I grew up in Marseille and the south of France. At twelve, I made my first website. A year later I started Allo Croissant, delivering croissants and newspapers to my neighbours by bicycle. I liked making something happen and seeing people use it. That part has stayed pretty consistent.
In my early twenties, I imported electronics from China and built online businesses. I studied business and computer science, including at EDHEC. Later I joined HotelTonight in London, helping a fast-growing American startup expand in Europe. It was exciting work. I also started questioning how much of my ambition came from wanting the life, and how much came from wanting to look successful.
A company, and a very long court case
Alongside the tech work, I had co-founded UFCM in 2009 to improve access to information about medical cannabis in France. People wrote to us about serious illness and the difficulties they faced. That made the subject much harder to put down at the end of the working day.
In 2014, I left my job and launched Kanavape with €10,000 in savings and a bank loan for the same amount. CBD was barely known then. With Harmony, we went on to launch more than 120 hemp products and sell over seven million units. Over the years, we hired more than 100 people.
The launch also led to a six-year legal fight. In November 2020, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled on our case, challenging the French restrictions on CBD. The court’s own account is worth reading. It was a shared effort involving lawyers, colleagues, and people who kept going when the outcome was far from obvious.
There was always music
I started mixing vinyl at sixteen in Marseille. My tastes travelled with me: electronic music in France, dubstep in the US, jungle and drum and bass in London, Latin rhythms and psytrance in Spain. In London I lived in a warehouse with seventeen other artists and owned a two-kilowatt sound system. Quiet evenings were an option, technically.
Today I play as ONIZAL. My sets move between world bass, electronic music, and slower, more intimate moments. I also facilitate movement workshops. I care about how people share a dance floor, how they invite each other, and how easily someone can say no.
The inner part
Ceremony and years of personal practice changed what I pay attention to. Ayahuasca, meditation, dance, and conversations with people going through difficult transitions all belong to that education. So do Ram Dass, Alan Watts, Eckhart Tolle, Socrates, and Jung. I return to their questions more often than their answers.
I take spiritual experience seriously. I’m also interested in how quickly it can become another identity to defend. Founder, guide, artist: each role comes with a costume. I enjoy playing them, but I don’t want to mistake any of them for the whole person.
This is part of why I stopped drawing such a hard line between work and play. Building an AI tool can absorb me as completely as preparing a set. Kitesurfing belongs in my life without needing to become a lesson about leadership.
These days
I’m building AI agents and experimenting with how they can do useful work. I support early-stage founders, guide ceremony and integration work, and continue developing ONIZAL. There are different questions in each of those activities. I’m happy to let them stay different.
I’ve lived in around ten countries and speak English, French, and Spanish. Moving has kept me curious about how other people live. It has also made me appreciate the friendships that survive long distances and irregular plans.
If something here feels familiar, say hello. I like meeting people who are following their own questions.