Serial Entrepreneur · Speaker · Author

François-Guillaume Ribreau

I have been building tech companies for 26 years. Alongside, I advise CEOs, CTOs and CIOs.

François-Guillaume Ribreau

What I do

26 years of experience, 12 SaaS built, 50+ companies advised, Top 900 global contributors on Github.

SaaS Entrepreneur

12 SaaS launched. Image-Charts (80M req/month, clients Dropbox, Microsoft, Spotify), Cloud-IAM, Hook0, Natalia, France Nuage, Netir, Recapro.

CTO as a Service & NoBullshit Engineers

360° technical audits, C-level advisory, architecture and digital transformation. Founded the NoBullshit Engineers collective (10+ freelancers, €1.2M revenue year 1). Clients: ANTAI, Klaxoon, Ouest-France, Netwo, Guest Suite, Arkéa Capital, MAIF Avenir.

Speaker & Author

50+ conferences (Devoxx, BreizhCamp, MixIT, Web2Day). Book "NoBullshit Tech-Lead" (5 years of writing).

Trainer

Lecturer at EPSI on software architecture and NoSQL. English: TOEIC 950/990.

Investor & Mentor

Angel investor (Premier Étage, Le Palace, Maison Bagarre). Founder of SaaS Camp. Member of CJD (Centre des jeunes dirigeants d'entreprise) since 2022.

Open Source & Security

Top 900 Github contributors (2022). Redis Weekly (acquired by Redis Labs). Bug bounty CNIL, Miro.

What I build

CJD (Centre des jeunes dirigeants d'entreprise)

Active
Member
Sept 2022 - present

Network of business leaders committed to a human-centered economy.

CJD (Centre des jeunes dirigeants d'entreprise)

Active
Member
Sept 2022 - present

Network of business leaders committed to a human-centered economy.

Klaxoon

Active
CTO as a Service
Dec 2021 - present

360° infrastructure audit, software and system architecture, scaling.

Arkéa Capital

Active
Technical Auditor
Mar 2021 - present

Technical audits for Arkéa Capital investments.

MAIF Avenir

Active
Technical Auditor
Feb 2021 - present

Technical audits for MAIF Avenir investments.

EPSI Nantes

Active
Lecturer
2013 - present

Teaching JavaScript, NoSQL, Software Architecture, Design Patterns.

FGRibreau SARL

Active
Expert JavaScript Consultant
Oct 2012 - present

Advisory, JavaScript industrialization.

Various engagements (Klaxoon, Netwo, Wanteeed...)

Active
CTO as a Service
2012 - present

360° technical auditor, C-level advisory, architecture and digital transformation

Klaxoon

Active
CTO as a Service
Dec 2021 - present

360° infrastructure audit, software and system architecture, scaling.

Arkéa Capital

Active
Technical Auditor
Mar 2021 - present

Technical audits for Arkéa Capital investments.

MAIF Avenir

Active
Technical Auditor
Feb 2021 - present

Technical audits for MAIF Avenir investments.

EPSI Nantes

Active
Lecturer
2013 - present

Teaching JavaScript, NoSQL, Software Architecture, Design Patterns.

FGRibreau SARL

Active
Expert JavaScript Consultant
Oct 2012 - present

Advisory, JavaScript industrialization.

Various engagements (Klaxoon, Netwo, Wanteeed...)

Active
CTO as a Service
2012 - present

360° technical auditor, C-level advisory, architecture and digital transformation

Leadspy

Stopped
Founder - IndieHacker
Nov 2024

Prospecting SaaS

Born at SaaS Camp Nov 2024

Additi Funéraire (Additi Media)

CTO as a Service
Jan 2023 - Oct 2024

360° audit, target IT architecture design, eXtreme Lean management.

Ouest-France Emploi

CTO as a Service
Jun 2022 - Jun 2024

Migration from Drupal to GCP/Cloud Functions/TypeScript platform, REST and GraphQL APIs.

Roam-bot

Stopped
Founder - IndieHacker
2021-2024

4-day time-to-market

Connects PKM with Zapier - First customer on day 9

ANTAI

Auditor/Expert
Sept 2021

360° audit covering ~120 people, organization, architecture, infrastructure.

Wanteeed

CTO as a Service
Apr 2021 - Jul 2021

3-day technical audit.

Guest Suite

CTO as a Service
Mar 2021

8-day technical audit.

Civitime

CTO as a Service
Mar 2021

Technical audit.

Golem.ai

CTO as a Service
Oct 2020 - Apr 2021

Technical audit, architecture advisory.

Netwo

CTO as a Service
Mar 2020 - Apr 2022

CTO as a Service, eXtreme Programming, Lean Software Development.

Ouest-France

Group Architect at SIPA/Ouest-France
Jul 2019 - Jul 2020

Led the technological transformation of France's largest daily newspaper

Cognix Systems

CTO as a Service
Jun 2019 - Nov 2019

Technical advisory and team upskilling.

Bloc in Bloc

CTO as a Service
May 2019 - Dec 2021

Team reorganization, platform v3 architecture, eXtreme Lean.

COMAP

CTO as a Service
Jan 2019

Architecture redesign and technical advisory.

MotionDynamic

Stopped
Co-founder & CTO
Jun 2018 - present

Distributed high-quality video generation

Large-scale video generation platform

SofiOuest

Technical Auditor
Sept 2017 - Jul 2020

Technical audits for investment due diligence.

