Start-up, the French way

A few evenings ago, I was watching a French TV news magazine, that was showing, among other things, some French start-up companies dealing with online sales. They were two elements that struck me.

First, my former countrymen don't necessarily seek the 30,000 feet view to begin a business but seem fairly happy to get their hands on tiny business concepts that often are challenging, if not impossible to scale and grow.

It seems as if, they wanted to start a business, just for the sake of being into one, but in total disregard for its growth and profit potential. In contrast, the American entrepreneur first considers growth potential and scalability, will begin by going out to fund their venture so it can be revved up quickly to a sustainable level.

The second element that I noticed, is the culture, that is typically French, making use of technology tools in a very special, seemingly amateurish way and, again, preferring to focus on small, micro-details instead of looking at business as a general and generic endeavor.
 
Perhaps the common denominator of my two observations is that American always see “big” and super efficient, while French see business in a more accessible mode, that must remains fun and social.

Business, like the many other human endeavors, remains, most of the time, marked by its local cultural traits!