Opportunity in a Time of Crisis

This is a topic that has been on my mind since the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis. In the first week or so, everyone moves into crisis-control in order to handle the immediate issues – which is a normal response. But I just can’t help wondering what new opportunities and business ideas this crisis will generate once things start to settle.

French Startup Scales Up is Groupon for bootstrappers

Every now and then, European entrepreneurs love to complain about how investors. The typical complaint goes something like this: European VCs are risk-averse, there’s no money on this side of the Atlantic and no European equivalent of Sand Hill Road. But every now and then, entrepreneurs love to innovate their way out of this potential problem.

US press ignores French startup successes, and here’s proof.

Prior to the election of French President François Hollande on May 6th, successful French serial entrepreneur and investor, Marc Simoncini, threatened to leave France. Citing various issues primarily with France’s wealth tax (not to be confused with the 75% tax), the founder of Meetic said France could become the last place any entrepreneur would want to be. And guess what – the US press went wild.

Dear French Entrepreneurs : Please get out of line

Your average American probably seems like a good rule follower. They stop at red lights, know how to wait in line and are smiles-all-around. On the other hand, not-so-much for your average French. A little striking and complaining screams probably screams “trouble maker” across the Atlantic. Plus, they’re not good at waiting in line. Just ask French start-ups like DelivrMe and JaimeAttendre.

JUST DO IT ?

So you’d think that with all that noise, French entrepreneurs would be the first to throw themselves in the deep end. But no. Seems the Nike slogan still has some work to do. Actually, there are a few things that everyone seems to point out when it comes to comparing French entrepreneurs to their American counterparts

I’m Putting My Money on MyFab

Sequoia and Benchmark, you may want to listen. Jeff Bezos too. MyFab: THE next hot start-up to come out of France. First off, let me say that I do not write this for just any old company and it is very likely that this will be the only post of its kind for a long time. […]

I Love2Recycle: Cellphone Recycling à la Française

It’s all about being green. Inc. Magazine published an article last month on San Diego-based ecoATM, a start-up developing kiosk or ATM-like machines where people can deposit their old cellphones for cash. Sounds like a brilliant idea. I remember seeing a company that wanted to do the exact same thing at a Silicon Valley Launch […]

Solde.com

In France, there is no Black Friday. There is no “after-Christmas” sale or “end of the year clearout” sale. Instead, there are the semiannual “soldes.” AKA the fixed, 5-week sale that takes place in January/February and again in June/July. And January 6 is the first day of the winter 2010 sale. A study published by the Centre for […]