Long time readers of this blog will recognize my fascination with mobile messaging apps for a while now (Don’t shoot the Messenger, Line vs WeChat, My personalized Line stickers, etc.). For years now I’ve argued that the modern wave of messaging rose in Asia, with the West playing catch-up. Last year I wrote about my […]
Pop quiz: what do Klyqme, WhatsApp, WeChat, and Line have in common? Answer: they all enjoy quasi-monopolies in certain markets for their apps. Klyqme is the pre-eminent sms-based social network in Indonesia (which is rapidly threatening to displace India among the elite group of BRICs in my opinion, but that’s fodder for another blog post) […]
Spot quiz: What region is formerly known as the Valley of Heart’s Delight ? Here’s a hint: it’s not Blackstone Valley in Massachusetts, nor is it Berlin, East London, and especially not Saclay, France. A swathe of apple orchards and orange groves spanning Santa Clara County in Northern California is what gave Silicon Valley this […]
Over the weekend I had the pleasure of reading France Digitale’s whitepaper “Pour une France compétitive et créatrice d’emplois.” I say pleasure, because I really did enjoy reading the organization’s pragmatic proposal of four concrete measures to include in the upcoming Loi des Finances 2013. For those who are not familiar, France Digitale is a […]
Anyone reading the tech press last week couldn’t avoid the gushing over Marissa Mayer’s appointment to become CEO of Yahoo!. Google’s first female engineer and the brains behind the elegantly simple white search home page, the 37-year old Mayer will face a tremendous new challenge in taking the helm of the ailing internet company. Whether […]
The question I am asked most frequently by European entrepreneurs I know is: “How much is my company worth ?” I’ll pull a Henry Kissinger and answer a slightly different and more precise question, which is that of how VC’s in Europe calculate valuations of tech companies. Even if it’s more precise, the answer still […]
{Note: this post represents the second installment in a Rude VC series on IPO. The introductory post is here.} Last week in this column we reviewed the basics on an initial public offering, particularly the flavor available in France. Unless you’ve been living in a cave, you would know that since then, Facebook has gone […]
If you’ve been reading the French press recently, you are no doubt aware that this week represents the start of a new adventure… I’m of course referring to the imminent road show for Facebook’s IPO. Already affecting a billion people on the planet, and probably 100% of RudeBaguette readers, Facebook strikes me as the perfect […]
Imagine this scenario: You just completed a full day of second-round interviews at the Company’s premises following your successfully making the first cut at their on-campus recruiting session. It was a long, grueling day, but you feel good about the positive impression you made on everyone. Your well-prepared questions clearly hit the mark, and you […]