Ouest-France (Dev. Numériques)

Head of Digital Development
May 2017 - Jul 2019

Architect community leadership, group technical strategy, management of ~10 people.

iAdvize

Architect, Lead Dev & Partner
2015 - 2017

Contributed to the leading real-time customer engagement platform.

MailPop.in

Stopped
Founder - IndieHacker
2015

Email SaaS

Email marketing service

Packt Publishing

Technical Reviewer
2014

Technical review of books: Lo-Dash Essentials, Getting Started with Grunt, MEAN Web Development.

Redsmin

Sold 2020
RedisWeekly Editor
Aug 2013 - Mar 2017

Redis GUI - 15,000+ users

Redis administration SaaS, maintained for 8 years

Université de Nantes

Lecturer
Jan 2012 - Dec 2019

Teaching JavaScript, RIA, REST APIs.

Bringr

Exit 700k EUR
Co-founder & CTO
2010 - 2015

Social media monitoring

Sold to iAdvize for 700,000 EUR

Leadspy

Stopped
Founder - IndieHacker
Nov 2024

Prospecting SaaS

Born at SaaS Camp Nov 2024

Additi Funéraire (Additi Media)

CTO as a Service
Jan 2023 - Oct 2024

360° audit, target IT architecture design, eXtreme Lean management.

Ouest-France Emploi

CTO as a Service
Jun 2022 - Jun 2024

Migration from Drupal to GCP/Cloud Functions/TypeScript platform, REST and GraphQL APIs.

Roam-bot

Stopped
Founder - IndieHacker
2021-2024

4-day time-to-market

Connects PKM with Zapier - First customer on day 9

ANTAI

Auditor/Expert
Sept 2021

360° audit covering ~120 people, organization, architecture, infrastructure.

Wanteeed

CTO as a Service
Apr 2021 - Jul 2021

3-day technical audit.

Guest Suite

CTO as a Service
Mar 2021

8-day technical audit.

Civitime

CTO as a Service
Mar 2021

Technical audit.

Golem.ai

CTO as a Service
Oct 2020 - Apr 2021

Technical audit, architecture advisory.

Netwo

CTO as a Service
Mar 2020 - Apr 2022

CTO as a Service, eXtreme Programming, Lean Software Development.

Ouest-France

Group Architect at SIPA/Ouest-France
Jul 2019 - Jul 2020

Led the technological transformation of France's largest daily newspaper

Cognix Systems

CTO as a Service
Jun 2019 - Nov 2019

Technical advisory and team upskilling.

Bloc in Bloc

CTO as a Service
May 2019 - Dec 2021

Team reorganization, platform v3 architecture, eXtreme Lean.

COMAP

CTO as a Service
Jan 2019

Architecture redesign and technical advisory.

MotionDynamic

Stopped
Co-founder & CTO
Jun 2018 - present

Distributed high-quality video generation

Large-scale video generation platform

SofiOuest

Technical Auditor
Sept 2017 - Jul 2020

Technical audits for investment due diligence.

Ouest-France (Dev. Numériques)

Head of Digital Development
May 2017 - Jul 2019

Architect community leadership, group technical strategy, management of ~10 people.

iAdvize

Architect, Lead Dev & Partner
2015 - 2017

Contributed to the leading real-time customer engagement platform.

MailPop.in

Stopped
Founder - IndieHacker
2015

Email SaaS

Email marketing service

Packt Publishing

Technical Reviewer
2014

Technical review of books: Lo-Dash Essentials, Getting Started with Grunt, MEAN Web Development.

Redsmin

Sold 2020
RedisWeekly Editor
Aug 2013 - Mar 2017

Redis GUI - 15,000+ users

Redis administration SaaS, maintained for 8 years

Université de Nantes

Lecturer
Jan 2012 - Dec 2019

Teaching JavaScript, RIA, REST APIs.

Bringr

Exit 700k EUR
Co-founder & CTO
2010 - 2015

Social media monitoring

Sold to iAdvize for 700,000 EUR

Media & Conferences

Founder and mentor of NoBullshit Tech Engineers and Netir.fr
Video InterviewFeb 2025

Founder and mentor of NoBullshit Tech Engineers and Netir.fr

SaaS Camp — one week to create a profitable and resilient business model
TV Vendée2025

SaaS Camp — one week to create a profitable and resilient business model

Learning faster in SaaS
SaaS Makers (Julien Le Coupanec)Nov 2024

Learning faster in SaaS

Learning to sleep, Biohacking & Eight Sleep
SaaS Makers (Valérian Saliou)Mar 2024

Learning to sleep, Biohacking & Eight Sleep

Going from 0 to 1, Family Balance, Health & Productivity
Podcast with Valérian SaliouJul 2023

Going from 0 to 1, Family Balance, Health & Productivity

Boost SaaS creation and profitability
On Part en Prod (video)Apr 2023

Boost SaaS creation and profitability

Does your API pass the 70-point technical inspection?
BreizhCamp2023

Does your API pass the 70-point technical inspection?

