Rude VC: 5 French startups I can't live without

You live by your tools, as the old saying goes. Of course, the corollary says that you can also die by your tools (MS Outlook comes to mind…). It’s a rare occasion that I find such a productivity enhancer that I adopt it for regular use. In the spirit of this past Sunday’s fête nationale, here are five French tech companies whose products I find indispensable.

Keyyo. A voice-over-IP telecom operator which I use daily at the office. With unlimited calling to a gazillion fixed lines as well as EU & US mobile phones, Keyyo’s calling plan helps my firm save €000s per year in long-distance and roaming costs. {disclosure: Truffle is an investor in Keyyo}.
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Invoxia. Hands-down the coolest, sleekest, best-designed object in my office, the Invoxia console’s primary purpose is a desk phone but doubles as an iPhone docking station, a speakerphone, and even a high-fidelity stereo system. One click on a contact in the address book of my smartphone, and I’m dialing from my desk phone. Ditto if I want to play some dub reggae from my iPod while working on a hairy Excel model.
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KelBillet. Frequent, yet erratic, train travel for both business and pleasure leads me to find myself in need of buying or selling train tickets at the last minute. For this I use KelBillet.com, a marketplace for unused train tickets even before the words sharing economy became cliché. The site could use some enhancements, but with my 100% success rate as a seller, I can’t complain. .
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RudeBaguette. Granted, I’m not unbiased, but RudeBaguette.com has become part of my daily diet, not only for their insightful (and incisive) commentary, but also because they seem to get the scoops about many of the topics that interest me. People compare RudeBaguette to TechCrunch or PandoDaily, but I see a lot of admirable inspiration from the edgy Silicon Alley Reporter of days gone by. .
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Bankin’. Apparently I’m in the minority by possessing several French bank accounts (perhaps my American habits), which might be why I never found an easy Mint-like way to consult them. Until Bankin’. Bankin’s designers have mastered the user experience in their mobile app. .
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