4 ms·

No one said this measure prevents them. What I'm saying is that the work climate in France, which the government could influence, doesn't allow for excellence.

No one said this measure prevents them. What I'm saying is that the work climate in France, which the government could influence, doesn't allow for excellence. A proof of this is the obvious lack of high tech companies from France. There is also no startup scene, there are no FAANGs, no unicorns that were sold for billions of dollars/euros, nothing like that. On the other hand there are a lot of french engineers outside France doing wonderful work.

jamil7 5y ago
Thanks, I don’t know a lot about the situation for young people in France, I do meet a lot of French people in Germany who have moved for work, I’ve even heard of French startups and tech companies opening offices in Berlin purely to hire.
- Bayart 5y ago
  There's a sort of never ending hysteria (I've heard it for decades) about brain-brain supposedly caused by taxes, administration, « backwards French culture » and basically any other liberal fever dream stuff you can pin on a country. But in reality French people more or less emigrate the least in Europe.
phtrivier 5y ago
There is no FAANGs in France because France is part the EU, and the anti-trust laws try to protect competition between smaller actors spread in 27 countries. It can be argued whether it's good or bad (people keep asking for 'the Airbus of X' while the Commission plays its part and prevent such actors from emerging.) However, as usual, don't placate US expectations on other parts of the world. You would not say that Michigan needs to create a culture of education, because all the FAANGs are in California. Also, the financing culture (and maybe structure ?) seems to prevent the pretendo-valuations of "unicorns". I guess companies here have to go to such extremes as "making products that earn money". Yuck. I'm curious what would qualify as a "startup-scene" for you, though ? I'm living in a tech-hub in France, so I can tell you there are startups, but what is your threshold for a "scene" ? Number of employee ? Size of campuses ? Number of meetups ?
- lotsofpulp 5y ago
  FAANGs are FAANGs because of the possibilities of immense profit margins and cash flow due to computing power and automation offering near zero marginal costs. There are a lot more people with money that speak English than French, so it’s almost inevitable that best strategy is to start with the English speaking markets. Once you hit it big there, there’s no stopping you worldwide. Except China, who also has a ton of rich people.
  - phtrivier 5y ago
    I agree for some of the faangs (google who has to deal with contents in multiple language, Facebook maybe ?) ; However I'm not sure a french customer is costing that much more to Amazon because of i18n. Regulations, that petty thing about "paying taxes", etc... are probably stronger factor.

jamil7 5y ago

Thanks, I don’t know a lot about the situation for young people in France, I do meet a lot of French people in Germany who have moved for work, I’ve even heard of French startups and tech companies opening offices in Berlin purely to hire.

Bayart 5y ago
There's a sort of never ending hysteria (I've heard it for decades) about brain-brain supposedly caused by taxes, administration, « backwards French culture » and basically any other liberal fever dream stuff you can pin on a country. But in reality French people more or less emigrate the least in Europe.

phtrivier 5y ago

There is no FAANGs in France because France is part the EU, and the anti-trust laws try to protect competition between smaller actors spread in 27 countries. It can be argued whether it's good or bad (people keep asking for 'the Airbus of X' while the Commission plays its part and prevent such actors from emerging.) However, as usual, don't placate US expectations on other parts of the world. You would not say that Michigan needs to create a culture of education, because all the FAANGs are in California. Also, the financing culture (and maybe structure ?) seems to prevent the pretendo-valuations of "unicorns". I guess companies here have to go to such extremes as "making products that earn money". Yuck. I'm curious what would qualify as a "startup-scene" for you, though ? I'm living in a tech-hub in France, so I can tell you there are startups, but what is your threshold for a "scene" ? Number of employee ? Size of campuses ? Number of meetups ?

lotsofpulp 5y ago
FAANGs are FAANGs because of the possibilities of immense profit margins and cash flow due to computing power and automation offering near zero marginal costs. There are a lot more people with money that speak English than French, so it’s almost inevitable that best strategy is to start with the English speaking markets. Once you hit it big there, there’s no stopping you worldwide. Except China, who also has a ton of rich people.
- phtrivier 5y ago
  I agree for some of the faangs (google who has to deal with contents in multiple language, Facebook maybe ?) ; However I'm not sure a french customer is costing that much more to Amazon because of i18n. Regulations, that petty thing about "paying taxes", etc... are probably stronger factor.