The ultimate recipe to ruin your time-to-market
BreizhCamp2023

The ultimate recipe to ruin your time-to-market

IndieHacker Case Study: Image-Charts 100M req/month, 3 continents, 3 K8S
BreizhCamp2023

IndieHacker Case Study: Image-Charts 100M req/month, 3 continents, 3 K8S

LEAN Case Study: Building a profitable SaaS in 6 months
BreizhCamp2022

LEAN Case Study: Building a profitable SaaS in 6 months

François-Guillaume Ribreau - From idea to user
WeLoveDevs - Le Podcast (#14)Jun 2021

François-Guillaume Ribreau - From idea to user

Building my passive income
INDIE MAKERS (#28)Dec 2020

Building my passive income

Founder and mentor of NoBullshit Tech Engineers and Netir.fr
Video InterviewFeb 2025

Founder and mentor of NoBullshit Tech Engineers and Netir.fr

SaaS Camp — one week to create a profitable and resilient business model
TV Vendée2025

SaaS Camp — one week to create a profitable and resilient business model

Learning faster in SaaS
SaaS Makers (Julien Le Coupanec)Nov 2024

Learning faster in SaaS

Learning to sleep, Biohacking & Eight Sleep
SaaS Makers (Valérian Saliou)Mar 2024

Learning to sleep, Biohacking & Eight Sleep

Going from 0 to 1, Family Balance, Health & Productivity
Podcast with Valérian SaliouJul 2023

Going from 0 to 1, Family Balance, Health & Productivity

Boost SaaS creation and profitability
On Part en Prod (video)Apr 2023

Boost SaaS creation and profitability

Does your API pass the 70-point technical inspection?
BreizhCamp2023

Does your API pass the 70-point technical inspection?

The ultimate recipe to ruin your time-to-market
BreizhCamp2023

The ultimate recipe to ruin your time-to-market

IndieHacker Case Study: Image-Charts 100M req/month, 3 continents, 3 K8S
BreizhCamp2023

IndieHacker Case Study: Image-Charts 100M req/month, 3 continents, 3 K8S

LEAN Case Study: Building a profitable SaaS in 6 months
BreizhCamp2022

LEAN Case Study: Building a profitable SaaS in 6 months

François-Guillaume Ribreau - From idea to user
WeLoveDevs - Le Podcast (#14)Jun 2021

François-Guillaume Ribreau - From idea to user

Building my passive income
INDIE MAKERS (#28)Dec 2020

Building my passive income

L'Informateur Judiciaire
L'Informateur JudiciaireMay 2026

How far would you let artificial intelligence decide?

Ahead of the Popcorn IA event on July 7 in La Roche-sur-Yon, François-Guillaume Ribreau is featured among the local AI experts presenting solutions built in the region.

Les Échos
Les ÉchosApr 2026

In Vendée, Recapro launches a sovereign AI to secure strategic meeting reports

Recapro, co-founded by François-Guillaume Ribreau, launches a sovereign AI solution hosted in France to secure the transcription and synthesis of strategic business reports.

TV Vendée
TV VendéeSept 2025

SaaS Camp — one week to create a profitable and resilient business model

Report on the SaaS Camp in Vendée: an intensive week to create a profitable and resilient SaaS business model, initiated by François-Guillaume Ribreau.

L'Informateur Judiciaire
L'Informateur Judiciaire2025

Natalia: AI transforms administrative management

Natalia, co-founded by François-Guillaume Ribreau, uses AI to transform business administrative management with a voice and email assistant available 24/7.

SaaS Camp
SaaS CampNov 2024

SaaS Camp — 5 days to build a SaaS and sign your first customers

5 companies created (Netir, France Nuage, Natalia, Leadspy, Nami), 3 with customers signed during the event.

Vendée French Tech
Vendée French TechMar 2024

Spotlight on Cloud-IAM: The enterprise France Connect

Cloud-IAM, co-founded by François-Guillaume Ribreau, offers a managed Keycloak service on European cloud. Profitable from month 6 with +150% MRR growth.

Euclidia (European cloud initiative)
Euclidia (European cloud initiative)2024

Showcase Cloud IAM — European identity and access management

Cloud-IAM is featured as the reference European solution for identity and access management, as part of the Euclidia initiative for cloud sovereignty.

On Part en Prod (#13)
On Part en Prod (#13)Apr 2023

Boost SaaS creation and profitability in record time

GRC Viewpoint
GRC ViewpointFeb 2023

Cloud IAM: Exclusively Ensuring Total Control Over Data to Customers

Interview with François-Guillaume Ribreau on Cloud-IAM's vision: ensuring customers have total control over their identity data on European cloud.

Refactor Podcast
Refactor PodcastNov 2020

François-Guillaume Ribreau, CTO-as-a-Service

The Mature Developer (#004)
The Mature Developer (#004)Jun 2020

François-G Ribreau generates 5k with his SaaS products

Touraine Tech2020

Does your API pass the 70-point technical inspection?

Paris Web
Paris WebSept 2019

Does your web API pass the 60-point technical inspection?

François-Guillaume Ribreau presents the 60-point technical inspection of a web API at the Paris Web 2019 conference.

Indie Hackers
Indie HackersJul 2019

How I Found Opportunity in Another Product's Deprecation

How François-Guillaume Ribreau turned Google Image Charts' deprecation into an opportunity by creating Image-Charts, a SaaS generating 80 million charts per month.

MixIT Lyon2019

Choosing between RPC, SOAP, REST, GraphQL APIs? What if the problem lies elsewhere?

Paris Web
Paris Web2019

Does your web API pass the 60-point technical inspection?

Touraine Tech2019

Choosing between RPC, SOAP, REST, GraphQL APIs?

Redis.io
Redis.ioApr 2017

Redis Labs Acquires Redis Weekly

Redis Labs acquires Redis Weekly, the weekly newsletter created by François-Guillaume Ribreau, after 184 issues and thousands of subscribers.

Web2Day2017

LEAN Case Study: Building a profitable SaaS in 6 months

Medium (@fdeurioste)
Medium (@fdeurioste)Nov 2015

#Reactive2015: Interview with @FGRibreau

Interview with François-Guillaume Ribreau at the Reactive 2015 conference, on React, Redux, CRDT, and reactive architectures.

