You’ve probably seen the ads. Maybe the one with the "monster" representing our insatiable appetite for new gadgets, or the slick, colorful campaigns telling you that "new is old." At the center of this movement is a guy who doesn’t really act like a typical tech titan. Thibaud Hug de Larauze isn't interested in selling you the next shiny thing. Honestly, he’d much rather you keep the phone you’re holding right now for another three years.
He is the co-founder and CEO of Back Market, a company that basically forced the world to take refurbished electronics seriously. Before he came along, buying a "used" phone felt like a gamble in a dark alley. You didn’t know if the battery would explode or if the screen was held together by spit and prayer.
The Middle Manager Who Walked Away
Thibaud wasn't born into a Silicon Valley garage. He was a middle manager. He worked at Neteven, an e-commerce platform, where he spent his days helping brands sell stuff on marketplaces like eBay. It was there that he had a "lightbulb" moment that most people would have just ignored. He noticed that refurbishing factories—places that actually fixed broken tech—had zero ways to reach customers directly.
They had the technical skill, but the branding was non-existent.
In 2014, he quit. He teamed up with Quentin Le Brouster and Vianney Vaute. They didn't have a massive warehouse or a fleet of delivery trucks. What they had was a bar—which is where they supposedly held their first meetings—and a vision to build a "supermarket" for things that already existed.
Why Back Market Isn't Just "Another Website"
People often mistake Back Market for a repair shop. It isn't. It’s a marketplace. Thibaud’s genius was realizing that the problem wasn't a lack of used phones; it was a lack of trust.
If you buy a refurbished iPhone from a random guy on a classifieds site, you have no recourse if it dies in a week. Thibaud changed the game by:
- Vetting the Sellers: He forced refurbishers to go through a "bootcamp" of quality checks.
- Standardizing the Warranty: Everything on the site gets a 12-month warranty. Period.
- Making it Cool: He moved the conversation away from "cheap" and toward "conscious."
It worked. By 2022, the company was valued at $5.7 billion. By 2026, the company is eyeing nearly €3 billion in gross merchandise value. That’s not just a "startup success story." It’s a fundamental shift in how we think about ownership.
The "Slow Tech" Uprising
Thibaud talks a lot about "Slow Tech" lately. It’s a term that sounds kinda hipster, but the data behind it is pretty grim. E-waste is growing by millions of tonnes every year. Most of the carbon footprint of your phone—about 70% to 80%—happens before you even take it out of the box.
"The spell of fast tech is finally fading," he said during a recent summit in Paris.
He’s not just talking, either. Under his leadership, Back Market recently launched a dedicated repair platform in Europe and is experimenting with a "one-stop shop" model. They even have a category for "Obsolete Computers"—laptops that Big Tech companies have tried to kill off with software updates, which Back Market revives with ChromeOS Flex.
What You Probably Didn't Know
Thibaud’s background is surprisingly international. He spent his 20s bouncing between France, Toronto, Mexico, and Spain. But the detail that usually gets left out of the glossy business profiles is his time in Haiti. After the 2010 earthquake, he took a break from the corporate ladder to help rebuild schools.
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That experience seems to have baked a sense of "purpose" into his business model. Back Market is now a certified B Corp. In France, they even changed their legal status to be a "purpose-led" company.
It’s easy to be cynical about "green" companies. We see greenwashing everywhere. But when you see the CEO of a multi-billion dollar company waving around a seven-year-old iPhone and genuinely bragging about its battery life, you start to believe he actually means it.
The Reality of the "Right to Repair"
Thibaud is a massive advocate for the Right to Repair legislation. He’s been vocal about how manufacturers make it intentionally difficult for independent shops to fix devices.
He’s currently pushing for:
- Lower Taxes on Refurbished Goods: To make the price gap even wider.
- Better Access to Parts: Forcing companies like Apple and Samsung to sell genuine components to everyone, not just "authorized" partners.
- Design for Longevity: Ending the era of glued-in batteries and proprietary screws.
Actionable Insights for the Tech-Conscious
If you're following the career of Thibaud Hug de Larauze or looking to adopt his "Slow Tech" philosophy, here is how you actually do it:
Stop the "Two-Year" Cycle
The biggest impact you can have is simply not upgrading. If your phone works, keep it. If the battery is dying, replace the battery for $60 instead of the phone for $1,000.
Check the "Repairability Score"
Before buying any new (or used) tech, look up its iFixit score. If it gets a 1/10, it’s a disposable brick waiting to happen.
Use Trade-Ins Early
Don't let your old phones sit in a "junk drawer." They lose value every month. If you aren't using a device, sell it back into the circular economy immediately while the parts are still useful to someone else.
Support Independent Repair
Next time you crack a screen, go to a local mom-and-pop shop instead of the mall. It keeps money in your local economy and supports the very ecosystem Thibaud is trying to protect.
Thibaud Hug de Larauze didn't just build a website. He’s trying to build a world where we stop treating electronics like single-use plastics. Whether he succeeds depends less on his valuation and more on whether we’re willing to keep our phones in our pockets a little bit longer.