About
My name is Paul Gaumer and I am a French developer currently living in Angers (France).
After spending 10 years in Japan, my family and I came back to France during summer 2019 to help my son discover another side of his biculturality.
I am now developing web services for a wide range of businesses and supporting startups in their growth.
I am open to local and remote projects. Let's talk!
Startups in Japan
I moved to Japan in 2010 where I started my career in sales and marketing. My mission was to help foreign companies succeed in Japan through talent acquisition, product development focused on the Japanese market and the launch of IoT products (Babolat Play).
Learning how to code
After failing the launch of my first startup and interacting with an increasing number of developers, I decided to learn how to code by attending Le Wagon Coding Bootcamp in 2016 ( -> full story here).
As no similar learning experience existed in Japan at the time, I jumped in 2016 into the recent awakening of the Tokyo startup scene by co-founding and leading Japan’s very first English coding bootcamp: Le Wagon Japan
Our missions were to:
- Teach programming to creatives and entrepreneurs
- Provide a pool of talents to the growing startup community
- Support the development of innovative solutions post-bootcamp
- Educate the Japanese market to alternative education and lifestyle models
After 3 years of activity and opening two locations (Tokyo & Kyoto), Le Wagon Japan had trained over 150 students from 30+ nationalities, now working as software developers, UX designers, product managers or startup founders.
Lessons
- "You know nothing, Jon Snow". I have been fortunate to meet amazing mentors and always seek an opportunity to dive into a new topic. There is no end to the learning process.
- Programming requires a heavy dose of human skills, even more in a remote context. Communication, open mindedness and empathy go a long way in seeing a team succeed.
Talks
Founded Le Wagon Tokyo and Code In Angers Meetup groups. I love sharing topics I'm passionate about and regularly run workshops or join events. Past ones include:
Guest Speaker
- Tokyo Fintech - Careers in Fintech & Recruitment
- Venture Cafe - How to start a business in Japan, from visa to strategy
- Sekai Creator Entrepreneurship Contest - Judge panel
- BeyondLab - How to get started in Japan
- Tokyo Tech Startups - Entrepreneurship 101
Workshops
- JAMStack and Gatsby.js
- Ideathon: Come with an idea, leave with a prototype
- How to build a landing page in 2 hours
- Introduction to UX design
- Build your first React application
- APIs for beginners
- Technical workflow in Startups
- Introduction to Ruby and Javascript
Podcasting
I launched the Japan Life Stories podcast in 2019 to share stories of foreigners who built a life and career in Japan. The initial motivation was to share the insights I would have liked to get during my first year in the country: how to find a job, grow your career, build a network, start a business... It turned out to be a fantastic way to stay connected to the local ecosystem and exchange with amazing people.