As a response to my on-stage comments and this post about entrepreneurial culture in Europe, Le Web organizer Loic Le Meur is asking readers if I should be “invited back at Le Web next year.”
As of the writing of this post, nearly 2/3 of respondents say no, I should not be invited to return.
If that’s how the European startup community wants to deal with criticism, C’est la vie. We sent five writers to Le Web this year to cover the startups presenting there and other tech news. Perhaps next year we’ll send none.
But I do think this is a dangerous precedent. If journalists, bloggers and speakers know that they may be punished for what they say on stage, you can’t expect a genuine dialog to occur. There is a chilling effect to merely ask if someone should be punished for expressing opinions that some find objectionable. Will the Guardian also be ejected next year for calling the event boring and reporting that there was no Internet connectivity or heat?
I expected more from the European community.
Michael that’s because you’re featuring Laurent Feldman so often on techcrunch that french crowd mistakes you for him – hences the votes
I voted yes !
This is really tough… what if I hate both the French and Michal Arrington? I don’t know which side to take
Michael
You are not a journalist!
You are a blogger who has the right to post random musings, without worrying about facts.
You folks make money on other people’s success and, sadly, their failures (e.g., gleefully reporting on busted startups and layoffs).
remember French Search Engine Quaero? at least they tried.
http://www.guar.../26/news.france
As I’ve read this thread, it seem that the problem is that the Americans are judging the Europeans by American goals (be successful at all costs) and Europeans are judging Americans by Euro standards (work, but slow down to smell the roses).
By either standard, the other is inferior.
My parents still live in Latin America, where I grew up, and I often think about the differences in lifestyle between Buenos Aires or Sao Paolo, for example, versus cities like Chicago, New York, or SF.
Which is better? To answer that you have to define your objective: is your goal to start a successful tech company and make $10M? Or is your goal to live muted life without money.
If your goal is the latter, there are many places around the world where people life their lives in seeming contentment without money and working 40 hours a week.
If your goal is to be a successful entrepreneur, the US is one of the few places where all the elements combine to make it possible: people, capital, infrastructure, societal encouragement.
Personally, I’m going to live here until I’ve reached my “success” point then move to someplace slower and more relaxed, with 3-hour lunches *ahem* to spend the rewards of my efforts.
The economy downturn will sort that out. Next year there will be no Le Web conference. Web 2.0 will finally be a thing of the past and Techcrunch a tiny blog again.
Wow… don’t they want feedback?
Mick, I think you’re taking the French too seriously. Besides France isn’t Europe…..Why not host a real alternative to Le Web in Ireland? The Euro headquaters of Google, Facebook etc. We know how to handle the Europeans and we can deal with Yanks too!
oh, good idea. perhaps a techcrunch event in London on the same dates?
IMHO:
I personally think LeWeb seems like great event, but I personally have not been so, can’t possibly comment on its specific effectiveness, tool, place for meetings.
It seems like it is emulating TED/WEF, and another big event focusing on media like CrossMediaWeek in Netherlands (which I did go once invited by the organiser).
Which is great for Loic’s profile, but keen to see if it is also effective for attendees for various levels.
If we were more focused, many great things can be achieved, but personally I prefer smaller gatherings, summit type (sometimes even invitation only), as only then can people really get great value from it, as otherwise, visiting a big Expo with thousands, invariably, people try to mostly meet those that they already know or get introduced to.. which works out the same, with even more varied quality/level of people.
& Michael, great to be straight talking, thats the only way, yes, sometimes its interpreted wrongly, but you will be respected for it!
Just some thoughts.
BR
Gareth
@garethwong
Founder of various gaming/finance/MBA public & private gatherings worldwide.
didn’t realise I could not ‘edit’ my comment
I also was going to say I would definitely support you to have some UK based events (I try not to travel much unless necessary these days).
quite new to this blogging/twittering/commenting on blog thing, despite my tech. background.
yeah, i was kidding. Le Web is a great event, as I said in my first post. I wouldn’t schedule a competing event at the same time.
fuck knucle, ts not censorship… just that they hate yiu more than me fatty!
