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There are many things to fix in France to encourage start-ups, indeed. And containing bureaucracy will be harder than tax issues IMO. However, what's very impo
by fab13n 13y ago
There are many things to fix in France to encourage start-ups, indeed. And containing bureaucracy will be harder than tax issues IMO.
However, what's very important in this endeavor this that it's 90% financed by Xavier Niel, a single private entrepreneur who's specialized in blowing up bureaucratic / oligopolistic businesses. He's pioneered minitel services (including sexual content, which got him some flak), then commoditized high-speed ADSL (we've had tens of Mbps for €30 for nearly a decade), more recently cellular phone (no contract, no subsidized phone, unlimited calls, 3GBytes of data for €20), has started messing with education (http://www.42.fr http://www.42.fr), and now incubation.
I'd have been _very_ skeptical of this without Niel's control over it. With him, I tend to be hopeful.
- bsaul 13y agosame here. i was skeptical of Niel as well, but with 42 he really showed that he was honest with his intention to change the country's mentality. i also saw an interview of fleur pellerin the other day and she seems like a "hands in the dirt" person. that's a real change from previous ministers in her position. that's really the first time i'm optimistic about a state sponsored big project.
- touristtam 13y agoWhat is that 42.fr website like? I mean there are tones of useful resource online for wannabe developer. So I don't really get what this one has to be so special. Is it because it is all in French?
- seszett 13y agoWell it's a tech school, not just a website.
- cocoflunchy 13y agoIt's actually a free physical school dedicated to teach programming, open to anyone who is 18 to 30. The website in itself is not very important. You can read the press release in English here: http://www.42.fr/42-revolutionary-computer-training-free-and-open-to-all/ http://www.42.fr/42-revolutionary-computer-training-free-and...
- theorique 13y agoCool, thanks for the context. Don't get me wrong, I think it would be great for France and Europe to have a Silicon Valley-equivalent. So I don't mean to disparage. I've just heard some horror stories about the red tape that startups face in some parts of Europe. Glad to hear there are positive signs.