It’s that time of year again, when the brash culture of Silicon Valley crashes into the two hour lunch European startup crowd at the Le Web conference in Paris on December 9-10. It’s chaotic and sometimes combative, but it’s also one of the best startup events in the world. And this year TechCrunch Europe is partnering with Le Web to put on a 20-company startup competition.
Yes, I’ll be attending this year, despite the fact that the audience last year voted not to invite me back after my post criticizing European startup culture. Time heals all wounds, or something.
Organizers Geraldine and Loic Le Meur talk about the conference in the never ending video below. Get your tickets here. This event always sells out, so make your plans now.
We launched our startup in 2007 over there and at that time we were not satisfied with the kind of coverage we did. Our event was not recorded and onstage presentation videos were not made available even to us. Hopefully Loic and Geraldine will take care of it this time and as techcrunch europe is partnering with it I hope startups get coverage they deserve.
most conferences weren’t doing video archives of stuff on stage in 2007. We started doing it that year at the first tc50 (live stream plus archives) and it was a big hit. I’ll let Loic and Geraldine speak for their event this year.
Thanks. I would be happy to see coverage of startups same as TC50 this year.
I wished Michael you take a side route to Paris sometime….via New Delhi… why does not such thing happen in this part of the world…? y r we born with this curse…:( feeling terrible, right now.
Honestly I think it’s because the Indian market is so different in its needs right now, that outside investors and reporting gets confused not knowing what is promising and what isn’t.
I am speaking from a position of relative ignorance here, but as far as I can tell India has a much larger focus on interaction through cell-phones (like much of Africa and Asia) and SMS (note the recent Twitter agreement with a large Indian carrier). This is difficult to adapt to for people who are used to creating websites with the latest in web-standards for areas with widespread broadband usage and needs that are somewhat familiar.
I find this regrettable as well, but I feel like it will soon change as more and more start-ups in India (who do know how to cater to customers there) begin to show greater success.
Just give it some time and you will see the major growth in Indian software and services get more recognition.
Mike, please stay home.
Mr Arrington,
I watched the Gilmore Gang video, it was amazing.
You are a call-out machine.
I salute you!
Hi Abhishek, that’s right, we did not have that at the time but thanks to our partner ustream 40,000 people watched it live last year. This year we will have again a live stream and all the sessions and startup competition up.
Hey, this sounds too good to miss…:-)
Cheers…
This will be a great conf – and I’m looking forward to attending.
Mike – not to be taken harshly, because I have great respect for you and what you’ve done with TC, but I think some of your actions at LeWeb last year were perhaps too aggressive. That said, you were far from being the biggest dick there. I mean seriously, what’s another dick in Paris.
That is very good news.
Paris, france is a major city in europe.
Espacially for sofware things.
And of course startup.
Of course there is sometimes a culture misanderstood between United States and in silicon people.
But for my part this is very often a very light one. The very people hard-work in Paris is I believe very very cloth to the way people work in silicom.
Most Americain from california and even German from Berlin (where I live now) do think they are richer in average.
Well sorry but I do not think so : Paris-LaDefense is I think much more richer than silicon valley or Berlin.
Surprise ?
while many american from Silicon Valley still think parisien have a very-French-habit (”But where are their funny hats and the baguette ?”) Those french guy works often much more than their silicon counterparts.
Thierry, i suspect you are French (with your french chauvinism accent).
The only guy i know who has the ‘french beret’ is my canadian colleague and sometimes he has a baguette under his arm (good guy).
Anyway, we registered for the startup competition. Hope we could be selected.
Are you really trying to make such broad generalizations of both Silicon Valley and French entrepreneurs?
There are hard workers and lazy workers in the US as well as France. Work ethic is not defined entirely by nationality (it is certainly influenced though).
And what do you mean by rich? Someone can make a lot of money and reinvest it quite a bit and due to that they are not “rich” in the immediate sense, while someone else makes less gross profit, but doesn’t invest as much and ends up with more in the bank but less in terms of future prospects.
hey Mike, yeah, the video is a bit long, but shorter than a 5 hour dinner in Paris!
Michael,
What do you think of the fact that startups entering the competition have to pay ? unfair right ?
So true John B: TechCrunch was against VC’s making start-ups pay for pitching to VC’s, but a launch show is just great -even if the star-ups have to pay.
You’ll have to take that up with Le Web. However, it’s worth noting that Startups in the competition get two tickets for the price of one. For serious startups, this is not a hugely prohibitive price to pay to get in front of a combination of Pan-European media and US media – something probably only Le Web achieves.
We’ll be there, covering it and helping to organize the startup competition:
http://eu.techcrunch.com/
we’re not an event to make startups pitch VCs, LeWeb is an entire show and conference during two days in 3 huge spaces.
if a startup is selected and does not want the half price tickets for the whole event I commit to let them in for free to present their startup during the time needed for the presentation
here you go, it’s entirely free now for startups to pitch at leweb, unless they also want to participate at half price to the whole event that costs about $1.5 mil to organize.