Um.. london is in the UK…
Dublin, Ireland. As its the central for facebook and google…
Pierce
OK guys, why not to do in in Prague? …Berlin would work gr8, too. And btw, the best Gillmor Gang ever!
You would crush them
Totally, I’d definitely come.
I know you’re not, but please don’t tarnish the Euro startup community because of the irresponsibility of one particular entity, that’s like saying all Americans are arrogant and stupid because there president George W Bush is. It’s simply not true.
However, yes a TechCrunch event would really show Le Web who has the most influence and let’s be honest, I hadn’t heard of Le Web until today, so perhaps you shouldn’t even grace their presence with even a story on TC.
London?? Thats in the UK. Daithi was suggesting Dublin….. Its a different country. What were the French voting about again
Dublin, London its all the same, isn’t Europe only 1 country?
ha ha ha..
If you do that you will loose the face!
Want to try who are the strongest ?
Time is nearly finish for you Michael, hope you have money on the side (not sure with all the shares you are olding in $0 value companies)
Sorry to tell you just the reality!
Ouch! Looks like you’ve got some of your own critics on here Mike!
The Irish strike me as the most busy-savvy culture in the EU. I think they’d make great hosts.
spot on Daithi!!
Sounds to me like a petty revenge.
Then again, maybe not publicly bashing Loïc on stage would have been a better choice from you back there?
“Kids will be kids…” only, now they got to play with big audiences to bully each other
i didn’t publicly bash him. I called it straight.
Well, let me call it straight.
Mike, you are a pompous ass.
u didn’t publicly call him straight… u blew him in private!!! We all know!
“Calling it straight” when you’re on stage due to an authorized speaker status doesn’t sound good & constructive to me.
If anything, you go and settle things in private. NOT on stage.
Michael, why waste your time with people that do not want to hear the truth. I’m sure they did not invite you to Le Web with out knowing that you were going to ” tell it like it is”. Well founded criticism is how we learn and make our products better! Let the French “eat cake” while we build Web 3.0!
1) In the US you will never say that a New Yorker is the same as a Californian, so please do not confuse French and European…
2) @Michael Arrington: (gentle remark) now that you travel, take the time to understand the cultural differences and modulate your talks/beahaviors accordingly or you will appear like a jerk…
)
Straight take is ok in a country. In some other it is an offense.
(In Europe, we all have “issue*s*” with French
No big surprise there, but that’s all the more reason you should go back, its often the things we least like hearing that are the most valuable for us.
I watched the video. 2 hour lunches are ridiculous. Yes there is joy from winning, but there is also joy in working and building something.
Tech is one of the few industries that we’ve kept our killer entrepreneurial spirit, and to me that’s our most valuable commodity and export.
nice comment Jason, let me know anytime you’re back in SF to have lunch, I always enjoy to see my real friends for hours
Loic I’m actually headed to the airport now, on my way to SF. And I do save 2 hours for lunches/dinners with my friends on weekends.
happy to take you out and catch up this weekend
do people really take 2 hour lunches? I’m lucky if I take more than 15
I say punish the frog. Remove Seesmic from techcrunch…noone is using that crap anyways, and its taking up valuable space. You gave that guy a ton of free exposure(covered him like 15 times, and mention him every chance you get), and this is how he repays you? Teach the frog a lesson.
NO ONE GETS IT.
It’s all a well orchestrated controversy. These people are FRIENDS and BUSINESS PARTNERS. They are also really, really smart people. Connect the dots.
Although I believe Arrington is a straight shooter and means what he says, all this “controversy” is entirely blown out of purpotion on purpose (by him and others).
How long have you guys been reading Arrington for? He knows (as does Loic) what “controversy” can do for their respective businesses.
I mean c’mon. It’s laughable. Move along.
{seesmic_video:{”url_thumbnail”:{”value”:”http://t.seesmic.com/thumbnail/gwz7s8M2Rp_th1.jpg”}”title”:{”value”:” ”}”videoUri”:{”value”:”http://www.seesmic.com/video/bX4QVXC0aK”}}}
I’m surprised more people haven’t picked up on that.