FrenchWeb
FrenchWebMay 2015

iAdvize enters social media with Bringr acquisition

iAdvize, a leader in online customer relations, acquires the Nantes-based startup Bringr to enrich its customer engagement platform with real-time social media analysis.

Maddyness
MaddynessMay 2015

iAdvize acquires Bringr to build a 360° customer engagement solution

The acquisition of Bringr by iAdvize marks a milestone in building a 360° customer engagement solution, integrating social media monitoring.

L'Usine Digitale
L'Usine DigitaleMay 2015

Nantes-based iAdvize strengthens social media insights with Bringr

The Nantes-based startup iAdvize strengthens its social media insights with the acquisition of Bringr, co-founded by François-Guillaume Ribreau.

Journal du Net
Journal du NetMay 2015

iAdvize acquires Bringr and becomes a global customer engagement platform

iAdvize becomes a global real-time customer engagement platform with the acquisition of Bringr, a social media monitoring specialist.

Web2Day / Tech2Day2015

Development Principles & Philosophy

FrenchWeb
FrenchWebFeb 2013

Bringr, eyes and ears on social media

Bringr enables real-time monitoring and analysis of social media conversations, with a simple interface and customizable alerts.

L'Informateur Judiciaire
L'Informateur JudiciaireMay 2026

How far would you let artificial intelligence decide?

Ahead of the Popcorn IA event on July 7 in La Roche-sur-Yon, François-Guillaume Ribreau is featured among the local AI experts presenting solutions built in the region.

Les Échos
Les ÉchosApr 2026

In Vendée, Recapro launches a sovereign AI to secure strategic meeting reports

Recapro, co-founded by François-Guillaume Ribreau, launches a sovereign AI solution hosted in France to secure the transcription and synthesis of strategic business reports.

TV Vendée
TV VendéeSept 2025

SaaS Camp — one week to create a profitable and resilient business model

Report on the SaaS Camp in Vendée: an intensive week to create a profitable and resilient SaaS business model, initiated by François-Guillaume Ribreau.

L'Informateur Judiciaire
L'Informateur Judiciaire2025

Natalia: AI transforms administrative management

Natalia, co-founded by François-Guillaume Ribreau, uses AI to transform business administrative management with a voice and email assistant available 24/7.

SaaS Camp
SaaS CampNov 2024

SaaS Camp — 5 days to build a SaaS and sign your first customers

5 companies created (Netir, France Nuage, Natalia, Leadspy, Nami), 3 with customers signed during the event.

Vendée French Tech
Vendée French TechMar 2024

Spotlight on Cloud-IAM: The enterprise France Connect

Cloud-IAM, co-founded by François-Guillaume Ribreau, offers a managed Keycloak service on European cloud. Profitable from month 6 with +150% MRR growth.

Euclidia (European cloud initiative)
Euclidia (European cloud initiative)2024

Showcase Cloud IAM — European identity and access management

Cloud-IAM is featured as the reference European solution for identity and access management, as part of the Euclidia initiative for cloud sovereignty.

On Part en Prod (#13)
On Part en Prod (#13)Apr 2023

Boost SaaS creation and profitability in record time

GRC Viewpoint
GRC ViewpointFeb 2023

Cloud IAM: Exclusively Ensuring Total Control Over Data to Customers

Interview with François-Guillaume Ribreau on Cloud-IAM's vision: ensuring customers have total control over their identity data on European cloud.

Refactor Podcast
Refactor PodcastNov 2020

François-Guillaume Ribreau, CTO-as-a-Service

The Mature Developer (#004)
The Mature Developer (#004)Jun 2020

François-G Ribreau generates 5k with his SaaS products

Touraine Tech2020

Does your API pass the 70-point technical inspection?

Paris Web
Paris WebSept 2019

Does your web API pass the 60-point technical inspection?

François-Guillaume Ribreau presents the 60-point technical inspection of a web API at the Paris Web 2019 conference.

Indie Hackers
Indie HackersJul 2019

How I Found Opportunity in Another Product's Deprecation

How François-Guillaume Ribreau turned Google Image Charts' deprecation into an opportunity by creating Image-Charts, a SaaS generating 80 million charts per month.

MixIT Lyon2019

Choosing between RPC, SOAP, REST, GraphQL APIs? What if the problem lies elsewhere?

Paris Web
Paris Web2019

Does your web API pass the 60-point technical inspection?

Touraine Tech2019

Choosing between RPC, SOAP, REST, GraphQL APIs?

Redis.io
Redis.ioApr 2017

Redis Labs Acquires Redis Weekly

Redis Labs acquires Redis Weekly, the weekly newsletter created by François-Guillaume Ribreau, after 184 issues and thousands of subscribers.

Web2Day2017

LEAN Case Study: Building a profitable SaaS in 6 months

Medium (@fdeurioste)
Medium (@fdeurioste)Nov 2015

#Reactive2015: Interview with @FGRibreau

Interview with François-Guillaume Ribreau at the Reactive 2015 conference, on React, Redux, CRDT, and reactive architectures.

FrenchWeb
FrenchWebMay 2015

iAdvize enters social media with Bringr acquisition

iAdvize, a leader in online customer relations, acquires the Nantes-based startup Bringr to enrich its customer engagement platform with real-time social media analysis.

