Chroniques
Why I think 2013 will be the year of "passive"
Each year we try to identify trends – Gartner often hits sector trends, but I tend to look cross-sector, at how people will view products in general. Remember when social was everything? If you had a product, you had to add social – connect to Facebook, share with friends, etc. Now that’s all a given, […]
eReputation and my shitty experience with RueDuCommerce
It’s that time of year again, where gifts are exchanged between people who love one another, or pretend to with varying degrees of acting talent. It’s also the time of year where customer services of big retailers are stretched (much) thinner than their desire to provide said service. Everyone’s experienced the long queues, hotlines asking […]
4 New Years Resolutions for Tech Journalists in France
I wanted to reach out to my ‘colleagues’ and discuss the state of tech journalism in France. I get it. Sarkozy terrified Journalists into remaining “unbiased”. This whole “startup” thing is still new, so we’re all sort of figuring out how to cover it. But look – I’ve been writing about and talking to European entrepreneurs […]
Rude Baguette is one year old | How are we doing so far?
The Rude Baguette launched on possible one of the worst days to launch a blog – Halloween – and yet, that day, 10,000 people read our first few blog posts. Such great articles as “Siri isn’t socialist” and “What’s wrong with being a copycat?” set the stage for what would be an interesting year. The […]
Rhou! The #geonpi movement closes officially
With the PLF2013 approved in the National Assembly, and with the Senate set to vote on it the week of November 22nd, the #geonpi Facebook page announced today that it would close its Facebook page. Thanking the 70K+ fans of the page for their support in the 30 days since the page’s creation, the page noted […]
4 Time Myths Entrepreneurs Get Wrong
Entrepreneurs will get this wrong as Lance Armstrong did which is to finish quick and dirty. You can’t afford to work as hard as you do if you miss key concepts about time. What do you think your start-up needs more? A massive twitter following? Likes on Facebook? User acquisition due yesterday? How you value […]
The power of immediate feedback
Probably the best recruitment I ever made when I was running my internet real estate startup was of a salesman named Bob. I stumbled onto Bob by accident and hired him in a daze of desperation after a disastrous experience with a previous salesperson. Bob was coaching high school football when I met him, and […]
Rude VC: Outsmarting the system vs. Cheating
Two distinct incidents in the sporting world stood out last month that caught my attention in their contrast on a similar theme. Undoubtedly the most prominent was the United States Anti Doping Agency’s (USADA) stripping of Lance Armstrong’s seven Tour de France championship titles. Quick recap: USADA alleged that Lance had used banned substances during […]
Rude VC: Email habits, or lack there of
What a fanstastic two weeks. For the first time ever, Rude VC decided to go completely off the grid for two whole weeks this August. Nothing but fresh air, perfect weather, and intense triathlon training in the pursuit of physical exhaustion and mental rejuvenation. Awaiting me among other things upon my return to the office […]
Paris & Berlin – The tale of two cities (Part 2: The Startup Ecosystem)
In last week’s post I compared Paris and Berlin from a macro-economic and historical perspective. This time I want to share my analysis on the start-up ecosystem. My conclusion upfront: Paris has a very active start-up community, but Berlin wins the battle. See why below: Paris is the world’s capital! Paris is the world’s most […]
Rude VC: Intro to IPOs: US vs. France
If you’ve been reading the French press recently, you are no doubt aware that this week represents the start of a new adventure… I’m of course referring to the imminent road show for Facebook’s IPO. Already affecting a billion people on the planet, and probably 100% of RudeBaguette readers, Facebook strikes me as the perfect […]
Line politicians up side-by-side on every issue with Voxe.org
With the Second round of voting just around the corner, the more the forty percent of French voters who voted for neither Hollande nor Sarkozy in the first round of voting may be wondering which candidate best lines up with their views. Voxe, a politics platform, thinks it has the solution, by offering users the […]
Accelerators and Incubators and Offices, oh my! Where to take your startup idea?
LeCamping announced recently that its applications are open for the third season of its accelerator program. The season three applications are available until April 13, and the program will run from June until November. With just a few weeks left in their season 2 session, emerging startups might be asking themselves whether an accelerator program is what […]
Rude VC: YouTube: 1. War criminals: 0.
In the 7-day span since last week’s Rude VC column, the digital world has witnessed the fastest growing video campaign in the history of social media. I’m of course referring to the Kony2012 short film produced by Invisible Children. The human rights organization launched a video with a sole objective to render famous and agitate […]