Michael – I am an American and was at LeWeb last week. And, I have to tell you, I think you came across as an arrogant prick on stage. It has nothing to do with your comments about European work ethic – just the general way you treated Loic and some of the other people on stage. It was pretty classless.
Very very well said.
I am an American. And I found Arrington’s behavior rude and boorish. You can express your ideas and viewpoints without belittling others. And if people call you on your bad manners – it is not necessarily because they disagree with the substance of your argument. This Fox news O’Reilly style of debate is just controversial and ugly.
I wasn’t at Le Web, but Michael’s post featuring the flush-faced, fat European indicates to me that he wasn’t just trying to advise the Europeans, but to ridicule them.
@Logan – he comes across as a arrogant prick everywhere, why should the stage be any different. He thrives on it. And it works, we’re both commenting on some stupid article where some dipshit writes catchy but generally inaccurate titles for stupid blog posts. Content be damned, pageviews at all costs.
You’re welcome anytime in Switzerland/Geneva. NewsCred will be happy to host, and not give you any shit for it.
You said what you had to say.
The format of the whole conference was setup wrong from the beginning. If it was a one-on-one dialog, there could have been a real discussion about why that is. but no, the whole stage is packed with ’self-proclaimed’ gurus who have no respect for the audience or the viewer. it’s hard to sit there and listen to you guys babble on about anything that comes to your head.
You guys pull yourself together and earn a little respect. I feel too many guys on that stage consider themselves ‘elite’
hmm ok
http://www.eskibirsaat.com
Dear America – We Europeans are not all touchy, haute-cuisine eating, culture snobs, so please don’t hate us because one European decides to both live and crap in your yard. Most of us like you and admire your direct manner even if we don’t practice it ourselves. Yours, Europe.
Peter, grow a pair and stop brown-nosing. Regards, Rest of Europe.
Michael, as I told you, It is very refreshing to see someone tell it like it is. I believe you did everyone a favor by being honest. Love to see more of that honesty. Great job!
Ow come on…
This is just not fair, from both sides though
I mean it was sort of insulting generalizing like that but what you said is true: all the EU startups either move to or are acquired by Silicon Valley.
His post is really just a feat of futile revenge
I voted yes BTW.
It is not surprising considering the ‘first class’ treatment given for the obvious purpose of creating a positive bias…..
Many journalists are swayed by VIP treatment and the prospects of making networking contacts in high places….
It is just the reality of the selfish, competitive world everyone is trying to survive in…
Some people are just more outward and blatent about their passions and more obvious about their emotions and ambitions.
They only perceive others as enemies or friends based on how they frustrate the attainment of their goals
Hope this makes the front page of the various social sites – there are sure to be some REALLY controversial comments
http://digg.com...or_Frank_Review
Censorhip? What’s being censored?
You did have a point to make in your own post, and I think everyone can see that. As for criticism, I didn’t really see any reasoned criticism, just stereotypes and superficial observations.
Perhaps try a second report with some actual content int it?
not criticism, just one fat fuck!
“We sent five writers to Le Web this year to cover the startups presenting there and other tech news. Perhaps next year we’ll send none.”
Is that a threat? Should we europeans be petrified now?
I was going to comment on that too: since when does media coverage (TC is a media company, right?) have to be tied to the CEO/Founder/Headman being invited on stage?
There seems to be some confusion there.
his poll isn’t asking if i should be a speaker, it’s asking if i should be invited to the event at all. And either way, I find it ridiculous.
well if i am “disinvited” and unable to attend I’m certainly not going to spend time and resources sending others who are allowed to go. Loic doesn’t get to pick which bloggers we send to cover the event. If he doesn’t think I’m worthy of a press pass, he can’t expect me to support the event.
Quit whining. Le Web obviously, and perhaps correctly, doesn’t think they need your help to promote their event. Indirectly calling you an irrelevant asshole is not the same as censoring you. Get over it and use the new found gap in your 09 schedule to take a vacation.
I wonder, will you censor my comment? Hypocrite.
Would you attend and cover the event if you received a press pass but were not a speaker? Can’t imagine Loic not extending the courtesy of a press pass.
Exactly!
Oh, we are so scare that M.A or TC don’t send people to cover the next LeWeb!!