Maddyness
MaddynessMay 2015

iAdvize acquires Bringr to build a 360° customer engagement solution

The acquisition of Bringr by iAdvize marks a milestone in building a 360° customer engagement solution, integrating social media monitoring.

L'Usine Digitale
L'Usine DigitaleMay 2015

Nantes-based iAdvize strengthens social media insights with Bringr

The Nantes-based startup iAdvize strengthens its social media insights with the acquisition of Bringr, co-founded by François-Guillaume Ribreau.

Journal du Net
Journal du NetMay 2015

iAdvize acquires Bringr and becomes a global customer engagement platform

iAdvize becomes a global real-time customer engagement platform with the acquisition of Bringr, a social media monitoring specialist.

Web2Day / Tech2Day2015

Development Principles & Philosophy

FrenchWeb
FrenchWebFeb 2013

Bringr, eyes and ears on social media

Bringr enables real-time monitoring and analysis of social media conversations, with a simple interface and customizable alerts.

Building a passive income
INDIE MAKERS (video)Dec 2020

Building a passive income

Interview with François-Guillaume Ribreau
The Mature Developer (video)Jun 2020

Interview with François-Guillaume Ribreau

Does your web API pass the 50-point technical inspection?
Devoxx Paris2019

Does your web API pass the 50-point technical inspection?

Does your web API pass the technical inspection?
Web2Day2019

Does your web API pass the technical inspection?

Does your web API pass the technical inspection?
DevFest Toulouse2019

Does your web API pass the technical inspection?

A modern platform for the Ouest-France group
Meetup Niji Rennes2019

A modern platform for the Ouest-France group

Does your web API pass the technical inspection?
Voxxed Days Luxembourg2019

Does your web API pass the technical inspection?

#ChallengeAccepted: A modern platform for the SIPA/Ouest-France group
BreizhCamp2018

#ChallengeAccepted: A modern platform for the SIPA/Ouest-France group

Choosing between RPC, SOAP, REST, GraphQL APIs? What if the problem lies elsewhere?
Meetup / Conference2018

Choosing between RPC, SOAP, REST, GraphQL APIs? What if the problem lies elsewhere?

Journey of an entrepreneur
Nantes Digital Week / Maia MaterSept 2017

Journey of an entrepreneur

Building and automating your SaaS ecosystem with OpenAPI
BreizhCamp & Web2Day2017

Building and automating your SaaS ecosystem with OpenAPI

Structuring my first Node.js application
DevMagJul 2016

Structuring my first Node.js application

Building a passive income
INDIE MAKERS (video)Dec 2020

Building a passive income

Interview with François-Guillaume Ribreau
The Mature Developer (video)Jun 2020

Interview with François-Guillaume Ribreau

Does your web API pass the 50-point technical inspection?
Devoxx Paris2019

Does your web API pass the 50-point technical inspection?

Does your web API pass the technical inspection?
Web2Day2019

Does your web API pass the technical inspection?

Does your web API pass the technical inspection?
DevFest Toulouse2019

Does your web API pass the technical inspection?

A modern platform for the Ouest-France group
Meetup Niji Rennes2019

A modern platform for the Ouest-France group

Does your web API pass the technical inspection?
Voxxed Days Luxembourg2019

Does your web API pass the technical inspection?

#ChallengeAccepted: A modern platform for the SIPA/Ouest-France group
BreizhCamp2018

#ChallengeAccepted: A modern platform for the SIPA/Ouest-France group

Choosing between RPC, SOAP, REST, GraphQL APIs? What if the problem lies elsewhere?
Meetup / Conference2018

Choosing between RPC, SOAP, REST, GraphQL APIs? What if the problem lies elsewhere?

Journey of an entrepreneur
Nantes Digital Week / Maia MaterSept 2017

Journey of an entrepreneur

Building and automating your SaaS ecosystem with OpenAPI
BreizhCamp & Web2Day2017

