🤷🏻♂️ Why I'm Creating Startup ROI
Launch Announcement
Today, I am officially launching Startup ROI, a modern media company with a singular purpose: to explore how global technology trends manifest themselves in the French startup ecosystem. A quick plug before my "manifesto":
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Why I'm Creating Startup ROI
I've worked in the technology space for nearly a decade now. I remember, back in High School, being inspired by tech pioneers and the silicon valley ethos. Software was eating the world and I wanted to be a part of it. In the past ten years we've seen rapid, unprecedented change. It's hard to keep up. I have been fortunate enough to have a front row seat to this change from a multitude of perspectives: Fortune 500's to scrappy startups, from the US to Europe. I've held many roles/titles across these organizations, but the consistent thread has always been storytelling and communication. I'm fascinated by founder stories and startup lore, it's filled with risk, reward, territory skirmishes, scalability challenges, and questions of product market fit. Sometimes, there is a playbook, but more often than not, you try then fail then try again until something just becomes the norm. In hindsight, bucking the trend seems so obvious. It's much harder to do (and envision) in the moment.
In 2018, I moved to France in search of personal and professional growth. Personal, in that I had lived there as a kid and wanted the opportunity to "re-do" the experience as an independent adult. Professionally, I was attracted to the ever-expanding mentality of startup culture spreading among our global economy. In France, a country known more for bureaucracy than entrepreneurship, there was promise of change and a mandate to support it: #FrenchTech was to become Europe's leading hub for the technology industry. With a combination of full-throated government policy (Cedric O), significant domestic investment (BPI France), and a consistent and vocal network of support and marketing (LaFrenchTech & StationF), this vision has become a reality. Crowning multiple unicorns in 2021 alone (private co. valued at over $1B), the momentum is palpable. It appears President Macron's objective of 25 unicorns 🦄 by 2025 may have been conservative!
As we approach a post-pandemic era, it's clear that dispersion is taking effect. Dispersion of people/talent (to new cities, regions, countries), dispersion of ecosystems (from in-person to the cloud), and dispersion of ideas (for example, silicon valley mantras & frameworks being adopted in Paris). In the wake of Brexit, France (notably, Paris) has taken the lead as the EU's largest technology hub (the only country to grow year-over-year in terms of tech investment in 2020). I look forward to witnessing this transformation and sharing my perspective with you.
Going into this, I've made it my goal to write weekly, thought-provoking pieces combining macro-economic research, emerging technology trends, comparative analysis and startup profiles. But don't get discouraged by the fancy words above, it will be replete with breakdowns (of concepts and technical terms), fun stories/anecdotes, and of course visuals, diagrams & memes.
Long term, I imagine my role in the ecosystem as follows:
To shine a light on emerging, growth-stage and scale-up technology companies in France
Educate foreign investors, tech folks, and curious minds about the FrenchTech ecosystem
Help gain exposure for French Tech companies seeking to expand internationally
Facilitate community among all participants in an effort to develop and enrich the ecosystem
If you've gotten this far into the post, it means you're either genuinely interested or for some reason you are motivated to support me. Either way I'm incredibly grateful! Here are some actions you can take to help spread the word:
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Reach out directly to say hi, ask questions or give feedback! (📩 bonjour@startup-roi.com)