Just kidding, but who is this guy? We don’t need you!
And please compare what is comparable. France as 65 millions people, America as more than 300 millions.
And, who fucked the whole world in this time crisis : mostly US bank and US Insurrance !!
As this result, it trully sure that we can’t beat US to fu.. the whole world like this!
Lol, we europe dont need You, thats a good one. Unless we get into some deep sh-t with middle-east or the reds or as 50 years ago with this brave and misunderstood nation
. Lets wait, its still to come. Yeah, we europeans will win at all chance, although the 90% of capital is based in us and 90% of products we use goes through us-based corps. Lol. As to the innovation and risk-taking I wont double post it, available elsewhere.
Exactly!
Oh, we are so scare that M.A or TC don’t send people to cover the next LeWeb!!
Just kidding, but who is this guy? We don’t need you!
And please compare what is comparable. France as 65 millions people, America as more than 300 millions.
And, who fucked the whole world in this time crisis : mostly US bank and US Insurrance !!
As this result, it trully sure that we can’t beat US to fu.. the whole world like this!
Oh, snap!
Please do not generalize…
Next year we orginise the event in Spain
That is just SAD, you should be invited to the next LeWeb !
Not being invited doesn’t mean he is not allowed to come!
Yes, but he would have to pay… so bad
I should congratulate you Michael Arrington. It seems as if people in Europe are afraid of your opinion. It is a shame that peoplet take a different opinion personal. WAt the end of the day when it comes to Internet startups in Europe (Internet entrepreneurs) you are mostly spot on. How ever you are wrong about European entrepreneurs in general. If you want to do a startup which builds something “real” that requires machines you will hardly find a better enviroment than Germany or other European countries. The US push for “green tech” while admirable comes years after the push in Europe. You might want to look up comapnies like Veritas, Q-cells, Solarworld etc. Basically my point is that there is a very successful startup culture in EU it just not in the field of the Internet.
Mike, Whilst I almost never agree with you on many matters I find myself somewhat on your side today (somewhat).
I agree on the fact that startups need to work very very hard to achieve success, this includes commited workers putting in above and beyond what is required on paper.
BUT that doesn’t mean that there can’t be many 2 hour lunches or many off the bill breaks… I personally work 13+ hour days but no one asks it from me, if i had a boss that demanded it from me in the tone you displayed on stage, even in todays’ economy i would react very negatively. Thou you said the right things, i feel that you could of said it in a nicer way..
Anyway you have my vote on this one..
Can we STOP confusing one’s right to express their dissatisfaction with someone thereby banning them from an event (or radio, or comments, or TV, or whatever) and REAL censorship which can ONLY come from a government? If everyone starts believing in the notion that ‘censorship’ really is nothing more than someone else making a BUSINESS decision you don’t like, it really does water down the word when GOVERNMENTS do it.
you’re mixing up the concepts of censorship and free speech. This is quite clearly censorship, I just can’t claim some legal right to stop it.
No, it’s not censorship. You still have the right to free speech. Free speech doesn’t mean you have the right to be heard.
http://www.usco...stnot.html#sppr
You don’t get invited to a party and you claim censorship?
Ah, yes, I just read what I posted and see what you mean.
Prohibition of free speech != censorship.
Yay thinking before posting.
@Michael
Seems to me that the program organizers get to choose their speakers, especially if they are giving speakers a conference pass and treating them to expensive meals (and perhaps covering other expenses). When I speak at a conference, the audience is asked to evaluate me. If I get a low score (for whatever reason), I won’t get invited back as a speaker. In this case, they just made your evaluation public.
They are not censoring you, but are instead saying that they heard what you had to say and don’t need/want to hear it again. You might not like that news, but you should accept it for what it is.
As for next year, you’ll have to decide whether it’s worth your time and money to attend or to send other TC folks. They’ll have to decide whether to grant you a press pass. You might find it valuable to talk one-on-one with entrepreneurs and hear what they have to say about their work and life style, reporting on that rather than on your preconceived notions. When you are up on the stage, it’s easy to hear only yourself and not learn from the crowd. And it might help if you got your Body Mass Index down below 25….
