Rude VC: Unless you're publicly-listed, don’t throttle back
You may have read about how Lance Armstrong raced the half-Ironman triathlon in Panama two weeks ago. His runner-up finish at the inaugural event confirmed that Armstrong has set his sights on the triathlon world as his next competitive battleground. Rumors have swirled periodically since Armstrong’s retirement from the Tour de France that he would […]
Did Free even pierce Orange's peel?
When Xavier Niel announced the launch of Free Mobile about six weeks ago, he invited not only comparisons to Steve Jobs but also the attention of the global tech world. Free’s approach to the French market — to build a mobile network on the back on its substantial consumer wifi network — is certainly unique, […]
Rapportive acquired by LinkedIn – Score one for Kima Ventures!
Rapportive, a gmail add-on which adds additional information in a side-bar format, was acquired today by LinkedIn. While AllThingsDigital lists Dave McClure and Shervin Pishevar as some of its business angel investors, they left off Xavier Niel’s Kima Ventures, which also played a not-so-insignificant role. According to Jeremy Berrebi, Kima Ventures was made the “biggest angel” […]
Rude VC: Taxing times in French asset management
This article was originally posted on Mark Bivens’ personal blog. Capital Finance (part the Les Echos Groupe) features an article today on the discombobulations affecting the country’s tax-incentivized fund structures: FCPIs and FIPs. I’ve written in the past on the perverse effects that these taxpayer-funded structures can have on the venture capital sector. And for […]
Pearltrees: 3 years and €8.5 million later, there's finally talk of a business model
In Europe, as many of you may already know, people tend to talk about business models much earlier in the game than they do in the US. In fact, it’s a widely-held belief that European investors don’t tend to invest in companies that aren’t generating cash (which many believe explains the French VCs’ love for […]
Le Huffington Post launches – France says "whatever"
This morning, the long delayed, not so highly await French version of the Huffington post launched – and only a few weeks after the site was hacked and had its landing page screenshoted and posted publicly. The site launched amidst much other news, including the DLD 2012 conference in Munich, which took up much of […]
IDInvest Parters, the most active VC in France
I love when entrepreneur tell me that "it is impossible to raise VC funding in France." Honestly, it has become one of my favorite phrases. I have come across numerous entrepreneurs - on both sides of the Atlantic - that have told me that VCs are risk-averse weirdos and that their capital is extremely limited and/or drying up. And while