BACK TO THE FUTURE

WITH INVESTORS LIKE AL GORE AND BERNARD ARNAULT, BACK MARKET WANTS TO CHANGE THE WAY ALL OF US THINK ABOUT AND PURCHASE PHONES AND OTHER TECH. IF CO-FOUNDER AND CEO THIBAUD HUG DE LARAUZE SUCCEEDS, HE JUST MIGHT SAVE THE WORLD.

- BY COURTNEY RUBIN

One morning last July, Thibaud Hug de Larauze lay his 2017 iPhone 8 Plus on the bed after giving his then 2-year-old her bottle. Seconds later, he heard a loud crash: She had grabbed his phone, toddled off with it, and there it was—back broken, front glass shattered, the frame bent—at the foot of a stone staircase in his 19th-century home in Bordeaux.

Many tech execs would’ve just ordered a new phone, but Hug de Larauze had other ideas. As co-founder and CEO of refurbished-tech marketplace Back Market, a prominent French unicorn, it’s practically his job not to admit defeat until the technicians in the Back Market lab pronounce a device beyond help, which is what happened and why Hug de Larauze ended up with a refurbished black iPhone 12 Pro Max, vintage 2020.

About his preference for refurbished, pre-owned tech, Hug de Larauze is adamant: “It’s so much better for savings, for safety, and for the environment.”

The entrepreneur isn’t against innovation per se—and he doesn’t want to take away your iPhone. But Hug de Larauze does have serious questions about technology churn. Given rising costs of new tech—to the environment and to your wallet—he asks: How much is innovation worth? And do you really need anew phone every time Apple offers an update?