Although many entrepreneurs find strength in specialization, growing businesses in the same arena time and again, Cyrille Bessiere followed a different path. Reaching across industries, Bessiere found that creating growth and success pulled on certain universal strengths and strategic insights, and his style of hands-on execution could create transformation in all kinds of different arenas. As he built himself into an expert entrepreneur, an insightful board member, and a successful CEO, Bessiere contributed to diverse visions and lived a story of lessons and strategies for innovative achievement.
Turning Strategic Lessons Into Prosperous Entrepreneurship
After earning his degree from HEC Paris in 2004, Bessiere joined the global strategy consulting firm The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), working on projects across industries as diverse as retail, banking, and healthcare. This was an exciting, rapid-fire phase of Bessiere’s career, requiring him to focus on entirely new industries and problem-solving paradigms. He often only had a few months to address deep-laid problems. Exhausting, harrowing professional challenges taught Bessiere a wide range of business practices and top-level skills with the thoroughness that only real life can deliver.
After only a few years of this, Bessiere was ready to take on a very exciting challenge. In 2008, BCG decided to expand operations into Egypt, a challenging theater of operations that required months of market testing to identify fresh business opportunities. Bessiere took to this challenge as a daring volunteer and found himself well-suited for it. This was one more chance to gain firsthand experience and test his ability to navigate complex and unfamiliar industries and practices.
“I am, fundamentally, a doer,” says Bessiere. This is the spirit that drove him to such challenging projects and would drive his next foundational career shift. “I always envisioned myself launching, developing, and scaling businesses.”
By 2010, Bessiere was ready to transition from consulting to entrepreneurship. His first goal was to bring a European food and beverage brand to the US market, a seven-year project that transformed the brand into a premium product. This first venture set the tone for his future. It required him to take on a broad range of tasks, from managing a large direct-to-consumer e-commerce website and securing B2B partnerships to building and leading a dedicated team. With this success, more would follow.
Refocusing on Consumer Brands
In 2018, Bessiere caught the eye of a large Europe-based private equity firm that was planning to expand to the US. He was recruited as their first US partner. “My excitement was high, as it was bridging all my past experiences,” he says. “I did not hesitate long.” Here, he combined his strategic expertise with his entrepreneurial experience to guide companies during pivotal stages of growth. For example, he helped a jewelry brand transition from a direct-to-consumer model to an omnichannel strategy, including opening its first retail store and securing partnerships with major department stores.
Bessiere began working as a Board member with a children’s entertainment company in 2018, focusing on real estate strategy and marketing as part of his investor and private equity role. Under his guidance, the company scaled rapidly, growing from a single location to nearly a hundred across the US. In early 2024, the private equity firm became the majority shareholder, and Bessiere was appointed CEO. Now, he oversees a workforce of 1,300 employees with offices in New York and Los Angeles.
Looking Forward to New Growth
As CEO, Bessiere remains focused on navigating the company’s next stage of growth, aiming to scale it from $100M today to $1B in revenue. He emphasizes the importance of hiring top talent, balancing growth with brand integrity, and fostering a culture of innovation to stay relevant in a competitive landscape. Like many of his lessons and strategies, these principles have endured since his most foundational experiences. Many of the lessons and strategies that serve him now are much more refined versions of what served him initially and will continue to serve for years to come.
Image Credit: Cyrille Bessiere
