All posts in silicon valley
Is Raising Funds More Important than Profitability?
Raising funds, getting new valuations, and Series B financing are an inescapable fact of life any startup. We celebrate those companies that are able to pull in eye-popping investments, as with digital bank Monzo – which got valued at £1 billion last year and is looking at raising more funds in order to expand their […]
Italy on the Pacific: How Airbnb can alter Japan's trajectory
When Japanese Prime Minister Abe visited the San Francisco Bay Area last week, he spoke about the need for Japan to foster its own version of Silicon Valley. His rationale makes sense. Many governments here in Europe have launched initiatives to encourage startup ecosystems and boost innovation (LaFrenchTech, London TechCity, Finland’s Startup Sauna, Enterprise Ireland, […]
Dear LaFrenchTech: Let’s never stop learning
Arguably at one point the hottest tech conference on the European continent and still undisputably one of the top tier events, LeWeb took place last week and brought leading international entrepreneurs and investors like Phil Libin, Hiroshi Mikitani, Kevin Rose, Yossi Vardi, Tony Conrad, David Hornik, Jeff Clavier, and Fred Wilson to Paris. The conference […]
European entrepreneurs: Beware the Silicon Valley travel trap
There seems be a growing trend in startup communities throughout continental Europe that I find a bit fatiguing. It has to do with the plethora of consultants offering to organize tailored travel packages for young tech companies to global tech hubs, usually Silicon Valley. Consultants are like ants: they usually show up when there’s a […]
How to reach a global audience and get Orange as your first client
We have previously covered Orange Fab – the insanely attractive acceleration program for US based startups. The first season of the program has just finished and Orange is already preparing to launch Season 2 with applications opening in just a few weeks from now. During the first season over a 100 companies applied, of […]
Rude VC: Silicon Valley’s secret sauce
Over the past few weeks in this space, inspired by Fleur Pellerin’s current government initiative to replicate Silicon Valley, I’ve recapped some of the history of the region and reconsidered the wisdom of attempts to reproduce the Silicon Valley model elsewhere. I submit that trying to imitate Silicon Valley is futile. However, France’s government and […]
Voulez-vous Yahoo ?
A worrying phenomenon is brewing among a handful of French companies that are using the brouhaha at Yahoo! as an excuse to forbid working from home. Unless you’ve miraculously escaped the tireless media coverage, you’re aware that Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer announced last month that she was abolishing the firm’s work-from-home policy, saying that to […]
Rude VC: The Valley of Heart’s Delight
Spot quiz: What region is formerly known as the Valley of Heart’s Delight ? Here’s a hint: it’s not Blackstone Valley in Massachusetts, nor is it Berlin, East London, and especially not Saclay, France. A swathe of apple orchards and orange groves spanning Santa Clara County in Northern California is what gave Silicon Valley this […]
A Better Mousetrap: Analysis of the Startup Genome Project
Digging into the Startup Genome Project's recentl publication, Trista Bridges explores the implication behind the statistics, as well as the implications, necessities, advantages and woes of copycatting in Europe.
Hadopi: What SOPA looks like from the Eiffel Tower
Last week, the US looked a lot more like France than it usually does, thanks to the uproar caused by SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act). I probably don’t need to remind anyone reading this that the internet was flooded with the protesting voices of companies like Wikipedia, Google, Reddit and more against the would-be anti-piracy law. […]