Man JT Olds, just schooled you…. quit crying because they don’t want you at future events… It is not censorship, and it is not preventing your free speach…. All it is, is un-inviting the failed business man turned “pro-blogger” from future events.
I was annoyed by how many times Loic just kept thanking you guys for coming, and having no reason for the lack of press in Europe for companies/startups.
Thankfully you showed him up and told him to move LeWeb to the Bay Area, and maybe actually start a blog to provide coverage of the scene in Europe.
It’ll be nice to have an article about http://vente-privee.com/ (600 million euro rev company they mentioned)
It will be interesting to compare that kind of revenue with the best US player of that arena,
I briefly googled and found http://www.e-privatesale.com/ among others.
bang on – putting most of the hulabaloo aside…michael, is the real reason you attacked Europe because you were a bit defensive that TC has not covered Vente-Privee (and other Euro startups) as well as it should have, despite team on the ground here? I think you had a valid point that there needs to be more coverage (”start a blog” you said), but shouldn’t TechCrunch already be providing that coverage? if not, then i think there is truly a gap for someone to fill…
Lol, yeah now it makes sense. Vente-privee is a step-child, that doesnt get recognized. But why, lets see. A great name that lacks any direct or indirect association in any non-french speaking country throughout europe, meaning like being recognized in 1.5 out of 25 or so countries. Good score in the beginning. Looking at their page, You wont get anymore clue about their business from a brief one-page description in english. Lets summarize, meaningless name+entry protected by password+no demo+brief and meaningless one page description= a great and famous website? Personally, I would give them “on a way to deadpool” mark. Judge by Yourself.
Sounds like somebodies ego was hurt … I’m just not sure whose.
As for Europe … half of it is like that, but I really don’t think tax levels or work ethic are a problem in Eastern Europe or Ireland, and to a lesser extent Britain.
As for being bought by the U.S. companies, doesn’t that prove that E.U. entrepreneurs are on the right path but E.U. companies are not as there is no big EU tech company ready to buy them up?
it is completely true that Europe has missed most of the web action. Why? It’s more than lunches for sure
As for the discussion, it was really funny to see the beef Marc Canter has with Mike and how his responses would make Marc Canter look like a Douche (which he was)
I just hated how he’d come back with all this lunatic arguments back at Mike.
Welcome to the other side of the hand. A post complaining about lowbrow iPhone apps (insert fart noise here) and then a post complaining about being snubbed by Europe. I wonder if this comment will be frowned upon by TechCrunch, thereby closing the irony circle.
Seems like Mike and Loic are enjoying the glow of playing a scandal that ain’t. As some of you know, they are both up each others asses as good buddies, so no biggie here.
Loic posts a valid question: are Mikes’s criticisms relevant to the French community? French community says no. Mike threatens to not send reporters next year. If Mike isn’t relevent to the french community its not much of a threat to withhold reporters.
Do a poll on TC to ask if LeWeb is relevant to TechCrunch readers. Then after the obvious NO announce that you won’t send reporters last year. The whole threat thing vindicates their reason for not wanting arrogance and is not very tactful.
funny how when the majority of individuals who attend and drive the innovation in europe don’t want a US blogger at their conference – Michael finds it hard to swallow that the acceptance he took for granted isn’t there anymore.
maybe it time to start to write…
It seems to me that this is not an attempt at censorship, rather contempt at a lack of propriety in the delivery of the message. I hope Arrington returns to the web; his points are at least partially valid. That said, he is intelligent enough that he should be aware that hard-hitting points are best delivered with eloquence, not arrogance.
I appreciated that this conversation was opened, however the manner in which he forced it to evolve closed that conversation, leading to the opening this rather meaningless one.
Doesn’t Europe, France in particular, get mad at America, all the time for our “arrogance and greed?”
And then don’t we get mad at them and threaten to never buy French wine and cheese and then build a giant California wine industry and rub Gary Vaynerchuck videos in their faces?
And then don’t they give us the finger and sick the BBC on us and pull out of the war?
And then don’t we hate ourselves and vote for a guy that they’ll like for president so they’ll think we’re cool and treat us warmly and send French girls to kiss us on the bus?
