3-7 July: Calvi On The Rocks on Awdio.com
Aeroplane,
Anoraak, Arnaud Rebotini, Brodinski, Ebony Bones, Friendly Fires, Full
Nelson Half Nelson (TBC), James Murphy, Jennifer Cardini, Klaxons
(TBC), Man Like Me, Magistrates, Phoenix (TBC) Superpitcher, We Have
Band, Yuksek !!!
Click on the picture to broadcast music played live during music Festival organized in Calvi, Balagne, Corsica from Jule 3rd to 7th...
Too bad, I can't be there this year...
WEDIA, a software content management and cross-media publishing company, announced a fundraising of 2.6 million euros. Achieved with BNP Paribas Private Equity and X-Ange, a historical partner of WEDIA, this fundraiser is designed to accelerate the development of new offerings around SaaS model (Software as a Service), and to pursue WEDIA external growth.
In the era of media convergence, content publishing is becoming a
strategic issue for companies and media groups, as they can reach their
customers and readers via numerous media (paper, web, mobile, e-paper
... ). To enable them to increase the impact of their publications to
all these media, WEDIA proposes Open4, the solution of content
management and cross-media publishing (multichannel editorial systems
for the Press, communication cross-media platforms, solutions for
operational multichannel marketing).
With this positioning, WEDIA meets a great success today with
Communications and Marketing Directions and the Press, and is one of
the main players in this sector with over 100 references (large
accounts and newspaper groups), a turnover of 6.5 million Euros in 2008
and net income increased by 4 over the same period.
In this context, this fundraiser helps to speed up two main areas of development:
"In a difficult economic context, the entry of BNP Paribas Private Equity to our capital and the renewed confidence of XAnge with us for over 2 years reflect the relevance of our positioning and of our growth potential in the cross-media publishing market. We believe that the 2009 year is ideal for launching new offers and new approaches (SaaS) in the market, while refining our offering to our customers large accounts and newspaper groups,"says Nicolas Boutet, CEO of WEDIA.
"We are particularly keen to accompany WEDIA - a pioneer in cross-media offerings – for a new stage in its development. Having conquered many renamed large accounts with its software offer, we firmly believe that SaaS will offer a growth accelerator for WEDIA, while responding to a clearly identified and real market need. We have confidence in management team who has already proved its worth in the past, to carry out this new phase in the life of WEDIA" said Nicolas Vaillant, director of investment at BNP Paribas Private Equity.
Dominique Agrech of X-Ange Private Equity, said: "After a very good route from our entry to the capital WEDIA at the end of 2006 and two years marked by the growth of business with clients in industry and commerce services, WEDIA has a way to accelerate and achieve a new stage in its development on a fully confirmed position of its bid."
We are sincerly happy to see Wedia developing so well and succeeding to raise money in such a period: CONGRATULATIONS!!!
Benoit Secher, Partner art Wedia, was part of the entrepreneurs taking part of our Geektrip in November last year...
Jérémie Bordier is R&D Engineer at Exalead (French search engine).
The web revolution generated by social network platforms, blogging, microblogging and videoblogging, video online, shopping online had transform mandatory knowledge and skills to manage Internet more and more complex and diversified.
The presentation he made for Ignite event during Velocity Conference is a good example. Have a look at it, and write a summary as a comment to this post. And then let's talk about it!
Cobol and other Basic stuffs seem so far away...
I wanted to highlight a great initiative from Xavier Damman (aka @xdamman) who's running Commentag project and Laurent Eschenauer (aka @eschnou) who's running Storytlr.
They're organizing a Trade Mission Tour in Silicon Valley for Belgium entrepreneurs called WebMission 2009. They start the trip from May 23rd until 29th.
I will be more than happy to give them my feedback from the Valley on Tuesday 26th.
The companies joining are the following:
- Entreprise Globale ran by Jean-Yves Huwart (@jeanyves)
- CityPlug.com ran by Frédéric Monet (@fmonet)
- MicroPlazza ran by Antoine Perdaens (@tlg)
- LesAnnonces by Sam Piroton (@sam_piroton)
- LovelyCharts ran by Jérôme Cordiez (@lovely_djay)
You can follow those guys on Twitter now and if you're SF Bay guy, join SF New Tech organized by Myles Weissleder (register here) on May 26th, they'll be pitching at Mighty in San Francisco...
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Altaide Valley has already registered with Le Meur Team to be on LeWeb'09 booth....
This is the impact of subprime mortgage crisis in terms on jobs lost in the US. We should never forget how and why this has started...
