of a Leading Figure in European Coaching
Alan Acquires Wave.ai to Upgrade Professional Coaching
Adrien Falcon: "We have designed the first tailor-made coach, aimed at any professional"
Start-up Corner with Adrien Falcon of Deliveroo
