"Do you want to play second division or do you want to make it to the stars?" Sebastien Mirolo asks me. The thirty-seven-year-old has shed the existential torture and gravitas of his native country - France - for the cheery optimism and hyperbole speak of America.
Having rolled through three startups, Mirolo is a serial entrepreneur.
The first one bankrupted him (at one point, he slept on a friend's couch for more than six months because he did not have money for rent) and the second one did not gain traction. He is currently at work on his third startup.
"I could have done this (started three companies) in France but I would have been considered a weirdo," he laughs. "Here (in Silicon Valley) I am considered normal."
Mirolo, who came here fifteen years ago, arrived early. Seduced by new technologies and the promise of a plentiful market, a new wave of French entrepreneurs has set its sights on the land of opportunity in recent times.
Initiatives and partnerships between French authorities and American institutions have further tightened the embrace. In turn, the migrant entrepreneurs have become agents of change for a country which has made news for its resistance to change.
A Big Market, Less Bureaucracy, And The Economics of Cost And Control
While exact figures are not available, French entrepreneurs seem to have coalesced around the coasts. The Bay Area, which includes Silicon Valley, is home to approximately 50,000 French professionals. Similarly, New York City is fast becoming a preferred destination for several entrepreneurs. The two places are also home to meetups and organizations, such as La France Tech, which serve as a networking outlet for the entrepreneurs.
For several entrepreneurs, the math is simple: France is a market of 60 million while America is home to 300 million spenders.
Twenty-nine-year-old Alban Denoyel moved to NYC from Paris after joining a tech incubator last year. His startup - Sketchfab - works at the intersection of 3D design and 3D printing, an industry which has found roots in New York City's startup ecosystem.
According to Denoyel, approximately forty percent of his startup's customers are located here while only ten percent are in France.
"The market is smaller and saturated in France," says Louis Brunet, founder of Ode a La Rose, a New York City-based startup that delivers roses. The former Wall Street professional came to the States in 2009 and started the service in 2011 with a colleague.
The large American market for custom arranged flowers lacks sophistication, he says. Brunet's strategy has been to personalize the service and capitalize on his native country's branding as a destination for luxury and style. "In France, there's an approach to style and taste that is famous throughout the world," says the thirty-one-year-old. "We are leveraging that background."
Recently, Ode a la Rose partnered with a French company in the same space. The partnership has resulted in a fresh infusion of funds and rapid expansion. According to Brunet, the startup plans to expand to 12 cities in the States within the next month.
From his home in Tourcoing, a city of approximately 93,000 in Northern France, Laurent Magniez runs MapYourTag, a Software-as-a-Service asset tracking startup. The scrappy startups consists of Magniez and his Paris-based cofounder. But, a majority of his customers are located abroad.
The forty-two-year-old, who had no background in SaaS, started the company after attending a course in entrepreneurship at Stanford University in 2012. The course was partially funded by his local chamber of commerce.
"The experience was valuable in terms of knowledge, says Magniez, adding that he would relocate to Silicon Valley or NYC if the opportunity presented itself.
The attraction of America's large market is complemented by less bureacracy and a thriving startup ecosystem here.
Before starting his space memorial venture, Thomas Civeit attended several social events and meetups for entrepreneurs. "Somehow, you learn that it is not so hard to start a company," says the former NASA engineer, referring to the virtuous circle of entrepreneurs and venture capitalists here in Silicon Valley.
From concept to implementation, it took just a few days for Civeit to start a company here. Similarly, Mirolo says the authorities took two days to process paperwork related to his new venture here in California. This is in contrast to a nation where a majority of the workforce is employed in government.
Their focus may be international but the startups prefer to develop locally.
Denoyel from Sketchfab is the only member of his team present in the States; his cofounders and development team are based in Paris for reasons of cost and control. "That and I don't have Facebook and Google trying to steal my developers in France," he says.
Mirolo pays 32 euros (or, $45 approximately) per hour to his developer in France. "It is hard to find a developer who work for that much here in America," he says. Even otherwise, there is a qualitative difference between American and French engineers, he says. The former are tactical and deadline-oriented and the latter aim for perfection, he says. "In France, it would be hard to put that kind of (deadline) pressure on anyone," he says. "The approach to work is different in both countries."
A Change of Laws And Cultural Mindsets
In a widely-circulated blogpost last month, Matt Turck, venture capitalist at First Mark Capital and France native, noted that there was a "perception gap" about France. "Very significant progress has been made on all fronts - more interesting startups, more funding, lots more talent rushing into the sector. Yet, word has not caught on," he wrote.
I asked him whether this perception gap was a reflection of current economic and social realities.
Turck says the gap exists because of a difference between the French model of an interventionist state and an American one that emphasizes self-reliance and entrepreneurship. Laws, such as the thirty-five hour work week, sharply highlighted this difference. "That law quickly became shorthand for everything that was wrong with France," he says.
But, laws are reflections of popular sentiment.
According to Denoyel, material success is "cherished" in the States whereas, in France, it is cause for envy. Aggressive peddling, a tenet of marketing here in the States, is "pushy" in France, he says. "The attitude here is that of a warrior," he says.
"Most smart people in France will tell you the reasons that you will fail, instead of encouraging you," says Civeit.
Civeit, who came to the States ten years ago, says the French attitude towards success is a result of nostalgia for the 1950s and 1960s (or, the Trente Gloriouse - Thirty Years), a period of plenty for the French economy. The country also made great scientific strides during this period. In contrast, the late 70s and 80s were a period of economic decline and apathy. "I am from a generation when this (nostalgia) feeling was already there," says the thirty-five-year-old.
That nostalgia may be giving way to a broader outlook. In the French way of doing business, the local market takes precedence over international ones. An entrepreneur taps personal networks for funding, customers and business and, once their startup gains enough traction, expands outside the country.
Recent developments have reversed this dynamic. Magniez, who had zero connections in IT or software before he started his company, says a growing number of English-first websites for products developed in France is indicative of this trend. "If the product answers their need, then customers in English-speaking countries are fine with it," he says.
France Redux?
The French and American tech ecosystems are also beginning to look alike in several ways.
VC funding for local companies has increased in France over the last fifteen years, according to Turck. Still, problems remain. For example, Magniez says he plans to raise funds outside France, preferable in the UK or US. "It seems much easier there," he says.
"The bottleneck seems to be at the growth phase (Series B and later)," says Turck, adding that large US funds haven't stepped in yet to plug this gap.
In addition, companies, such as BlaBla car and Daily Motion (which was almost acquired by Yahoo last year) have raised France's profile in the tech ecosystem. Initiatives like the auto-entrepreneur visa also make it easier for foreign entrepreneurs to start a new company.
But, Yahoo's botched attempts to acquire Daily Motion, recent laws against Amazon and protests against Uber have pushed the wheel back. "My first thought was what were they thinking?" says Mirolo about French government's blocking of Daily Motion's acquisition. "This sends the wrong message to entrepreneurs and VCs looking for a profitable exit."
Silicon Valley has also become more like France, with labor union protests and resentment against tech companies. "It won't just be such a friendly place for the "crazy ones," says Mirolo. "As a french educated US entrepreneur, that's what worries me the most."