And then don’t we send Arrington over to poopoo them and call them lazy drunken slobs so they get mad at us again?
So, OK France, it’s your move. Say something mean… Oh… woops, you just did.
OK, now it’s our move.
or maybe France could just focus on building a great startup or two to compete with the big american Internet giants.
So Michael I did not follow what you said over there but if you showed ARROGANCE like:
“or maybe France could just focus on building a great startup or two to compete with the big american Internet giants.”
My question to you is why are you complaining about the poll??
Who said that they will do what the voters decide??
Was this topic really worth a post?? I understand that your feelings were hurt but do not try to make this any bigger than it is.
American companies can learn a lot from European companies and vice versa! Just look at the auto industry. Who has a technological edge??
May be they do have one or many, but just don’t do a hoop la hoop about it like you do it in this site. Now you being the typical b** American.
Now that’s a stupid comment. No wonder you’re not invited again!
At least they do not need to focus anymore on making great food.
Just plain stupid and arrogant. Arrington should take some vacation.
To say frankly that takes a big brain to invent the new service, pair of tough nuts to take the risk, plus 13 hours a day of work to have it done well and on time – none of which seem to be the appreciated/promoted features to posess nowadays at least in some countries of western europe.
Anyway, good luck from me too to the european enterpreneurs who do and try their best, no matter whether they fail or not.
And as for trying to change the old ways in euro-area, when they get really pressed against the wall they either ban Your right to have different view (which some of the european societies have mastered and are using with great pride) or when arguing with us ways – they will hide behind a 2000 years of history non-argument. Here come the Chinese and Israeli with 4k years of history.
“Will Arrington be invited back at LeWeb 09?” “Yes” just traded at 60.4%, log in at askmarkets & trade now http://ub0.cc/0t/0r
Mike , you say “as a response to MY on-stage comments …”
If you identify yourself with the Techcrunch brand (yeah , founders usually tend to do that … ) it doesn’t mean you need to identify the whole Europe with the French.
You said it yourself .. there were 5 people there! Besides , I don’t really think it’s the answer to criticism. I’ve seen some scenes on #leweb broadcast so please correct me if I’m wrong , but my feeling is that there’s a whole lot of people who felt they never got a chance to appeal to your criticism.
Your whole creation is built on Social talk yet you are still Solo-talking here.
Others have pointed out this scenario thousands of times before and there still are people like you who have the abilities to change their ways , but simply won’t!
It’s easy to launch an idea , either positive feedback or criticism. What’s overwhelmingly hard is to listen to what the others have to say!
Jeez , and when I think I wanted to write just a tweet reply to disapprove!
Mike, I want to raise one point. I think your business TC should be out of that fight. When it comes to Business leave those outdoor battles far away, and dont let readers` comments offend you.
I just seen the Loic LeMeur reaction on twitter, it’s a little bit dissapointing : http://twitter....atus/1055775586
Mike, I don’t think it’s about French not being able to take criticism. But you saying that French are taking 2 hour lunch break is just a bad stereotype (which should be a Spanish stereotype anyways).
If I was gonna say that Americans are just Big Mac eaters, would you think it’s relevant? It’s almost insulting and I think that’s the problem here.
French are proud (too much? I am proud o be French for sure!) and like any other people, we don’t like to be insulted or looked upon.
it was loic, unbelievably, who started the whole thing by talking about how much better french/euro culture was v. silicon valley. he said the two hour lunch comment, not me.
loic never said it was “better”. he said it works best for HIM. and was simply answering a question about the cultural differences. YOU took this personnaly.
i think you’ve been disrespectful to someone who treated you right, invited you to one of Paris best hotel and got a free lunch in a 3 star restaurant.
Mr Arrington, you surely have no class whatsoever, something so typical for american rednecks like you.
Michael, simply come to CeBIT in Hanover, Germany, to meet the interesting people. Criticism is here our usual mood, sometimes too much, but after all very welcome.
You’re confusiong Europe and France in on hand, and on the other, you’re confusing California and America …
Your judgment is just mostly false because of that.
