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France has plenty of early stage startups, in fact the increase in size and quality in their ecosystem in just a few years has been very impressive. What’s mis
by axtn 8y ago
France has plenty of early stage startups, in fact the increase in size and quality in their ecosystem in just a few years has been very impressive.
What’s missing in France right now is an ecosystem of fast-growing mid-stage startups - series B and above. I think that’s caused by a combination of:
1) mindset (thinking globally from say one is easier said than done when nobody around you has done it before)
2) lack of late-stage funding. The seed money scene is not as bad as it used to be, and is in a virtuous cycle of early exits / successful entrepreneurs who want to give back. That is looking very good. However, the VCs still suck, with a few exceptions. They’re mostlt bankers, they’re risk-averse, ownership-greedy, and intrusive. Good luck growing a world-class business with them on your board and in your cap table.
3) The EU market is just weak conpared to US and China. So every european startup has to start outside their confort zone and attack foreign markets from day one... Which creates friction compared to growing at home for the first few years.
Here are factors that in my opinion are NOT to blame: taxes (comparable to California), salaries (yes they’re lower than in SV; that’s a good thing for startups), bureaucratic red tape (that’s what lawyers and accountabts are for, it’s not rocket science), lack of work ethic (in my experience French employees work very hard and are very loyal - although they do complain a lot), brain drain (sure French people leave the country. Plenty stay, or come back. It’s nothing like what third world countries have to deal with).
What I’m seeing more and more is French founders moving to SV, raising money there and keeping their engineers in France. Other international founders are doing the same. I think it’s the best available move at the moment.
- johnomarkid 8y agoLow salaries are not a good thing for the startups! Here's an article from a French engineer that is currently on the front page of HN: https://web.archive.org/web/20180925150228/https://florentcrivello.com/index.php/2018/09/25/go-west-young-man/ https://web.archive.org/web/20180925150228/https://florentcr... tldr; he moved to SF because salaries are much, much higher than in France, even considering the social benefits that you get in France. Other threads on HN have French engineers saying that they love living in France while working remotely for American companies. I've lived in Paris, Berlin, NYC and California. I'll never understand how European founders can keep saying that 40k euro salaries for engineers is a benefit while they watch so many great engineers leave to American companies.
- axtn 8y agoThey are a benefit... if you pay people above market! That allows you to attract top talent that otherwise would be locked in at Google etc. The whole point of low salaries, for smart companies, is to be the one increasing them! Obviously that makes it a temporary advantage, as salaries start to increase... But all great advantages are temporary. The people you are talking to, who like low salaries because they want to enjoy lower costs in perpetuity... that’s just mediocre thinking by mediocre companies.
- lazyjones 8y agoGood luck getting the top talent that has moved to the US, UK or Switzerland years ago.
- achamayou 8y agoThere’s top talent graduating all the time though, you don’t necessarily need to go abroad and drag people back.
- axtn 8y agoExactly. France has extremely strong engineering schools, and almost no software industry. You wouldn’t believe the talent being wasted in banking IT desks and consulting conpanies... Not only can a well-funded startup pay them better, the work is 10x more interesting. And unlike Silicon Valley engineers, French employees won’t ditch you after a year. Once they’re on board, they tend to stick around (sometimes even too long for their own good...)
- craigsmansion 8y agoMIT used to be the dream, now it's Inria where all the magic seems to originate. (I blame the switch from scheme to Python)
- lazyjones 8y ago> French employees won’t ditch you after a year. Once they’re on board, they tend to stick around (sometimes even too long for their own good...) You forgot to mention that you can‘t fire them at will either... It‘s such laws and excessive taxation that makes many european countries unattractive for startups.
- presscast 8y agoAgree with the analysis of funding you provide. Concerning mindset, I think there's an even bigger cultural trait that's holding back French entrepreneurship: a complete absence of a "culture of failure". By and large, French culture is one of fixed mindset. Mistakes/errors/failures reveal one's limitations or flaws, and aren't perceived as an opportunity to learn and grow. This starts very early and is very much baked in to the structure of schooling. On the flip-side, this seems to be slowly changing. At the very least, people are aware that the US does this differently, and there seems to be some interest in effecting change.
- mhjas 8y agoI think the biggest challenge for France in regard to startup is that society is hierarchical. I think many of the other concerns stem from that. Hierarchies makes society about ranking, which kills startup since startups are essentially about climbing the class ladder as a company (from small business to fortune 500). Pretty much all startup "hubs" are either "new world" were there weren't necessarily a lot of established players already and/or relatively egalitarian.
- presscast 8y ago>I think the biggest challenge for France in regard to startup is that society is hierarchical Agreed. At this point, I usually like to point out that hierarchical societies have their advantages. A huge asset for France is it's elite schools -- the "Grandes Écoles". These schools are outstanding in a way that few Americans can even fathom, and their students are educated to a point that I didn't think possible until moving to Paris. If you want the best engineers in the world, hire out of those schools. As a bonus, they aren't the sort to hop between jobs.
- hrktb 8y agoI have mixed feelings about the grandes ecoles. Brilliant people get there and you don’t get in and out without serious grit, a decent mind and a taste for effort. But I tink that’s really what it is. The best engineers I have seen didn’t care for ‘burning’ years of their life in half military schools or old institutions, they went directly to CS courses to get a diploma faster and go abroad or start their own project. Put another way, people who don’t care about prestige and having a super broad education don’t go there, and in our field I tink a ton of super talented people fit that description.
- wowzerhn 8y agoWhat everyone is missing is. In Europe, why would an entrepreneur work hard? There is strong safety net provided by the Welfare state, it's simply not worth the risk. No risk of going homeless if you fail. It's easier to give up. Remove safety net, remove free healthcare, increase wages, remove payroll taxes, remove immigration restriction, add property rights so that foreigners can buy land and see the startups blossom. It is as simple as that. But pretty sure, most European will not be voting for this.
- apeyrard 8y agoYes, we're certainly not voting for that. No single payer healthcare ? No thank you. What an horrible idea.
- tobltobs 8y agoWhat a bullshit. You don't have to be a neo-liberal hellhole to attract successful entrepreneurs.
- wowzerhn 8y ago> You don't have to be a neo-liberal hellhole to attract successful entrepreneurs What do you think Enterprenure leverage?
- dang 8y agoWe've banned this account for trolling.