Search results for: tax
Bonjour, Entrepreneurs – Only you can prevent French-Bashing
Over the weekend, I read Liz Alderman’s “Au Revoir, Entrepreneurs” in the International New York Times, and my reaction was quite typical, “Ugh, another French-bashing article. Confirmation bias, reiterated (untrue) stereotypes & affirmation of the audience’s pre-existing opinion.” But as I sat coming through the inversely proportionate well-written, poorly researched piece (statistics on French exodus show that […]
How French startups are disrupting the medical device industry
The following is an interview of Sofinnova senior associate Katie Ellias by John Gridley, the co-founder of BSG which has developed a functional brain monitoring system (www.microeeg.com) which has received FDA 510(k) clearance. Which segments of the French medical device industry are attracting the most startup venture investment? What are some startup companies to watch in those […]
LaFrenchTech spreads its wings at SXSW, embodies a more attractive France
On a Tuesday night at SXSW, I strolled up to a building adorned with roosters – France’s national bird – walked past a line of 100 or so music fans waiting to get in, waved hello to the bouncer and walked into the French Tech Club. Located one block from the Austin Convention Center, one […]
Coinbase is paying contract workers in… BitCoin
At least one contract worker for Coinbase, the Bitcoin startup backed by Union Square Ventures & Andreessen Horowitz with over $30M in investment, has been paid in BitCoin to do work on a contract basis. Given that the startup manages thousands of dollars worth of bitcoins on a regular basis, it’s no surprise that it […]
The Ridesharing Landscape in Paris Is About To Get Overhauled
The Parisian ride-sharing landscape has been stirred up after Uber’s announcement of UberPop’s launch last Tuesday. This of course can’t be indulged by everybody and some reacted promptly. But before getting to that, what exactly is the Parisian ride-sharing landscape? The landscape There are basically 2 young Lyft- like startups operating in Paris. The first […]
After botched Dailymotion acquisition, Yahoo! France relocates user data to Ireland
If you’re going to bring on a former Googler as your CEO, you can expect their organizational structure to mimic Google’s as well – This week, Yahoo! users in France received a new, obligatory terms of services agreement which informed them that their user data and payments information will now run through Yahoo! Ireland, the […]
’15-Minute’ law against Chauffeur Apps suspended in France
France’s Conseil d’Etat (top judiciary handling administrative matters) took up its role as arbiter this week of the now internationally infamous dispute between taxis and chauffeur services over the 15-minute law (actually a presidential decree), which came into effect this past January. The ruling came down today, as reported in LeFigaro, that the decree would […]
RudeVC: Don’t judge every regulation by its cover
Last month the French parliament voted in favor of a new law regulating the discounts allowed by book merchants. Sponsored by French Minister of Culture, Aurélie Filippetti, the “anti-Amazon law” is aptly nick-named as it set its sights directly on the $150 billion e-commerce giant by prohibiting its practice of combining a 5% price discount […]
My take on the new LaFrenchTech label
Many people have already written and asked me my take on the new LaFrenchTech label, which launched last week. – “Is it just talk?” “Is this the beginning of a change?” – and, while I wrote a bit about how I feel about it in the announcement last week, I think it might be best to […]
“LaFrenchTech” to launch this week: the same bag of tricks or a real change in strategy?
This Thursday evening, ‘Startup Minister’ Fleur Pellerin will welcome members of the French tech community as she gives her voeux, a tradition in France akin to New Year’s Resolutions, during which she will talk about what she wishes for the French tech community in 2014. In addition to plaisanteries, Pellerin will officially announce La FrenchTech, an […]