(French) Tech Tour Valley Talk : What every entrepreneur should know
The French Trade Commission and the FACCSF deliver a crash course on success
By Jack Shandle

Starting a high-tech company is considerably more difficult today than a decade ago, says Eric Benhamou.
He should know. A networking pioneer, Benhamou started Bridge Communications in the 1980s, piloted 3Com to success in the 1990s, and was at the helm of Palm from 2000 to 2003.

It was tough. But today’s entrepreneur finds it tougher. Funding of fundamental research – a key technology incubator for many startups – is shrinking. Channels to potential markets are encumbered with existing – often much larger – players. Access to public equity takes longer because companies have to be bigger to reach IPO status.

To help 11 French startups meet these challenges, on May 21st the Chamber and the French Trade Commission sponsored a day-long “conversation” with the Silicon Valley’s most influential companies, media and analysts.
Held at Microsoft’s Mountain View campus, the program featured Benhamou as keynote speaker and two panels of experts.
Business development managers from Microsoft, Hewlett Packard, eBay, Symantec, and Google comprised panel moderated by Dominique Piotet, president of L’Atelier BNP-Paribas.

Each of the panelists identifies small companies to partner with – or acquire. They were surprisingly consistent in their advice to startups. All suggested being well informed about the larger company’s business and having a focused idea of where the startup’s product fits in.
Honesty about what parts of the company’s product are real and what is development was also high on the list. Most indicated that they would rather have the CEO or CTO present the technology briefing
Demos should be live and real. Credibility is higher than an animated demo that works all the time – even if the real demo stalls at some point.

A panel of journalists and analysts moderated by tech investor Jeff Clavier looked at entrepreneurial challenges from a different perspective: How to generate industry buzz.
Discussion included how to contact the media. Email was the most frequently mentioned preference. Email pitches should be short and focused on how the product or service is different and exciting. Large presentation attachments or embedded videos are not welcome until they are requested.

The panel was particularly vocal that news embargoes be taken seriously. Journalists and bloggers who respect embargo dates are taking are risk. If the embargo is broken – for whatever reason – the company’s credibility is damaged.
Other advice to startups included not to hire a large public relations firm – because it is not cost efficient – and to be sure phone numbers and contact information are somewhere on the company web site.
Each of the 11 French startups were also given some time to describe their companies. To learn more click here. (link to the profiles in the program).