In 2004
Now
Source: BLS and state labor agencies (via Moody's Analytics), TIP Strategieshttp://tipstrategies.com/posts/notebook/
Nous sommes bien placés pour parler de la grande mode actuelle d'attirer les startups pour plonger dans le grand bain de la Silicon Valley, avec la création d'Altaide Valley qui a fêté ses 1 ans récemment pendant le Web2.0 Expo à San Francisco lors d'une magnifique soirée à Vessel pour la Soirée French 2.0.
Il est important de bien se rappeler quelques principes de base, afin d'aborder toute démarche d'approche ou bien de lancement avec toutes les armes... et ne pas être une société de plus à être venue voir... sans grande réussite (pour ne pas dire pire...).
A la manière des vidéos du succès de nos amis PPC et Henri Kaufman, voici quelques petites astuces pour ne pas perdre son temps (et encore moins gâcher son argent ce qui est pire...)... les 7 tips pour bien démarrer dans la Silicon Valley !
1. Sommes nous (bien) prêt ?
Aborder
le marché Américain, c'est franchir 10 marches d'un seul coup ! Tout
d'abord par le potentiel que ce marché représente mais surtout par les
différences culturelles et les différences en terme de pratique de
business. Pour faire court, savoir parler couramment anglais et s'être
fait une place en France, voire en Europe ne garantit pas de savoir
comment pousser son produit aux US. Alors ne pas hésiter à modestement
venir une première fois incognito (ou presque) et prévoir encore 1 ou 2
voyages pour être sûr d'avoir bien compris les pré-requis.
2. Mais pourquoi la Silicon Valley au fait ?
C'est l'endroit parfait pour toute société qui souhaite lancer une activité aux Etats-Unis dans la domaine du software, du mobile, du high-tech d'une façon générale. Il y a une concentration de médias avec un effet mutltiplicateurs, une armée de Geeks pour tester toutes les nouveautés avec un coeur gros comme ça, et de très bons spécialistes qui vont savoir faire décoller le produit, et pas uniquement sur la Côte Ouest. On y trouve toutes les grosses sociétés dans le domaine, ce qui permet d'envisager parfois les deals les plus fous pour ceux qui ont le courage de tenter l'aventure, et une mutlitude de startups qui vont vous faire gagner du temps en mettant en place des deals rapides, efficaces et malins. Enfin, c'est l'endroit où il y y le plus d'investisseurs (VCs et Business Angles), et de loin.
3. Combien ça coute ?
Un
plan d'expansion aux Etats-Unis, cela ne s'improvise pas. Cela peut
même faire l'objet d'une partie importante dans le cadre d'une levée de
fonds. Un chiffre ? On pourrait dire $1 Mio/an... mais c'est juste pour
dire qu'il y a de nombreuses lignes de dépenses à considerer... et
surtout du temps... Il faut bien une année pour se considérer prêt à
lancer, il est difficile de se consacrer 100% à ses nouvelles
activités US, au risque de négliger ce qui marche déjà en Europe.
4. Sommes nous bien entourés ?
Le
marché des introducteurs de la Silicon Valley sont nombreux, et de
façon assez amusante particulièrement dans la communauté Française. Il
faut dire qu'elle est particulièrment nombreuse (entre 70.000 à 100.00
ressortissants dans la Baie de San Francisco) ! Mais la réussite d'une
implantation tient plus à la couleur locale que l'on va donner à son
réseau d'experts. Quelques soient les années passées par un expatrié,
il restera toujours un écart naturel qui rendra un expert marketing, un
as de la communication, ou un Commercial (surtout un vendeur) local
beaucoup plus pertinent qu'un consultant qui assure pouvoir gérer
toutes les casquettes. La parade, c'est bien se renseigner sur le
réseau d'un partenaire potentiel et non pas uniquement son pedigree, et
croiser les informations... Cela évitera bien des surprises, comme cela
pu déjà arriver.
5. C'est quoi la différence avec la France ?
Pour ceux qui ne connaissent pas déjà les Etats-Unis, tout est différent... et encore c'est la Californie, qui sont par nature assez ouverts et accueillants. Ici, tout est différent que ce soit au niveau des codes de comportements (nettement moins "castes" et plus networking), des codes de business (être ponctuel, souriant en toute circonstances, et bien protégés juridiquement). Tout est différents, et d'un point de vue revue de contrats, tout est à revoir pour s'assurer d'éviter de mauvaises surprises. Les deals prennent autant de temps à se mettre en place, mais ils se déclenchent plus vite, et ils sont dix fois plus nombreux !