Building and automating your SaaS ecosystem with OpenAPI

Structuring my first Node.js application
DevMagJul 2016

Structuring my first Node.js application

What they say

François-Guillaume gave me advice on migrating a SaaS architecture to On Premise, drawing on all his experience. In just half a day, we found the simplest and most effective solution possible, with a roadmap of best practices to implement over time. I highly recommend him.
François-Guillaume was extremely helpful in clarifying our SaaS strategy from both a technical and product standpoint. The audit gave us a clear and actionable assessment. François-Guillaume's expertise is inspiring, and his ability to simplify complex issues, understand the stakes, and his genuine care make his audits a truly enriching experience.
I especially recommend François-Guillaume's support for your tech projects, particularly in the SaaS space. He guided us on technical choices and also advised us on how to organize ourselves to deliver value efficiently and continuously.
François-Guillaume is undoubtedly passionate. His skills and vision made him an ambassador of the IT department within the Sipa/Ouest-France group. Coming from a startup, he showed resilience in a legacy-heavy environment and brought Ouest-France into a new technological dimension.
François-Guillaume delivered insightful & highly valuable solutions at an incredible pace. He was a true enabler adopting multiple stances: observer, thinker, advocate, architect & manager. His propositions are always directly actionable & impactful.
I had the pleasure of working with François-Guillaume during the audit at Guest Suite. He's a true professional with outstanding technical and interpersonal skills. His ability to absorb and process information is impressive. I recommend him 100%.
François-Guillaume quickly understood and internalized our challenges. His advice and recommendations are relevant, unambiguous, and actionable.
François-Guillaume gave me advice on migrating a SaaS architecture to On Premise, drawing on all his experience. In just half a day, we found the simplest and most effective solution possible, with a roadmap of best practices to implement over time. I highly recommend him.
François-Guillaume was extremely helpful in clarifying our SaaS strategy from both a technical and product standpoint. The audit gave us a clear and actionable assessment. François-Guillaume's expertise is inspiring, and his ability to simplify complex issues, understand the stakes, and his genuine care make his audits a truly enriching experience.
I especially recommend François-Guillaume's support for your tech projects, particularly in the SaaS space. He guided us on technical choices and also advised us on how to organize ourselves to deliver value efficiently and continuously.
François-Guillaume is undoubtedly passionate. His skills and vision made him an ambassador of the IT department within the Sipa/Ouest-France group. Coming from a startup, he showed resilience in a legacy-heavy environment and brought Ouest-France into a new technological dimension.
François-Guillaume delivered insightful & highly valuable solutions at an incredible pace. He was a true enabler adopting multiple stances: observer, thinker, advocate, architect & manager. His propositions are always directly actionable & impactful.
I had the pleasure of working with François-Guillaume during the audit at Guest Suite. He's a true professional with outstanding technical and interpersonal skills. His ability to absorb and process information is impressive. I recommend him 100%.
François-Guillaume quickly understood and internalized our challenges. His advice and recommendations are relevant, unambiguous, and actionable.
François-Guillaume supported us with exceptional professionalism in our architecture redesign project. His deep expertise, combined with excellent teaching skills, enabled him to deliver tailored solutions. After a day with François-Guillaume, you have clear solutions and vision, and on top of that, you feel a bit smarter. Bravo!
François-Guillaume provided a comprehensive set of solutions while also adapting to new issues as they arose. His breadth of skills and mastery of end-to-end project architecture were particularly appreciated. Thanks to his contribution, the entire development team was able to level up.
I was fortunate to have François-Guillaume on my team for 18 months. His vision, leadership, dynamism, and energy went far beyond the expected scope. His urbanized vision of the digital platform was validated by Xebia's CTO.
With strong technical, organizational, and entrepreneurial skills, François-Guillaume quickly grasped our complex challenges and delivered a precise assessment along with invaluable recommendations.
One of the best API talks ever, both in substance (the doctrine, the fundamentals) and in form: direct, bold, and sustained. Bravo.
Best talk of the entire #web2day #blowmymind
Francois-Guillaume Ribreau is one on the best JavaScript developer I have ever met. We hired him to rewrite from scratch one of our core component at iadvize and he did an exceptional job.
François-Guillaume supported us with exceptional professionalism in our architecture redesign project. His deep expertise, combined with excellent teaching skills, enabled him to deliver tailored solutions. After a day with François-Guillaume, you have clear solutions and vision, and on top of that, you feel a bit smarter. Bravo!
François-Guillaume provided a comprehensive set of solutions while also adapting to new issues as they arose. His breadth of skills and mastery of end-to-end project architecture were particularly appreciated. Thanks to his contribution, the entire development team was able to level up.
I was fortunate to have François-Guillaume on my team for 18 months. His vision, leadership, dynamism, and energy went far beyond the expected scope. His urbanized vision of the digital platform was validated by Xebia's CTO.
With strong technical, organizational, and entrepreneurial skills, François-Guillaume quickly grasped our complex challenges and delivered a precise assessment along with invaluable recommendations.
One of the best API talks ever, both in substance (the doctrine, the fundamentals) and in form: direct, bold, and sustained. Bravo.
Best talk of the entire #web2day #blowmymind
Francois-Guillaume Ribreau is one on the best JavaScript developer I have ever met. We hired him to rewrite from scratch one of our core component at iadvize and he did an exceptional job.
François-Guillaume has both a very broad general IT knowledge and sharp expertise in new technologies. His theoretical knowledge is illustrated by his own field experience.
Following a half-day exchange about database performance issues, François-Guillaume's advice enabled us to quickly reduce response times across our services.
He knows and recommends the right tools for every situation, and is able to structure things in a simple and effective way. A real pleasure to work with.
Excellent architect. François-Guillaume has a rare ability to see the system as a whole and propose pragmatic, tailored solutions.
Flawless technical expertise paired with product and business vision. François-Guillaume is a rare profile who perfectly bridges both worlds.
François-Guillaume has both a very broad general IT knowledge and sharp expertise in new technologies. His theoretical knowledge is illustrated by his own field experience.
Following a half-day exchange about database performance issues, François-Guillaume's advice enabled us to quickly reduce response times across our services.
He knows and recommends the right tools for every situation, and is able to structure things in a simple and effective way. A real pleasure to work with.
Excellent architect. François-Guillaume has a rare ability to see the system as a whole and propose pragmatic, tailored solutions.
Flawless technical expertise paired with product and business vision. François-Guillaume is a rare profile who perfectly bridges both worlds.
I warmly recommend François-Guillaume for his exceptional and inspiring teaching. His remarkable pedagogy makes complex concepts accessible to everyone. Beyond his technical skills, he cultivates critical thinking, collaboration, and creativity.
Without exaggeration, I learned more concepts, skills, and best practices than in an entire year... He gave us the drive, the passion, and his unique perspective on this fantastic profession that is software engineering. Thank you.
At a time when I was starting to lose faith in IT, you reminded me that there is magic and always a universe of things to discover. Since that class, I have loads of new ideas and I've picked up several personal projects again.
Certainly the most professionally enriching instructor I've ever met. It's above all his vision of technology, pedagogy, and entrepreneurship that we benefited from the most.
Passionate and captivating. François-Guillaume knows how to share his knowledge and inspire people to go further.
A truly inspiring lecturer. His passion for tech and entrepreneurship is contagious. He pushes his students to think big and take action.
He's one of those passionate, long-bearded people who share their knowledge with boundless energy. A class with François-Guillaume is always a memorable experience.
I warmly recommend François-Guillaume for his exceptional and inspiring teaching. His remarkable pedagogy makes complex concepts accessible to everyone. Beyond his technical skills, he cultivates critical thinking, collaboration, and creativity.
Without exaggeration, I learned more concepts, skills, and best practices than in an entire year... He gave us the drive, the passion, and his unique perspective on this fantastic profession that is software engineering. Thank you.
At a time when I was starting to lose faith in IT, you reminded me that there is magic and always a universe of things to discover. Since that class, I have loads of new ideas and I've picked up several personal projects again.
Certainly the most professionally enriching instructor I've ever met. It's above all his vision of technology, pedagogy, and entrepreneurship that we benefited from the most.
Passionate and captivating. François-Guillaume knows how to share his knowledge and inspire people to go further.
A truly inspiring lecturer. His passion for tech and entrepreneurship is contagious. He pushes his students to think big and take action.
He's one of those passionate, long-bearded people who share their knowledge with boundless energy. A class with François-Guillaume is always a memorable experience.
Fascinating classes. François-Guillaume generously shares his field experience and pushes everyone to give their best.
His ability to push us, to push our knowledge ever further, is remarkable. You come out of his classes with a transformed view of the profession.
A passionate and pedagogical lecturer. François-Guillaume makes complex topics accessible while maintaining a high level of standards.
François-Guillaume knows how to make a class dynamic and captivating. His energy and passion for web development are contagious.
An exceptional internship supervisor and mentor. François-Guillaume taught me far more than code: a true philosophy of development and entrepreneurship.
François-Guillaume shares his passion for JavaScript with rare authenticity. His classes are a concentrate of field experience and best practices.
Fascinating classes. François-Guillaume generously shares his field experience and pushes everyone to give their best.
His ability to push us, to push our knowledge ever further, is remarkable. You come out of his classes with a transformed view of the profession.
A passionate and pedagogical lecturer. François-Guillaume makes complex topics accessible while maintaining a high level of standards.
François-Guillaume knows how to make a class dynamic and captivating. His energy and passion for web development are contagious.
An exceptional internship supervisor and mentor. François-Guillaume taught me far more than code: a true philosophy of development and entrepreneurship.
François-Guillaume shares his passion for JavaScript with rare authenticity. His classes are a concentrate of field experience and best practices.