I would love to register our start up – I see that the competition is closed – can I be a late entrant?
Mike,
Looking forward to the TechCrunch coverage of the event, and to seeing you there.
Btw, just noticed the switch from uk.techcrunch.com to eu.techcrunch.com … a symbolic gesture (I assume) since you always had a European outlook in your site but still great to see.
Cheers,
Juan
Obviously as the person who came up with the idea for TechCrunch50 and pitched Mike on doing a “no fee to pitch” event I’m 100% against what Loic is doing.
Forcing people to pay corrupts the entire “competition”–it turns it into the “best of the people who can buy their way on stage.”
Loic is a good person and he should drop the fee and give one person a free ticket. If a second person wants to come, well, let them pay. That seems fair to me.
… of course, what do I know… I’m just a guy from the bottom who made and is unwilling to forget what it’s like to struggle. Loic is very successful, rich and connected…. he’s lost his way IMO.
Hey Mike… while maybe lacking some tact, you had every right to voice criticism of the French startup culture. I’ve made my own anglo-saxon critique after trying the entrepreneurial life from Paris for over a year: http://thegoode...valley-and.html
I think mentalities are shifting… but at the same glacial pace as everything else that gets done in this country.
There needs to be more French entrepreneurs like Loic who try to change mindsets & inspire their fellow countrymen… but I wonder what it tells entrepreneurs when the success stories have transplanted themselves to the other side of the Atlantic.
A quick shout-out to a much smaller, but truly grass roots initiative. The “Start-up weekend” is being organized by a friend here in Paris for Dec 4-6: http://paris.st...tupweekend.org/
Ryan,
For having lived in both side, I am surprised at your post. You are comparing Paris, a city over a thousand year old and with a very dense industrial and social setting to a place that has been designed and setup in the last 50 years for only high tech, flooded with waves of innovative immigrants.
Yes, the French do things differently, but there is very often a not obvious reason that obviously you fail to understand. Throwing tons of cash at youngsters with either a half build product or weak business plan is not something that every societies can afford, except societies of excess… That makes it harder to succeed, sure, I tried and failed too, but doesn’t it make success more enjoyable ?
My experience in the bay area was to launch a French company into the american market, the only thing and reason why is because the pool is bigger on the other side of the Atlantic, and the contracts easier and with more $. I believe that’s the only thing it can tell…
Hi Michael,
Now with TC getting involved, will we get to see the hues of TC50 in the startup competition? Will the shortlisting process be somewhat on the lines of TC50, where companies existing in stealth mode actually “Launch” at the event? Or at least, such companies be given some sort of leverage.
Cheers,
Nasr
The compettiton looks great. Infuture, it would be good to have some warning for the entrance for start up’s. “The StartUp competition application closed on OCTOBER 10th, 2009.”
Will there be any cheap tickets for techcrunch readers?
1000 euro is defiantly too much for me when I have to buy tickets and hotel as well. I’d love to go though.
Bit expensive guys. My garage startup can’t afford the price.
Take a bodyguard Mike.
And wear a visor
Am French and have always been working for American corporations in the high tech space. Can tell you that French team used to work as hard and most often harder than their American counterparts (in terms of number of hours as well as productivity).
Depicting French people as spending their life having lunch is a gross stereotype. There might be some truth in this stereotype for certain class of workers but certainly not in the high tech area. But I guess everyone needs stereotypes and antagonism. Makes the world easier to understand…
bienvenue a paris michael !!
Stop by London, will you.
5 hour dinners in Paris?!! Le Web is going to be great! I saw it on Ustream last year and was impressed by the conference. There were so many amazing speakers and attendees. Happy to be one of the Official Bloggers going this year!
Oh no! The startup competition closed on the 10th of October! Did I miss a previous article on this?
Really gutted, wanted to join the competition! Do you accept late registrations due to lack of visibility, or simple and plain ignorance with regards to the competition existing?
Thanks,
Ale
tks for the mention Loic and Geraldine. My advice to any entrepreneur is if you are launching a start up you should do all the top competitions and the LeWeb competition is clearly the one to go to if you are based in Europe (especially if its free
. And yes we did meet our series A investor for eRepublik at leWeb.
hey Alexis, thanks for the testimonial, you show up as facebook user here
Hi,
A little bit expansive for the new entrepeneur I am but I will try to come to LeWeb to promote my new company : http://www.mobilityvalley.com
What is the best way to meet capital equity investor, business angels ? Sure, I want to grow.
You guys rocks hope that more people will make it every years. Need more entrepreneurs spirit from California
Where’s the crunchpad? If I have to wait 1 more week before I get some more news, I’m going to buy an Archos or Nokia.
I think i remember you, mike and loic, ended up having a bit of a cock fight last year and you, mike just denigrated the european way of life.
what about saying a little sorry mike, thats mercy, you can try it here, at home
that would be fair enough as far as some of hte “qualifyed eyeballs” that you sell are based in europe and we have mixed feelings about you
thanks