6. Le facteur "Intégration" : be open!
J'ai rencontré récemment un entrepreneur Français qui souhaite s'installer à San Francisco pour son entreprise. Il a fait un premier tour, et "n'a souhaité dans un premier temps ne rencontrer que des Français pour se faire un bon avis sur l'intégration". Grosse erreur. Venir s'installer ici, c'est compliqué et par moment vivre ici, c'est difficile... Pour des raisons business, parce que l'on ne vous attend pas ici, et quoi que ce soit votre avis sur le coté formidable de votre produit ou application, on va vous mener la vie dure ! Pour des raisons personnelles, si par exemple vous venez accompagnés, et pire encore si vous avez des enfants... Il faut pouvoir gérer son business et les à-cotés, et pour sa famille ce n'est pas évident... De s'adapter, de trouver un travail... Surtout, si on ne vient pas vivre ici pour se fondre dans cette fantastique communauté, accepter les différences avec les locaux, et s'intégrer... La communauté Française ne sera pas toujours là pour résoudre tous vos problèmes... That's really part of the deal!
7. Ai-je pensé à tout ?
Avant toute démarche, il
convient de prendre connaissance des modalités pour travailler aux
Etats-Unis, et le visa "Entrepreneur" (E2) n'est pas l'unique
solution... sachant qu'il faut (on se répète) tenir compte de tous les
aspects personnels (on n'imagine pas qu'un jour on soit forcé de se
marier avant de venir s'installer ici...). Naturellement il faut
également se projeter à moyen terme (penser aux options de sortie en
cas de vente de sa société) et de ce que l'on souhaite faire après...
et si jamais les affaires se passent mal... Les statistiques
malheureusement nous rappellent que tous les projets ne décollent pas
ici, et nombreux sont les faux départs... et ça arrive tous les
jours... Venir avec sa famillle pour préparer le départ, bien se
renseigner sur les couvertures en termes d'assurances et de soins
médicaux, les écoles pour les enfants... Il y a des gens spécialisés
dans ce type de démarche, car mieux vaut ne rien oublier....
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I worked as Controller then Finance Manager for 15 years, in 7 different companies, different kind of business. The Finance position is structurally exposed because of its nature and the responsibilities engaged. In France, Finance position is mostly under estimate, mostly by CEOs that did not have a real international experience... they consider you as the "keeper of the book"... if not "book keeper". It has been really interesting to see from very closed how sometimes could Managers run their company... This video reminded me a lot of interesting stories (not really good ones...).
I saw some Managers having made one of the 7 main mistakes (or several...)... Jason Calacanis could have said that, he enjoys to give good tips to manage comapnies...
Let me translate that for you guys (the video is in French)... this can be valid for any startup entrepreneur...
1. Any growth can decline. Don't consider you just can be successful. There is no magic in big successful. It's a mixture of many different things. Luck can turn down easily, you don't own it...
2. Never under estimate competitors. A company is a matter of man and woman. Sometimes the mixture (good product-good marketing-good communication) can make success comes fast. Being in a kind of permanent survey (I don't mean paranoia) can be a good thing to manage the team internally, and ensure about everybody's effort to make things moving forward.
3. Manage your company focusing on right areas, with the right time to spend on each... Focusing to much on client requests but not having a good view in costs, or focusing to much on dashboards and not visiting enough new potential customers... Be a well balanced Manager!
4. Risk management: this is a key issue... You cannot control the full situation, and accept risk one it's determined and valued... It's not possible to develop without any risk taken, it's not possible to maintain market share, hire key people in the company. If you know how to anticipate, then you will know which part of risk you have to take.
5. How to hire people: don't hesitate... select the best! You can't have control on everything, and having expert on Board is the best insurance to move forward. And if that's not one of your expertise, whatever... you will learn at the same time. That means that a Manager has to be modest too, whatever his influence and control on the company is!
6. Don't mix your personal interest with company objectives. So obvious. In some country you can go in jail for that. Or pay the Big Price for it...
7. Innovate! What is good or true today, may not be the reason of success for tomorrow. Everything goes so fast now!
I recently took Zappos.com as example in a conference in Paris where I was making an introduction to Silicon Valley new trends.
The current success of Zappos consist a lot in the conduct of their client policy: "PAY MORE ATTENTION TO YOUR CLIENTS". So obvious, but I haven't see big change on this area since all these 80's things about Customer Satisfaction, Quality Insurance... even with Web2.0 (ok, there is GetSatisfaction)!