See all recommendations on LinkedIn →

What I write

NoBullshit Tech-Lead
Book

NoBullshit Tech-Lead

60 fundamental principles for CTOs, VP Eng., Lead Devs

5 years of writing. 60 principles drawn from 15 years in the field. No bullshit.

Discover the book →
Blog

blog.fgribreau.com

Technical articles, experience reports and reflections on SaaS, architecture and entrepreneurship.

ArchitectureSaaSLeadershipOpen Source
Read the blog →

Audit & Technical Diagnosis

You are:

They trust me with the technical due diligence of their targets before they invest.

  • Caisse des Dépôts
  • Arkéa Capital
  • MAIF Avenir
  • NCI
  • SofiOuest

They trusted me to audit their technical foundations.

  • Ouest-France
  • COMAP
  • Klaxoon
  • Guest Suite
  • Wanteeed
  • Netwo

You're backing a technical asset the management describes to you. Before you sign, I go and see what it's really worth.

Your CTO tells you everything is fine, your teams are slowing down, and the explanations don't add up. I give you the real answer, in the language of decisions.

Qualitative

Leadership interviews

I interview the target's CEO, CTO and technical leads. I compare what each of them believes about their system with what I actually find in the code and on the servers.

I interview your CTO and your technical leads, then I hold their explanations against what the code, the servers, the team organization and the methodology used across the whole software lifecycle actually show. That's often where the gap between the story and the reality becomes visible.

Quantitative

Code and servers

An audit that stops at interviews, without a review of the source code or the servers, misses half the problems. The code describes the intent, the running servers describe the reality, and the gap between the two concentrates the risk on the asset. I read the source code, under NDA if needed, then I inspect the servers in execution and in configuration. That's where the security flaws and configuration defects hide, the ones that weigh on performance and security, and that the target won't report to you.

An audit that stops at interviews, without a review of the source code or the servers, misses half the problems. The tickets and the business owners describe the intent, which rarely matches what was actually written in the source code. The reality of the customer experience plays out on the production servers. That's exactly what I check, on both sides. I read the source code, under NDA if needed, then I inspect the servers in execution and in configuration, where the flaws and configuration defects that weigh on performance and security hide.

What production reveals

Six cases I run into regularly, invisible in the repository and very real on the servers:

Default configuration

Settings left at their defaults degrade performance or compromise data persistence. It looks minor, yet it often weighs heavy.

Open doors

A database or an admin console stays reachable from the outside, while nothing in the code hinted at it.

Secrets in plain text

Passwords and access keys sit in plain text in the configuration, copied from one deployment to the next. And former employees sometimes still have access to production or to critical components.

No alerting

No monitoring is in place: the outage is discovered when a customer calls, not before. I call this anti-pattern Customer-based alerting, and it's a disastrous customer experience.

Tests that cover nothing

In interviews, I'm told there's a solid testing strategy. In the code, I find tests that are missing or limited to the trivial, covering none of the critical scenarios. That feeds customer dissatisfaction, and sometimes churn.