Who says that only the European startup community voted?
how does the saying go ‘…those in glass house’s Mr Arrington should not throw stones…’
throwing back the comment that maybe the French should build a huge internet giant, is a tad school boyish – then again we expect that – hence he feedback…
dt
no, i actually mean it. I’d love nothing more than to cover great European startups. all this other stuff is just nonsense thrown about by the Euros to mask their inability to compete.
And after comments like this, you’re still whining because they’re not inviting you back?
Sheesh.
Ooops, seems some finnish ppl as some of the french are super cool and do not take the critique in very personal way.
From the comments here its easy to get the funny picture of euro-ppl pushing the things toward the eden garden idea without work at all, and everyone being happy and free with big puch of dough. Wonder why most of the venues in eu are less successful than the american counterparts and eu govt tries to force poor policies toward the solution of “those big st00pid americans are winning with us on all grounds, lets build quiero to compete with google” problem.
Oh said enough on this one. As was said in some picture book, never argue with ignorant as they have been playing their game for last 30 or so years and they cant beat You with just any non-rational argument that will come to their mind. For You Mike, I would use the knowledge You learnt so far from this story to Your and valley’s startups good as much as possible and leave the volatile ones with their ways (sub-optimal ways but their personal ones).
Michael, please do us all a favour and stay out of europe. Your perspective is like a silo, no open-mindedness, only concentrated on silicon valley-gossip. Actually like perez hilton.
LeWeb has become one of the biggest scene with other O’Reilly, TechCrunch or other shows. But there is just one Web, it’s not about Europe vs US or anything else. The fact that you’re invited or not is not to be discussed: the event won’t so interesting. We all know that. All the rest is just show business!
This pathetic story sucks (like kids in a school yard).
A perfect exemple for the “next generations”…
Good game…
We got this in France to … with digg-likes, especially one ^^
This is INTERNATIONAL :p
Have we not had enough drama for the week? Can we have any event that doesn’t end in sniping? Probably not, after all, drama=hype=money.
While there was a lack of blow-your-mind startups at LeWeb, I don’t think it’s a cultural issue. Most of the world is in bad economic shape, who has time & money for conferences & parties? I doubt many VCs would look favourably on those expenses.
So we create our own drama, first with Loic getting called out for not morphing Seesmic into a different service just so he could use it for LeWeb.
Then we’ve got Mike criticising European culture for the weekend traffic. So there we have our drama and pageviews. Can we get back to tech now?
its a bit of a daft subject to vote on, its not like they are voting to say that they did not appreciate what you said. Many people may just want to see the same speaker 2 years in a row, others may prefer to concentrate on subjects more relevant to them, etc, etc.
I think now would be a good time for Mike to call Jimmy Kimmel for a Roast of European Startups.
Ah ah ah poor cow boys… so the big problem is the lunch here. Wow this is very funny. The US economy is melting down, General Morons are begging cents to SUVive and the big problem here is the lunch. Next time have a glass of milk so you can back to work very soon. Please drink european milk cause US milk is full of antibiotics
Sorry for my poor american but you know I am an european
I think the real issue is related to ignorant douche bags trying to deflect any analysis as to why Europe is not able to effectively compete with America and Asia to help solve the economic, scientific, and technological challenges that the world is facing today. Producing fashion, art, and food that 99.999% of the world cannot afford is not helping. I can’t remember the last time I saw ‘Made in France’ imprinted on a product that came into my field of view, let alone on one that I would want to purchase. You can start talking shit when you got shit to talk about.
You seem to forget that the current financial and economic crises occured thanks to America
In “Old Europe”, we’ve got brains, and we rarely lend money to people who can’t pay back
Scott what are you talking about? Do you know that the best antivirus software house are all russian? Do you know that there is a thing called Nokia? Motorola? What’s Motorola?
Do you know that there is are things like CERN and Airbus. Do you know Tv mobile and DVB-H standard. I need to continue? 
ops I have forgot LINUX. Not Microsoft Not Apple but only a finnish student Linus Torvalds in Amsterdam University start the dream
But if you like I can continue….:)
@Aweb I am fully aware that the U.S. financial sector took advantage of loopholes that need to be closed with new legislation and regulatory oversight. The investors that bought into these risky schemes should also share some part of the blame. I am confident that the lessons learned will not stop our culture from continuing to take the risks required to move forward and keep trying to solve the economic, scientific, and technological challenges that the world is facing today.
