36 | Aurore / Goodvest: Why Scaling Feels Like Grieving

Aurore Pinon-Jacques has built and let go of things twice over. She shut down her first company after a co-founder partnership fell apart. Four years into Goodvest, she stepped back from the CMO title she'd held since day one. And in between, she had to grieve an entire era of the company itself — the 10-person "family" that a €12M Series B and a 40-person team have now replaced. This episode is about what that letting go actually costs a founder, and what it makes possible.

Aurore is co-founder of Goodvest, a French sustainable investment platform reimagining wealth management for people who want their money to do good, not just grow — now with a sharpened focus on founders who've exited or are about to. Her path there wasn't a straight line: a childhood dream of becoming a war journalist, a detour into luxury marketing, then a first company — sustainable, recycled-fiber tights — built and lost alongside a close friend. Every step forward came with something she had to release.

Whatever stage you're at as a founder, this conversation will feel familiar: the version of your company you're currently grieving, and the one you haven't grieved yet.

🔑 In this episode, we talk about:Why "Goodvest" trips up almost every non-native English speaker (and how Aurore turned that into an icebreaker)What Goodvest actually does, and why it's now built specifically for exited and exiting foundersGrowing up wanting to be a war journalist, then chasing the glamour of luxury marketingFounding — and shutting down — her first company, a sustainable fashion label using recycled fibersWhat she learned about mixing friendship with business after her first co-founder splitRunning two companies and planning a wedding at the same timeHow Goodvest's three co-founders handle conflict, and the compatibility questionnaire she wishes she'd used the first timeScaling from a 10-person "family" to a 40-person team after a €12M Series B — and grieving what got left behindRecruiting, bias, and onboarding once you're past the early "generalists who can do five things" stageWhy she stepped back from her CMO role to write a graphic novel about sustainable financeWhy branding gets more valuable, not less, in the age of AIThe real problem Goodvest exists to solve, and why sustainable investing is a rational bet, not just an ethical one

🧠 Key Takeaways:Shared vision isn't enough. Compatibility in values and working style matters just as much as agreeing on the mission — and a simple written quest