Archive for February 2013
Microsoft announces Spark, a CoWorking Space & Accelerator in the heart of Paris’ startup district
Yesterday at the Palais des Congrès de Paris, Microsoft France kicked off the Microsoft Tech Days, an annual event that brings the community together to talk about the amazing things happening with Microsoft. Obviously, Windows 8 will be a big part of the discussion this week, but the biggest news for startupers this week was […]
Everything eMerchants need to know about the new (paid) Google Shopping platform
Today the changes that Google announced months ago for Google Shopping are rolling out in several countries. You may recall that the announced changes, which changed Google Shopping from a free to a paid platform, were met with some criticism – whether the results that showed up would be the best results, or just the results someone is paying to […]
France and the USA: A Love-Hack Relationship
The relationship between France and the USA has always been tense: the phrase “Freedom Fries” sums it up pretty well. This is a product of France’s complicated history with the US, having first funded a revolution in our favor and then funding our enemies in war, then having been ‘invaded’ by us after they were […]
Rude VC: Percent vs. value
At a conference the other day a fundraising advisor I know approached me about a prospective investment opportunity. The opportunity, a project in the mobile analytics space, fit well within our invest domain of interest. I was intrigued and listened attentively as the intermediary explained the product, the market need, the company’s progress to date, […]
European Commission cuts 2020 Digital Agenda budget by 90%
Coming on the heels of Liam’s adventures in the hallowed halls of the European Commission and just in time for one of telecoms biggest events of the year, the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, comes some disappointing news from Neelie Kroes, the European Commissioner for Digital Agenda. In the midst of the tough EU budget deal negotiations, some […]
Mandala Games founder Nadya Jahan announces company’s Bankruptcy
Yesterday on her personal blog, Mandala Games founder Nadya Jahan announced that the company filed for bankruptcy on February 6th. Her blog post[fr], entitled “Merci,” is a giant thank you to all those who supported her – investors, team members, family, clients, entrepreneurs – a very touching post after 3 years of running the company. The […]
SnapCar distances itself from Uber as it moves towards Business Class
SnapCar, a smartphone-enabled private chauffeur service, announced that it will be offering SnapCar for Business, a service dedicated exclusively to enterprises. Just like SnapCar for individuals, the service will allow employees at companies to stay mobile on the go by providing them with an easy way to order drivers wherever they are. The new app, […]
4 Reasons to Upgrade your Evernote Account with Azendoo
You rely on tools like watches, alarms, notifications, calendars and moleskines to help “manage” your time. The real manipulation here is visualization, so long as we have our eggs lined up in a row, we can get cracking, so to speak. There is no better way to evolve the culture of your team than by […]
“Yeah, but what IS a startup?” And other questions I answered for the European Commission
Last week I was up in Brussels for a workshop called “How the European Commission can support Web Entrepreneurship in Europe.” During the workshop, I talked about different initiatives that the European Commission could provide grants for, related to accelerators, crowdfunding, company creation, taxation, hiring/firing costs & more, and I was surprised at some of the […]
Fleur Pellerin to target France’s fear of failure at its core. Banks.
Fleur Pellerin is looking to change how France treats entrepreneurial failure, and she’s attacking the problem at the source. In an article in LeFigaro, the Minister of the Digital Economy is quoted as saying “We must turn an entrepreneur’s first failure into a positive experience. Failure should not be a red light (for future ventures). […]