This might be a good time to point out the differences between startup incubators that work and those that work politically. Political organizations do things

This might be a good time to point out the differences between startup incubators that work and those that work politically. Political organizations do things to create political impact. In their terms, a successful startup incubator would have a big building, be designed by a great architect, have funding for hundreds of teams at a time, get funding in memorable ways, and have lots of press-worthy events. In short, whatever it takes to look good on television. Political organizations do things for political reasons. From what little we know, actually effective incubators emphasize failure, exist in a culture of mutual support, are part of a larger technically-inclined ecosystem, nurture small teams, and exist as a really low-key, ongoing creative chaos of conversations and contacts. In short, little and somewhat trivial non-press worthy things that accumulate when added together. This is why things like difficulty to start a business, or hire/fire employees, get mentioned so often. It's not that any one thing is a deal-killer, it's that a few dozen pains in the ass will destroy all the myriad low level contributors you need for a good startup ecosystem to work. It all adds up. My goal here isn't to criticize the effort, simply to point out the difference between things that are newsworthy and things that might actually make a difference. I wish these Paris guys the best of luck in the world. Here's hoping they can work through whatever obstacles they find.