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To me, the most important thing is that he's closing the "040" indicator used by the banks to index the entrepreneurs who previously failed. It's virtually imp

To me, the most important thing is that he's closing the "040" indicator used by the banks to index the entrepreneurs who previously failed. It's virtually impossible to get help from a bank if your previous startup has failed. There's a bigger picture here. France is so incredibly intolerant of failure it's not funny. There's the rampant myth of the "genius superstar that never fails" and you only get one chance to prove yourself. It's no surprise that people will (generally, there are exceptions) prefer steady and safe employment in big corporations. I think the best thing we can do for entrepreneurs is to encourage people to take risks and fail a few times. But this needs a major overhaul of the mentality in the country. I'm glad to see the government is taking a first step.

edouard1234567 13y ago
I totally agree and I'm surprised by all the negative comments on this page. These measures seem to be going in the right direction: 1 - encouraging entrepreneurship by reducing the risk (no more bad credit score aka banning 040 code) 2 - increasing the reward through tax breaks on early capital gain.
- jvzr 13y ago
  Again, promises. And F. Hollande has not a good track records of keeping promises.
  - edouard1234567 13y ago
    Maybe, but that's probably not the right forum for politics...
    - davidw 13y ago
      Exactly - consider flagging the article.
      - subsystem 13y ago
        The article seems highly relevant regardsless if people can stay on topic.
xsace 13y ago
You sum up everything. If you fear the failure, you can't be successful. That's a french mentality issue (I'm french) French people need to understand the learn from your failures concept
- philjeudy 13y ago
  I'm French too and I totally disagree with this comment. We should stop old style cliché and be fair a bit. Things are changing there obviously.
  - nire 13y ago
    Absolutely, things are changing.
MetaCosm 13y ago
In the US -- we look at some of our most successful businesses and a ton of them had bankrupt companies in their past... Ford (cars), Disney (media), Lincoln (president), Heinz (condiments), Hershey (candy), Twain (author), Fox (media) -- tons of others...
- watsonc73 13y ago
  Great point - Unfortunately, it's endemic in European society that bankruptcy should be labelled as a permanent branding of failure for an entrepreneur. Until this year in Ireland, an adjudicated bankrupt could not apply for €630 credit without disclosing his status as a bankrupt (which could last for up to 12 years!) I'd bet that the countries with the lowest barriers to exiting bankruptcy (eg 6 months in the US) also have the highest start-up success rates. Bankruptcy laws are inversely proportionate to an innovative start-up ecosystem. Getting rid of the '040' label is definitely a step in the right direction and I'm delighted to see that Hollande recognizes how important it is to remove this stigma. On a side note, Liam Boogar, the editor of the Rude Baguette (source of this article) is an absolute gentleman who works tirelessly to better the fate of French start-ups. Keep up the great work!
  - MetaCosm 13y ago
    This is really interesting, because it goes beyond just a label -- it is a social stigma. I am now going to have to find some books on the topic!
  - Silhouette 13y ago
    I'd bet that the countries with the lowest barriers to exiting bankruptcy (eg 6 months in the US) also have the highest start-up success rates. Perhaps, but someone is still footing the bill for those failures that were able to write off debts they couldn't afford, so I wouldn't be too quick to assume a very liberal culture with regard to bankruptcy is always better. Remember, bankruptcy doesn't just mean a company failed to make money, it implies that the company ran out of money without even paying its debts. In this context, that usually means taking on a bigger loan than it could afford to repay. If banks are going to lend more money to businesses run by people who make that mistake, they're probably going to be putting up interest rates on loans across the board to pay for it. That's going to hit other businesses that are borderline successful in their early days instead, possibly even killing them off before they become established and sustainable. I know it's popular around places like SV and around HN to talk up failure like it's a badge of honour and guarantees you'll have valuable experience to learn from for next time, but a failure is still a failure. Even if most one-time failures shouldn't merit the end of someone's entrepreneurial career, banks should lend responsibly and be hesitant about lending to someone with track record of not repaying their debts.

edouard1234567 13y ago

I totally agree and I'm surprised by all the negative comments on this page. These measures seem to be going in the right direction: 1 - encouraging entrepreneurship by reducing the risk (no more bad credit score aka banning 040 code) 2 - increasing the reward through tax breaks on early capital gain.

jvzr 13y ago
Again, promises. And F. Hollande has not a good track records of keeping promises.
- edouard1234567 13y ago
  Maybe, but that's probably not the right forum for politics...
  - davidw 13y ago
    Exactly - consider flagging the article.
    - subsystem 13y ago
      The article seems highly relevant regardsless if people can stay on topic.

xsace 13y ago

You sum up everything. If you fear the failure, you can't be successful. That's a french mentality issue (I'm french) French people need to understand the learn from your failures concept

philjeudy 13y ago
I'm French too and I totally disagree with this comment. We should stop old style cliché and be fair a bit. Things are changing there obviously.
- nire 13y ago
  Absolutely, things are changing.

MetaCosm 13y ago

In the US -- we look at some of our most successful businesses and a ton of them had bankrupt companies in their past... Ford (cars), Disney (media), Lincoln (president), Heinz (condiments), Hershey (candy), Twain (author), Fox (media) -- tons of others...

watsonc73 13y ago
Great point - Unfortunately, it's endemic in European society that bankruptcy should be labelled as a permanent branding of failure for an entrepreneur. Until this year in Ireland, an adjudicated bankrupt could not apply for €630 credit without disclosing his status as a bankrupt (which could last for up to 12 years!) I'd bet that the countries with the lowest barriers to exiting bankruptcy (eg 6 months in the US) also have the highest start-up success rates. Bankruptcy laws are inversely proportionate to an innovative start-up ecosystem. Getting rid of the '040' label is definitely a step in the right direction and I'm delighted to see that Hollande recognizes how important it is to remove this stigma. On a side note, Liam Boogar, the editor of the Rude Baguette (source of this article) is an absolute gentleman who works tirelessly to better the fate of French start-ups. Keep up the great work!
- MetaCosm 13y ago
  This is really interesting, because it goes beyond just a label -- it is a social stigma. I am now going to have to find some books on the topic!
- Silhouette 13y ago
  I'd bet that the countries with the lowest barriers to exiting bankruptcy (eg 6 months in the US) also have the highest start-up success rates. Perhaps, but someone is still footing the bill for those failures that were able to write off debts they couldn't afford, so I wouldn't be too quick to assume a very liberal culture with regard to bankruptcy is always better. Remember, bankruptcy doesn't just mean a company failed to make money, it implies that the company ran out of money without even paying its debts. In this context, that usually means taking on a bigger loan than it could afford to repay. If banks are going to lend more money to businesses run by people who make that mistake, they're probably going to be putting up interest rates on loans across the board to pay for it. That's going to hit other businesses that are borderline successful in their early days instead, possibly even killing them off before they become established and sustainable. I know it's popular around places like SV and around HN to talk up failure like it's a badge of honour and guarantees you'll have valuable experience to learn from for next time, but a failure is still a failure. Even if most one-time failures shouldn't merit the end of someone's entrepreneurial career, banks should lend responsibly and be hesitant about lending to someone with track record of not repaying their debts.