
French companies' transplants grow in Bay Area - gibsonf1
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/03/30/BU2J1CK39B.DTL
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yardie
>Many said expanding a company in France can be hard because of stringent
employment laws and the country's small market.

I'm not too sure on employment laws in France. For an entrepeneur Sarkozy has
made some pretty good concessions as far as tax obligations. Probably not as
good as what you could do get in the US, but better than what it was.
Previously, to start a company you had to have the entire year's taxes paid up
front, before you made a penny.

And you have access to the entire EC. So I don't know what small market is.
Unless they mean french-speaking only. But even French companies know they
can't rely on all of France to carry their market so much more is spent on
localization of applications.

One weakness the french do have is an unwillingness to take risks and accept
failures. Even in 2010 a lot of college grads are still looking for jobs with
the state. But the entire system is stacked against them that way. My first
apartment, I had to get a "caution" from my job. A guarantee that if I
couldn't pay the rent the company would. For a small startup, this would be
impossible unless all your employees came from rich families.

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fierarul
>Many said expanding a company in France can be hard because of stringent
employment laws and the country's small market. In the United States, on the
other hand, a startup can expend the same resources to access a much bigger
market - and thus faster growth and larger profits. There's also something to
be said for the Bay Area's culture of innovation.