Code / production drift

What runs in production no longer matches the repository. Hand-made changes linger, and no one can recreate the production environment from scratch anymore, for instance to trigger a disaster recovery plan after an attack.

Confidentiality & posture

If needed, I sign your NDA before any access to the source code and the servers. I observe in read-only, without ever changing your production. The diagnosis is delivered to you behind closed doors. And I give your CTO the arguments to defend their work internally.

The 8 review axes

01

System architecture

How the product's building blocks communicate, where the single points of failure sit, and what gives way when traffic is multiplied by ten.

02

Software architecture

Is the code still modular and changeable without breaking everything, or does coupling spread every change everywhere and slow the team down?

03

Infrastructure

Does the infrastructure scale with the company's growth, on the performance side? I add a FinOps analysis: I compare your infrastructure costs with those of similar-size companies I've already observed, then I identify the possible optimizations, in performance as well as cost.

04

Team organization

Do your teams go from source code to deployment without depending on anyone? Is their breakdown aligned with business stakes, with infrastructure, and with the codebase? The goal is autonomous teams: a short time-to-market, and a company that stays aggressive in its market.

05

Method & strategy

Does the way of delivering really serve the company's goals and align the teams on a shared trajectory, or does it burn budget off-target?

06

Product design

From the stated need to the shipped code, I measure the drift at each step: gathering, specification, implementation, quality.

07

Security

Real exposure surface: reachable data, over-broad rights, vulnerable dependencies. I measure it in the code and on the servers actually running.

08

Software quality

This is the health that determines future speed: tests, readability, technical debt. That hidden debt slows every change down.

You're a fund running due diligence

The scope narrows to what drives the decision: red flags, quantified technical debt, the team's ability to deliver the roadmap, security and compliance risks. The debrief decides: go, no-go, or go with conditions, with the impact on valuation.

I already work with Arkéa Capital, MAIF Avenir, SofiOuest, NCI and Caisse des Dépôts.

You're a company leader

Your product holds up, your team ships, and the technical side, the methodology and the alignment of your teams' organization with your stakes all stay a black box you can't audit yourself. I give you a verified answer, in the language of decisions: where velocity stalls, where software quality stalls, what your real exposure is on security and GDPR, whether the team is sized for the roadmap ahead, and what technical debt is costing you. I come as an ally of your CTO. I leave them precise, actionable arguments and recommendations on their tech stack, their methodology and their team organization, to defend their work in front of you.

I've already run these audits for Ouest-France, Klaxoon, France's Ministry of the Interior, Ascor, Guest Suite, Wanteeed and COMAP.

Custom Audit

Starting at 18,800 EUR excl. VAT

For your most complex technical challenges.

  • About 2 weeks and up, on-site or remote
  • Source code and infrastructure audited in depth
  • Scope defined together around your stakes
  • Scaling, major refactoring, complex challenges
  • Optional support during implementation

Comprehensive Technical Audit

14,750 EUR excl. VAT

The detailed assessment to decide with confidence.

  • 3 days, remote
  • Source code and infrastructure audited in depth
  • Scope defined together around your stakes
  • 360° control points: architecture, organization, product, team, security
  • In-depth interviews with team leads and the executive committee
  • Detailed debrief and ready-to-execute recommendations
Diagram of the audit method: interviews, code and servers, 8 review axes, and a go/no-go diagnosis for funds.

Investor & Partner

Premier Étage
Since 2021

Investment vehicle for Western France startups (40 members, 500k EUR)

La Madeleine
Since 2021

Coworking and business domiciliation space in Nantes

Maison Bagarre
Since 2021

Bistronomic restaurant in Nantes

Le Palace
Since 2019

Coworking and innovation space in Nantes (350 seats, 3,200 sqm)

Education

January 2012 - August 2012

Master in Computer Science · Griffith College Dublin

Graduated with honors. Information Retrieval, Concurrent & Parallel Programming, Collaborative Distributed Systems (P2P).

2009 - 2012

IT & Information Systems Expert · EPSI Nantes

Valedictorian. Level 1 certified degree, 5-year Engineering program (MSc equivalent).

2007 - 2009

BTS in IT Management · EPSI Nantes

Application Development specialization.

2006 - 2007

Scientific Baccalaureate · Lycée Sainte Marie, Chantonnay (85)

What I hack

Node.js

154
npm packages
9.6M
downloads/month
~8 000
GitHub stars

Top 900 global contributors on GitHub (2022). redis-info, mailchecker, requestretry, truncate, unidecode... Redis Weekly acquired by Redis Labs in 2017 after 184 issues.

See all 307 repos on GitHub →

Rust

26
published crates
8.2M
total downloads

spinners (6M downloads), querystring (1.4M), mailchecker (739K), stripe-integration, hook0-client, kubectx, savon...

See all 26 crates on crates.io →

Security

Vulnerabilities discovered and responsibly disclosed in CNIL software (French Data Protection Authority) and in Miro (collaboration platform used by millions of users). Systematic responsible disclosure approach.

Direct access

Two formats to unblock an issue, make a tough decision, or think out loud with someone who has been in your shoes.

Quick advisory

€250 · 30 min

A blocking issue. A decision to make. An external perspective on your architecture, organization, or go-to-market.

  • Validate a technical choice
  • Unblock an organizational issue
  • Arbitrate between build vs buy
Unblock this point →

Everything discussed in session stays in session. No client name is mentioned without explicit agreement.