🦈 The French Shark Tank

Musings on Entrepreneurship in French Pop Culture

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I read that sharks have an acute sense of hearing:

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I've been back home in the US for a while now. Lack of routine and persistent sibling dynamics have compounded to revive old habits. Not least of which is TV dinners, a near nightly occasion for my sister and I, for better or for worse. I'm sure any nutritionist or health expert will tell you that eating paired with screen time is bad news. But we save the high brow series for committed, 100% focused binging hours. During a meal, we stick to a strict diet of light, highly watchable content.  Our number one guilty pleasure as of late: Shark Tank. 

Going strong for over a decade (currently on Season 13) the tank gives a platform to budding entrepreneurs to pitch their ideas to a panel of "sharks" i.e. successful entrepreneurs turned billionaire angel investors. At the time, it must have been a novel concept — taking what took place in business schools each semester and producing it for public consumption. I always found it to be a uniquely American showcase of grit, cut-throat capitalism, and bravery via on-stage vulnerability. Witnessing someone pitch their concept in front of wealthy (might I add, culturally revered) business people that can make or break you is captivating and at times cringeworthy. Nevertheless, I can't seem to look away.

My US-centric bias assumed Shark Tank was an American innovation. It turns out the original inspiration was Japan under the name "Money Tigers" (I should've guessed… all amazing reality TV originates in Japan!). Later, "Dragon's Den" emerged in the UK & Canada and eventually some version of it hit television screens in countries all over the world. It wasn't until 2020, however, that France got into the game (perhaps not surprisingly considering the entrepreneurial spirit wasn't quite on fire in the early 2010's). In typical French fashion, they've taken the fun out of the show's name, opting for the blasé, utilitarian: Qui Veut Etre Mon Associé? It translates to who wants to be my business partner/associate, a little too on the nose if you ask me.

So today, I wanted to explore what constitutes a French "shark," the entrepreneurial ideas coming out of France beneath the radar of "big tech," and what it might say about progress for startup culture in France. After all, it was renewed for a second season this month – so somebody must be watching!

Bébé Sharks

In the US version, there's a range of sharks, typically with varying backgrounds, specialization or predilection for risk. For example, Mark Cuban is known for tech, media, and sports (he launched a media empire from his college dorm room & currently owns the Dallas Mavericks NBA team). If I haven't mentioned before, we're basically friends (jk, see thread below); Daymond John, is the CEO of FUBU and tends to have an upper-hand on fashion investments; Lori Grenier aka the Queen of QVC mints millionaires with her eye for consumer goods; Mr. Wonderful trades aggressive equity stakes for specious royalty deals. You get the gist. 

Startup ROI 👑 @StartupROI

On spring break in 2012, I spotted @mcuban on the beach Miami. I approached him to talk about startups & entrepreneurship. He was super friendly and happy to chat. Before leaving I asked his advice to me. He said: "get off the beach and go build something!" And since then...?⬇️

Here is the A-List of associates (they really need a catchier name) in France:

Marc Simoncini

• I referred to him as the Zaddy of VC in this article on mobility tech where I outline his involvement in Angell Bike

• He was an early tech entrepreneur who evidently made his money from online dating – Meetic, a service starting in 2001 was acquired by Match Group in 2013

• His net worth is estimated at around €360M and is the 243rd richest person in France

Catherine Barba

• Internet entrepreneur with a focus in digital retail

• Started and sold 2 companies (Cashstore & Malinea) and was a managing director at iFrance when it sold to Vivendi

• Big supporter of Women in Tech initiatives

• She lives NYC and her husband is the co-Founder of Believe Digital (Music Tech)

Frédéric Mazzella

• Co-founder of French Tech darling & unicorn startup: BlaBlaCar

• Low-key genius according to his wikipedia with degrees from École Normale Supérieure in Physics & a Master's in Computer Science from Stanford

Delphine André

• She inherited the GCA group from her father in 1991 (when he passed away), she was just 25 years old

• It's a transport and logistics company moving products ranging from food, cars and dangerous materials

• She surpassed expectations as a young leader and steered the business with poise; today they make €1.3B in revenue annually, operate in 15 countries and have nearly 10K employees on the payroll

Marc Vanhove

• This is France, so of course there's a "gastronomic" entrepreneur (restaurateur?) on the panel

• As a chef from Bordeaux, he held several positions in the restaurant industry

• Eventually, he built and franchised Bistro Régent, which is essentially a fast-casual French cuisine spot offering quality food at reasonable prices

• There are 130 locations across France and they are partners with Girondins de Bordeaux, the Ligue 1 football club

Éric Larchevêque

• It's the 2020s, you know there is a crypto-shark (ahem, associate) in the mix!

• Éric is the co-founder of Ledger, the crypto storage/cold wallet company, their latest Series C round of $380M values them at $1.5B

• His net worth is estimated at €300M and the 343rd richest person in France

Alright, that's all for Season 1 – some more characters are coming into the fold for Season 2 but you'll have to watch for yourself!

