Doctrine buys Predictice: the debrief with Guillaume Carrère and Louis Larret-Chahine

A rare podcast on an acquisition between direct competitors

Some conversations are rarer than others. This one clearly belongs in that group.

We had the chance to talk for some thirty minutes with Louis Larret-Chahine, founder of Predictice, and Guillaume Carrère, CEO of Doctrine. Two entrepreneurs who, not long ago, were fighting a genuine commercial war. Same market, same target, very close positions. And yet, a few months ago, Doctrine bought Predictice. A coming together that, with a little distance, now looks obvious.

Going past the “why” to talk about the real thing

In this podcast we deliberately left the “why” aside. It is widely documented, understood and analysed. Two solid companies, a close entrepreneurial culture, a shared ambition and a market reaching maturity.

The real question lay elsewhere.

How does it actually go?
What is it like to live through a buyout when you were a direct competitor?
What does it mean on the buyer's side, and on the seller's?
And above all, what can be learned about pulling off external growth without weakening yourself?

Those are the subjects, rarely handled with this much transparency, that we explored.

A new scale for Doctrine

Since acquiring Predictice, Doctrine has clearly changed scale.

In growth, in weight and in credibility. The company now competes directly with very large European and American players. And it does so with a clear ambition, a long-term view it owns, and a capacity to execute that is genuinely impressive.

This podcast helps you grasp what it concretely means to pass a milestone that structural for a tech company.

When rivalry gives way to a shared understanding

Beyond the business lessons, one thing struck me in particular. The energy between Louis Larret-Chahine and Guillaume Carrère.

A real understanding. As if burying the hatchet had let them discover each other differently, with more distance and more clarity. A very concrete demonstration that buying a competitor can become a formidably effective growth strategy, provided it is well thought through, well run and well embodied.

A podcast that reaches past the legal world

This podcast obviously speaks to lawyers, almost all of whom use Doctrine. But it addresses a much wider audience.

Entrepreneurs, chartered accountants, everyone engaged in external growth who knows how delicate an acquisition can be to pull off. It will also interest those who watch these moves from a distance and want to understand how solid, ambitious and lasting companies get built.