Plus Zappos has a funny way to describe it: give daily "Wow!" to your clients! They're managing their own intern policy on the same way: the 3 Cs means... Clothing - Customer Service - Culture with some guidelines on each area...
I really love Zappos 10 core values that you'll find in this presentation...
And more on video about Zappos from the inside...
Another interesting thing to know: Why Zappos Offers New Hires $2,000 to Quit Yes, they do that... and they're God damn right!
As far as I can see, Zappos is developing well since it was founded in 1999. I have unfortunately no precise idea of their profitability and not any concrete figures to share... maybe in a coming visit to their office...
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Romain works for Lumos Labs, a SF company based developing Lumosity, a fast, fun and effective way to take care of your brain.
The concept of Lumos Labs are pretty simple:
Lumos Labs has raised $3Mio in 2008.
Romain joined the Company to head mobile development, which is something he really knows. I met Romain last Summer during TechCrunch August Party, and we met then several times.
I knew he had significant experience on mobile through his position at Orange for more than 5 years. Not only, we had the opportunity to talk about iPhone applications because now Lumos Labs run 2 games on AppStore:
- Memory Matrix
- Speed Brain
I tell you, those games are really addicted: I played with Memory Matrix (which is free of charge, Speed Brain is less than $1), very simple, can't stop!
The potential is big, and Memory Matrix has reached some top positions in Spain, France or Speed Brain in the US. Health industry is a large business...
We can compare those applications to successful games available on Nintendo DS... but so cheaper, and online! The AppStore is definitely a digital revolution in how to consume gaming as other examples...
The funny thing is that those 2 games have been developped... by a company based in France.
Copy that?!
Experience from people like Romain (not really expatriates, he's a very local guy!) are very helpful for French entrepreneurs thinking to localize in Silicon Valley. And understand how things are moving here!
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Well, I just received this email from Jason Calacanis reminding me that TechCrunch50 is on its way...
"I want you to launch your new company at TechCrunch50 this September
in San Francisco.
Not only that, I want you to win the competition and take down the
$50,000 grand prize!"
Wouaou! I want that!
French startups, listen, this is your chance! My first client in Silicon Valley have been selected last year after we visited Jason in Santa Monica. You won't have any regret if you can make it, this is such a great experience and a great exposure...
But... ARE YOU READY?!
I mean, are you really ready? And not: do you consider yourself ready!
Your website, the product, the pitch, the Exec Summary...
No, you're not exclusive in this market. Yes, you have dozens of competitors somewhere in Silicon Valley.
Yes, you have talent, a great idea, you believe in your team. No, nobody's waiting for you here in San Francisco Bay, in US market.
I told that already several times, I strongly believe in European entrepreneurship, in French "savoir-faire". I've build my business on this vision, to facilitate localization in Silicon Valley. But after more than a year spent here, going in many conferences, discussing with experts, listening to some local gurus, there's some work to be done to make first shot... the beginning of a succesful story here. My hope, my objective!
So applying to TechCrunch50 is one thing. Get some advice and meet some guys here could be helpful...
Let me know! We'll go through some helpful steps!
Oh yeah... please no "me-tos" or "twitter-no-money" like. Something solid, with monetization, you see?!
To subscribe to Jason Calacanis newsletter: click here. You don't know Jason Calacanis? Come on...
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Mark Cannice from University of San Francisco has built a "quarterly Silicon Valley Venture Capitalist Confidence Index is based on an on-going survey of San Francisco Bay Area/Silicon Valley ventures capitalists. The Index measures and reports the opinion of professional venture capitalists in their estimation of the high-growth venture entrepreneurial environment in the San Francisco Bay".
Questions about this study or related issues should be addressed to the author at Cannice@usfca.edu.
venture investing and the IPO market. I expect a very difficult 2009, but recognize that a down market cycle is the best time to invest in promising startups when valuations are reasonable and market testing of solutions tend to provide a true ‘litmus test’. We know that there is no recession on innovation, and great companies and ideas have always emerged from troubled times.”
And this one from Bruce MacNaughton of Crosslink Capital :
“The combination of the poor economy combined with little innovation at big companies leads
many bright entrepreneurs to follow their passions, and the best companies get built by following
passion.”
Got it guys?!
Finally, this from Bryant Tong of Nth Power who stated, “The Clean Tech sector continues to be one of the few bright spots in venture capital for early stage investors. With billions of government money targeted in this area, R&D will be robust and new and promising technologies will be the result.”.
I have few things to tell regarding this. Soon.
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