I'm seeking €X for Y% of my business

If you're unfamiliar with the premise, entrepreneurs give an elevator pitch and typically close with an ask: some capital in exchange for some equity. Pretty standard, but on the spot negotiations crank up the tension and keep things interesting. I looked through every pitch on Season 1 (there are 6 episodes and 7 pitches per = 42 startup ideas). I selected and categorized a few of my favorites for merit and entertainment value.

🥁 The categories are…

On Brand for Startup Tech Trends

I've talked at length about my bullish perspective on French tech and the EU ecosystem more broadly in previous pieces. If you follow along you'll know that values around tech for good, environmental and social impact, responsible investing, the circular economy & health/wellness are front-and-center. Among the pitches was a 10-second toothbrush, performance face-masks for air pollution (pre-covid launch!), and ecological solar-powered devices for the outdoorsy (lighters, ovens, BBQs). But here are my top choices:

• La Vie Est Belt repurposes rubber bike tires and up-cycles them into high-fashion accessories. They secured a €60K investment across 3 investors for 9% of the business.

• Embal'Vert is a re-usable wrapper for food storage made of beeswax. No single-use plastic in my kitchen! They traded €50K for 20% equity stake.

• Urban Circus makes high-visibility technical wear for commuters, but make it fashion. Cycling is revolutionizing the commute in major urban areas and they plan to fit every rider. They took €500K for 20%, unsurprisingly Marc Simoncini was part of the deal due to clear synergies with Angell Bike.

#FrenchAF  

These companies have a je ne sais quoi that can only be described as French as f*#%. You know it when you see it. A laundromat/café hybrid, snail slime cosmetics (escargot, anyone?), urban insect farm specializing in molitor pastries and hamburgers (reminds me of someone else). Here are my fav Frenchies:

• La Boulisterie is a mobile pétanques (bocce ball) court for events (with a DTC mini-court for purchase online). Culturally, this is very on-point. Come to France in the summer and those metal balls will be flyin' – be careful, throwers tend to have a cold pastis in hand. I don't know how they didn't secure capital, but I'm confident they'll bootstrap just fine!

• La Belle Bouse (The Beautiful Manure) is a cute DTC, natural fertilizer for house plants. Bringing a little country into urban centers. God knows how many house plants us millennials have collectively killed. They gave up 33% for €50K.

• N’oye makes a variety of Asian-inspired sauces to spice up your home-cooked meals. This may not sound unique, but in France, the "exotic aisle" at Monoprix (their words, not mine) isn't all that exotic… Sometimes savory just doesn't cut it – I need SPICE! Nice touch: it has an immigrant backstory which doesn't tend to get the spotlight in France. They scored €80K for 20% from Marc Vanhove (the chef shark).

C'est quoi ça? (WTF)

The producers on these shows know there have to be a couple duds for both drama and comic relief. This show can be intense! I'll preface by saying none of them got funding. Here are my WTF picks:

• FishFriender is a social app for fisherman? The question mark is intentional. There is some environmental preservation aspect but mostly it looks like dudes holding up fish in their profile pics. I shouldn't judge, FarmersOnly seemed to find a sweet spot.

• Rustik is an immersive, medieval role-playing experience. Sounds a bit like Dungeons & Dragons meets LARPing in rural France. I could see a market for it but their pitch imputed a €20M valuation!

• Le P'tit Sniff offers an olfactory training kit – but their value proposition seems to send mixed signals. Think of it like a vape, except for your health and it's portable and smells good. I think the idea is to offer some sort of anxiety reduction for highly sensitive individuals (I saw a testimonial around someone's child with autism) but the overall health benefits outside of that select group aren't all that clear. Just watch their Youtube ad.

You've got a deal!

Look, there's only so much you can take away from a reality show but I like to think there are some hidden conclusions to support my overall enthusiasm about the French tech ecosystem:

1. In a country where entrepreneurship and wealth tends to be demonized, there is a national television program promoting both and inspiring a young generation to invent, innovate & build

2. The cultural stigma surrounding failure (and its resulting fear) would make a pitch like this mortifying for most. It's good to see there's progress on this front because as we know, the vast majority of startups are doomed to fail. That doesn't mean you shouldn't give it a shot!

3. The fact that France has adopted this type of programming in 2020 is a testament to the startup environment itself: they have the "old guard" willing to angel invest in young companies and the entrepreneurs willing to put their neck on the line to raise funds. France is far from the "backwater" it once was for tech and entrepreneurship.

Seriously though, they have to upgrade that name. Here's my shortlist:

• Meute de Loups (Wolf Pack)

• Ruche de guêpe (Hornet's Hive)

• Repaire de vipères (Den of Vipers)

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Thanks for reading. See you here next week!