

Welcome To The French Tech Ecosystem - ibsathish
http://techcrunch.com/2014/01/29/welcome-to-the-french-tech-ecosystem/

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TacticalCoder
There's however something very concerning for the future: direct foreign
investments (IDE / Investissements Directs Etrangers) in France have fell from
2012 to 2013, by 77%!

77%. That's the number widely reported in various media since a few days.
During the same period, overall direct foreign investment across the European
Union went up (including in Germany). So the french case looks very real and
concerning.

This doesn't bode well for future startups, which may strive to find fundings.

Also note that as an investor hoping to make a nice exit, the case of
DailyMotion (mentioned in an article) where a french minister jumped in and
forbid the sale to a foreign company, is not something reassuring.

An article who made the top page on HN a few days ago about 30 startups with a
$1 bn valuation had... 3 startups in Europe! (and zero in France)

I know that now there's a defense against any criticism regarding France's
stance: simply name-call people pointing out the various issues plaguing
France by calling them "french bashers" doing "french bashing".

But I can't help but think that the people writing these "feel good" articles
about France doing great may be putting their heads in the sand.

That number is particularly concerning in that one of the defense constantly
invoked near the end of 2013 against "french bashing" was that direct foreign
investments were still very high... But they were using the numbers from 2012.

I think it was expected: you can't constantly raise taxes, put an exit tax,
prevent exits from happening, have a president which publicly said that he
hates the rich, etc. and think that there's not going be any consequence.

I find it also sad that the various issues cannot be discussed anymore without
having an army of journalists invoking "french bashing".

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elliptic
> An ecosystem is a four-sided network — you need entrepreneurs, VC firms,
> schools, and journalists

That sentence tells you all you need to know about the author and his
perspective, I think.

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mathattack
Many medium to large firms were missed. Much of the French Tech ecosystem is
built around financial technology that makes use of the country's math
strengths. (Examples: Sophis, Misys and Murex)

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coldcode
In the past I had heard it was very difficult to start a company due to
France's legal system. I guess this is better now?

~~~
laureny
It's still pretty bad. A lot of red tape, a steep initial cost and then
ongoing taxes left and right which make America's social security look like a
waiter tip. The amount of coverage that business owners need to provide for
their employees is through the roof, and it hurts both employers and
employees.

There's also the ridiculous mandatory three month notice if you want to leave
your job which makes hopping from one job to the next close to impossible.

The unions have completely paralyzed the working market in France and they
very often act in direct opposition of the workers they are supposed to
defend, such as how they imposed the 35 hour work week (which nobody wanted,
especially not workers, who'd rather work more and earn more money) and the
quasi impossibility to open shop on Sundays despite protestations of everyone.

I don't know why this article thinks France might be the next start up nation
because unsurprisingly, the author offers very little evidence to back up this
claim.

