Archive for May 2013
Rude VC: Governments’ bite of the Apple
There has been a lot of gnashing of teeth recently about Apple’s alleged dodging of paying taxes on tens of billions of profits from 2009~2012. Incidentally, that’s merely what the U.S. government deems it forfeited. Apple of course pays a paltry tax bill in France, despite the fact the France remains the world’s third best […]
5 Bullsh!t Want-repreneur excuses for not being as big as they could be (& my responses)
Honestly, I can feel that we’ve gone over the peak of the “entrepreneurship is awesome” hype curve, and I for one would like to accelerate its descent. Just as much as I’m tired of seeing startups trying to build the ecosystem they are trying to make money off of, so am I tired of hearing […]
How IBM plans to lay off 13% of its workforce in France by the end of 2014
Yet another blow for French president François Hollande today as IBM announces it will lay off 689 employees by the end of 2013, and a total of 1,226 by the end of 2014, 12.6% percent of its 9,730 staff in France. The president, who ran on a campaign of lowering the unemployment rate, has been […]
droidcon Paris’ inaugural edition coming on June 17/18th
droidcon, the “developer conference and B2B marketplace exposing the best of Android’, will be launching its first Paris edition this June 17th & 18th. droidcon already holds a prominent place in the Android developer community, having launched several successful droidcon installments across various cities in Europe and beyond, including such locations as Berlin (its original […]
Stop! Don’t throw away your old iPhone! Use it as a Webcam, instead.
I’m almost two years into my iPhone 4s. I bought it after spending a year in France with a jailbroken iPhone 3G and deciding that I wanted 1) a phone that could operate unjailbroken in France and 2) that my iPhone 3G had gotten outdated. It now sits en permanence on an iPhone dock in the […]
![[INFOGRAPHIC] Mobile penetration is 108% in France, and 15% of the country owns a Tablet](https://www.rudebaguette.com/wp-content/uploads/thumbs/Mobile-Study-3j18w430tl7kjz0c3bcowa.png)
[INFOGRAPHIC] Mobile penetration is 108% in France, and 15% of the country owns a Tablet
I am often asked by other journalists, entrepreneurs, and investors why I cover the French tech market. In an effort to avoid the disappointingly obvious “it’s because I live here” answer, I have always said that it is because France is a country of people with a higher than average level of education and a […]
Twitter hires ex-Facebook Aurélien de Sorbay as “senior lead” but not the GM
With Pinterest on the offensive in France, Twitter is waking up – especially with their deadline coming up to have a 10-person team in France – and announced last Friday that they have picked up former Facebook Sales team head Aurélien de Sorbay. The announcement, which came from UK General Manager Tony Wang, specifies that Sorbay will […]
With $1.5M raised, Carnet de Mode Founder Arbia Smiti discusses past, present & future
International fashion marketplace Carnet de Mode has announced a $1.5M round of funding led by Elaia Partners. In addition, the fashion startup made public for the first time their seed investors – Pascal Chevalier & Marie-Christine Levet. Founded in 2011 by Arbia Smiti, Carnet de Mode works today with over 200 designer stores and 6000 exclusive […]
Startups & Entrepreneurs: Underdogs that you love to cheer for
I’m a big fan of the underdog – you never really lose if you bet on the underdog, because the odds are already against them, so no one’s surprised when the odds hold true; however, when you bet on the underdog correctly, you’re a hero, and duly so. I naturally tend to cheer for a […]
Music Social Network Whyd to revamp user profile pages to put the emphasis on you & your music
One of Paris’ most ambitious startups, Whyd, a social network for music lovers and influencers, is planning to put out an updated profile interface, sources say. They will reportedly be integrating other social network profiles, more prominent visibility for playlists, and a very visually appealing cover photo à la Google+. The new profile page may roll out […]