Is France prepared to make the sacrifices necessary to foster the innovation ecosystem it claims to want?
Open Innovation, the Year of Innovation, Young Innovative Enterprises, etc. we cannot stop talking about innovation. But we also should acknowledge that innovation comes with certain demands. For example, innovation requires flexibility. For companies to be innovative, they must be agile. Lack of agility is one of the reasons large established firms are caught flat-footed […]
Paris has grown up, and so have its Founders
This week is a week of reflection for me. Rude Baguette is turning four years old this Saturday (didn’t you ever wonder why our blog colors were orange & black?), and it seems clearer more than ever that the ideas we spoke about in the first article I ever wrote about why Rude Baguette was […]
My two favorite perks in the Macron Law for French startups
Following much debate and anticipation, France’s Loi Macron was finally adopted into effect in early August, during a period when many people weren’t paying too much attention. The Macron Law (inheriting not coincidentally the namesake of the Economy Minister whose ideas inspired it) is technically called the law “for growth, activity and equality of economic […]
How One Man Hopes to Destroy the Internet
The following is a guest post from Dr. Dylan Kissane, Content Manager at DOZ. Follow him on Twitter at @drkissane or visit his website DylanKissane.com. Arthur Chu is a man on a mission. Unfortunately for anyone who works in, lives in, invests in, or just appreciates the internet economy, his mission is to destroy the […]
The increase of the public broadcasting tax: a smart political maneuver based on a big fat lie
The public broadcasting service (audiovisuel public) is a sector in crisis; there is no doubt about that. The financial difficulties it has faced over the last years, with Radio France employees protesting earlier this year against restructuring plans and refusing to work for 28 days in a row, have largely shown the desperation within the […]
Is taxing Airbnb prejudicial to French tourism?
At first glance, one might think taxing an activity like individual rentals can only have negative effects on the entire industry. The aim of the following lines is to demonstrate that the exact opposite can be true. In 2015, France will maintain its title of world champion of tourism. By welcoming 83.8 million foreign tourists […]
Legalstart aims to eliminate the legal and admin pain for SMEs
Anyone who’s launched and operated a business in France knows how challenging the required legal and administrative procedures can be (91% of french managers and entrepreneurs believe there are too many legal and administrative requirements). Of course France is not unique in this regard and the French administration has made various efforts in recent years to […]
Jurismatic, TheFamily's latest concoction, provides open source legal documents for French startups
This month, TheFamily released yet another website. If you’re like me, you weren’t fazed by the forced mass-publication that came on Facebook & Twitter, and after the 100th time that they tell you that their latest oeuvre will change the startup ecosystem, you can’t help but scoff. However, with Jurismatic, TheFamily’s latest concoction, you might […]
France labor law: the cliff of 50
People that read this space regularly know that I’m not one to shy away from criticizing the French government’s policies when I believe they’re anti-startup or anti-innovation. So it’s only fair that I applaud the government when it acts to reform antiquated rules. In my opinion, Prime Minister Manuel Valls’ announcement this week of some […]
The latest French plot to kill Google is hiding in plain sight
In this week’s episode of “How France tries to hurt Google,” the French government has come up with a great plan around making sure that search engine users are aware of alternatives: by forcing all search engines who “have a significant impact on the digital economy” to provide links to three other search engines, of […]