As an independent observer (VC; background in investing both in the US & Europe, currently based out of London) - the French ecosystem has transformed massively

As an independent observer (VC; background in investing both in the US & Europe, currently based out of London) - the French ecosystem has transformed massively over the last few years, it's essentially unrecognizable from what it used to be. Historically French startups were relatively insular, primarily focusing on the French market while largely ignoring the larger global market. That's long gone - now you see French startups going after the global market from day one (indeed many run product/eng out of France while running sales from the US to be closer to their American customers). You can tell the article author hasn't really spent time in the French ecosystem due to the lack of mention of SaaS which is where Paris has found it's sweet spot - SaaStr even ran their first conference outside of SF in Paris. You can easily see the quality of SaaS startups emerging from the French YC alumni alone: Front, Algolia, Sqreen, Slite - each really building the category defining product in their space.