@Ronaldo Nokia was once a great innovator. Now they are followers. Motorola has not been doing anything relevant for a long while. Maybe Android will save them from collapsing. CERN. When’s that collider going to be operational again? Airbus. Is it supposed to be a for profit business?
Linux. OK. I take everything I said back.
Ok If you want war, I’ll give you war ;D
mmmhh let me think so in the USA you have mobile tv like this right? http://www.la3tv.it/ and http://www.tre....BottoneINV.y=12 And here the new n97 nokia http://notebook...n-una-mano.html This is no innovation? Do you know what does it mean DVB-H standard here some information http://www.dvb-h.org/ EU lead this standard.
Airbus Is it supposed to be a for profit business? well pick up the phone and talk with US Airforce They”ll tell you something
http://www.iht....siness/eads.php
It’up to you know
Roldano: Linus did not attend Amsterdam Uni, but University of Helsinki.
http://en.wikip.../Linus_Torvalds
scott: MySQL (finnish/swedish), Skype (estonian/swedish/danish), SAP (german)…
Yes we have mobile TV in U.S. I know this because I interviewed with a company in the San Francisco Bay Area called MobiTV. I am not familiar with the DVB-H standard. Is it more popular than 3GPP over RTSP? Is there any plans to deploy DVB-H in the states?
The N97 is nice and shiny but it is not as innovative as the iPhone or any of the Android devices. The Blackberries (from Canada) are also more innovative than what Nokia is offering these days. I also have to say that I don’t have a lot of faith that the Symbian Foundation will have any legs.
Did Airbus make a profit on the sale to the U.S. Air Force? Looks like a lot of politics were involved in making the deal. As sixty percent of the content of the tanker is coming from the U.S. and Northrup is a partner in the deal, I’d think you could come up with a better example.
The Gillmor Gang debate was about startups. Nokia was founded in 1865. In my opinion the European Broadcasting Union and Airbus cannot be considered startups. You will not convince me with these examples that Europe’s culture is more conducive to conceiving and nurturing radical innovation, the kind that invariably comes from smaller nimble companies, than the culture that exists in America and Asia. Russia might become a contender in a regional startup incubator competition but old Europe is too content with the status quo to get off their collective asses. The innovation you reference is interesting but not world changing. That is what we need more than ever today.
@Ras MySQL and Skype are good products but are now American products. I’ll have to assume that the cultures that birthed them were not able to raise them. SAP has lost their way.
“Please drink european milk cause US milk is full of antibiotics”
…and the meat they eat is full of hormones that make the cows bulky, which is also the reason why American girls are so ugly and masculine in their features, due to being fed the stuff through their fast food culture from early on. Europe has a ban on US meat.
Scott, France != Europe.
Germany, you might not know, is the WORLDS BIGGEST EXPORTER. More exports than China or America. They compete rather well … maybe the internet isn’t for them though.
The second half of my original comment was 100% targeted at France. I worked at a Swedish software company for a few months and I was impressed with their skills, intelligence, etc. After they were transplanted to Silicon Valley and had to compete within the context of an American startup they did not fare that well because of culture shock and higher expectations. The development group was made up of software engineers from China, India, and Russia in addition to U.S. nationals. The Swedes were the only group that could not adapt.
Germany makes some great cars. However, I don’t know if the culture is any better suited than Sweden when it comes to nurturing startups with radical ideas.
… and the ignorant douche bag comment was reserved for Rendaldo.
Though James is deserving too.
this is just a planned flamewar started by michael and loic. good idea after the 3rd bottle of redwine
everybody who is interested in german and swiss startups should check the german web 2.0 startup charts (top 100) http://startups...ase.com/top100/ maybe we need something like that for europe.
‘this is just a planned flamewar started by michael and loic. good idea after the 3rd bottle of redwine…’
It’s worked if that were true, negative publicity is still publicity at the end of the day.
There is plenty of time for rifts to be healed and by next year this will be forgotten!