A View from Abroad

Paris Mini Seedcamp Finalists Selected

See you all the 24th & 25th!

Art and You
Brainient
CALCUL PLUS 
EtreProprio.com
GameTube
iDesktop.TV 
iFrame
jiwa 
KPIWEB
Kwaga
linkfluence
Musicovery 
MyVocal
SimplySim
Weem
Wozaik
Yoolinkpro

Mini Seedcamp Paris 2009 - Call for Applications

Team applications open on 12th January

The deadline is midnight, 9th February

Mini Seedcamp Paris aims to connect the region's start-up community with the wider European start-up scene.

We will be bringing together 20 of the region's best seed stage tech start-ups with experienced entrepreneurs, investors, and developers from both France and all over Europe to participate in a day of intense mentoring, panel discussions and presentations at the super-cool Microsoft Technology Center in Paris.

This year, Mini Seedcamp Paris is extending its search and inviting fresh and fantastic talent from beyond France to include Spain and the Benelux region. By doing so, we hope to unearth even more promising start-up teams that are itching to break through the surface and build a kick-ass business.

As a team in Mini Seedcamp Paris you will:

• Get access to a world-class network of advisors to help you with every aspect of your business
• Be recognised as one of the 20 best start-ups of the region
• Open a direct route to seed and venture capital

Team applications are open until February 9th at midnight. You can apply by going to the following link: http://apply.seedcamp.com/

Mike Butcher Day/The Old Married Couple

Mike Butcher of TechCrunch joined us on the 26th and 27th of November at Sofinnova to meet some French start ups -- we called it his "French Start-Up Speed Dating Day."  The list included:

• Sprice

• JeChange

• MotionSponsor

• Square Clock

• Linked Influence

• Believe

• Deezer

• Owlient

• Silentale

• Liligo

• BlueKiwi

• NavX

• Awdio

• NotreFamille.com

• TellMeWhere

Later than night, we had cocktail at my house, but those pictures are NSWF, as usual.

Mark And Colette Do a Mutual "What You Talkin' 'bout, Willis?"

We had the pleasure of hosting Mark Zuckerberg, the founder and CEO of Facebook last October, when came to Paris to introduce himself to one of Facebook’s fastest growing communities -- that would be France. It was a bit of a media circus, as we were followed by France 2’s “Envoyé Special” all day long to get footage for their investigative piece on Facebook (aired Dec. 4th).

Mark finished the day in the studios of Canal Plus where he was a special guest on one of France's most-watched shows, "Le Grand Journal -- and where he absolutely won the host and audience over.  Never underestimate the power of a engaging spokesperson, even if they don't speak the language.

Industry Hot Topics

One last interview with Ken before he leaves us to go back to the states.

Colette interview
envoyé par catrepi

Farewell to Fred Wilson Pont Party

Last night we managed to triumph over the rain that has plagued Paris and had a great event to say good-bye to Fred and to give French entrepreneurs a last shot at meeting their guru. Lucie and I were both struck by all the new faces. We feel like a pot was stirred over the past month, between Seedcamp Paris back in June and Fred Wilson Day last week. It's really exciting -- and fun -- seeing entrepreneurs who this time last year were just barely getting their algorithms together now giving advice to the noobies as (somewhat) seasoned entrepreneurs.

Saul Klein recently blogged about the importance of validation and pointed out that it comes in many forms, including previous successes, having a outstanding person join your start-up team, signing a paying customer, acquiring users, getting positive press/blog reviews. But a lot of these guys don't have that yet, and the first form of validation they get here in France is that they are not crazy nor alone, that there are people doing exactly the same thing (cf my earlier post on how entrepreneurs in France get treated as if they are doing something subversive). Having other entrepreneurs like themselves to bounce ideas off of -- and repeat entrepreneurs, and VCs -- in an informal setting with a glass of wine in hand can give them the boost they need. More than a few times, we've been told that the camaraderie at the Pont Parties helps tremendously.

So thanks to all the people who come to our events -- from Fred Wilson, who gave the French start-up community a huge shot in the arm and lots of great advice, to regulars like Philippe Collombel at Partech International Partners (full disclosure: a BPR client) and first-timer (but self-declared "future regular attendee") Ashish Puri of Sofinnova, and the dozens of French start-ups that make the conversations rich and energetic. It's BPR's dream that one day, one of you will point back to a Pont Party and say "that's where my company really took off."

Fred's post about last night and the importance of accessibility here, and photos from last night's Pont Party here and here. Huge thanks to Ken & Marc, our beloved interns, who made sure this got documented.

And, of course, shameless plug for Seedcamp: want validation? Apply!

Apply To Seedcamp Now!

The key event for all European early-stage start ups:

Seedcamp Application

Deadline is August 10th, see you in London.

Digesting Fred Wilson Day

As you know by now, I spent the day with Fred Wilson of Union Square Ventures yesterday -- BPR, Chausson Finance, Altaide and Open Coffee Paris all helped get 16 French start-ups in a room to present to Fred. A few photos of the day here.

After reading Fred's post and thinking more about the conversation that unfolded over the day, I come away with this: French entrepreneurs are heros, plain and simple. In the US, entrepreneurs are lauded. Here, they are looked upon as erratic, people who are insane not to take the safe route. Sure, Lucie-Anne and I are entrepreneurs, too, but we're American, and in France, that pretty much excuses us. Also, I come from a family of entrepreneurs: I am the third generation. My father's reaction was "What took you so long?"

When I look at the hurdles that these people have to overcome: the ridiculous laws, the lack of resources, the lack of a vibrant community to support them (though we are actively working on changing that!), and finally, the overwhelming, crushing sense that as an entrepreneur, you are doing something odd or outright subversive, well, you can see why these guys are my heros.

On a different note: huge thanks to Phil Jeudy, Louis van Proosdij Duport, Jacques Froissant, Raphael Labbe, Marc Brandsma and especially my trusty sidekick and partner in crime Ken Newcomer for all the help in organizing. See you at the Pont Party!

Fred Wilson Day For French Start-Ups

Longer post to follow, but right now I am at the offices of Chausson Finance with Fred Wilson, meeting with some really dynamic start-ups. Such a pleasure, this is the stuff I live for! The line-up:

U-Lik
Lemonway
FriendsClear
Fair Play Interactive TV
Vozavi
ShotRush
Wixi
INT13
Level134
mypronostics.com
Yoowalk
Stupeflix
DoYouBuzz
Haploid
Via Mobility
DotEmu

You Might Not Be Breaking The Law After All

The Center for Social Media released the "Code of Best Practices for Fair Use in Online Video" earlier this week. You make think this is a yawner but its actually pretty important, as it takes on copyright infringement in the U.S. head-on. Most Americans think that if they take something off the web and use it, they are committing copyright infringement (not that this stops them). The Code reflects the latest changes in U.S. copyright law that has expanded the understanding of fair use to include 'transformational effect.' What does this mean? Basically, provided you are making a truly new use of the content, you are free to make money off those copyrighted images and video and sound.

Several public broadcasters have endorsed the guidelines. Fingers crossed. Not that this means that things are going to change in Europe, but one can hope.

Note that the Center for Social Media's web site has nifty resources for mashers and mixers.