We're moving there next year for my wife's job. What's the startup scene in Paris like? How good does my French need to be? Are there any languages/platforms/etc. that are popular there more than in Silicon Valley/Fairfax County (the places I'm used to working)?
Ask HN: How's the Paris startup scene?
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Re: Ask HN: How's the Paris startup scene?
#2you can start from this:
https://stationf.co/ - startup campus
https://vivatechnology.com/ - annual conference main topic is startups
Re: Ask HN: How's the Paris startup scene?
#3There’s Station F https://stationf.co/ - the “biggest startup campus in the world.” I think FB and Google also rent office space out of there.
Not sure that’s necessarily proof Paris has “made it” as far as incubating successful cos, though. AFAIK the most high profile European tech companies are out of London, Amsterdam, and Berlin.
Re: Ask HN: How's the Paris startup scene?
#4Hi, French here but I don't know much about the Paris scene, more the Lyon scene but they're probably close.
Regarding the French language: you don't need to be good at it. Just learn enough of it so you can show the locals you tried, and soon they'll be ok speaking to you in English. All coding languages are English-based so everybody knows enough to work efficiently with non French-speaking people.
Like the other users said, Station F is the flagship startup trend in Paris but there are many startups that don't go there and just operate in Paris itself, it's up to you to find them using meetups (there are plenty) to network.
Coding language wise, it's difficult to say but from my experience a lot of people are into Node.js and Ruby.
Hope this can help, enjoy your time there
Re: Ask HN: How's the Paris startup scene?
#5The biggest startups are all either parts of https://www.thefamily.co/ or https://www.efounders.com/
They are quite impressive in the way they operate
Re: Ask HN: How's the Paris startup scene?
#6I'm not in the start-up world personally but from I understand it's all rather vibrant. I went to Vivatech and was, despite the lack of air in the building, quite impressed with the sheer number of start-ups present.
Having French language skills is a HUGE benefit and was not too long ago an absolutely necessity. It's getting better now and you can more or less get by speaking only English, at least in a professional context. Socially it won't be that great, although if you're motivated I'm sure you'll learn enough for everyday conversations rather quickly.
A good website to check out job offers is https://welcometothejungle.co (in French only unfortunately). LinkedIn is big (how I got my previous job). Also, Hired I've heared (no personal experience).
Re: Ask HN: How's the Paris startup scene?
#7The biggest startups are all either parts of https://www.thefamily.co/ or https://www.efounders.com/ They are quite impressive in the way they operate
I didn't understand their #1 point "Europe is Toxic"? Does the absence of startups make a place 'toxic'?
Re: Ask HN: How's the Paris startup scene?
#8> What's the startup scene in Paris like?
The start-up scene is currently definitely at an interesting point: really young and active (people already shared links to Startup studios, you should have a look at them). The meetup scene is great too.
The salary is still a pity though (compared to the States, Switzerland or Baltic countries). For a middle developer position, you may be around 40K euros, which is "nice in France", but not a lot, especially after paying your taxes.
> How good does my French need to be?
To work, English is fine, to live, it's another problem. French people are usually really kind to people trying to learn French as it's a hard language. If you don't care about french, people won't care about you.
> Are there any languages/platforms/etc. that are popular there more than in Silicon Valley/Fairfax County
There's a bit of everything, but the Web and Robotics are especially important.
Re: Ask HN: How's the Paris startup scene?
#9Hi, French here but I don't know much about the Paris scene, more the Lyon scene but they're probably close. Regarding the French language: you don't need to be good at it. Just learn enough of it so you can show the locals you tried, and soon they'll be ok speaking to you in English. All coding languages are English-based so everybody knows enough to work efficiently with non French-speaking people. Like the other u…
French here too; regarding language, it's rather annoying when there's one only person who don't speak French at work, forcing everyone else to switch. But if the co-workers are young enough, there shouldn't have too much difficulty for them to speak English. And regarding code, all the variable + comment are usually in English.
Re: Ask HN: How's the Paris startup scene?
#10Hi French founder here.
Imho: French start-up ecosystem is booming. Still immature in some aspects. Really good tech companies, less aggressive in sales than german for example. Cash is coming really hard from french VCs but also UK and some US.
I consider France a tax heaven for start-up with multiple leverage: - JEI (Jeune Entreprise Innovante) status: basically you pay low employer's contribution - CIR (Crédit Impot Recherche): you have 30% of you Research and Development (if it's really R&D) refunded as tax break or cash. - BPI (Banque Publique d'Investissement): basically some free money, loans and cash for equity investement; Really easy if VCs are already onboard. - Unemployment law. If you've worked enough you get paid for a period of time to find another job and creating a company qualify as finding another job.
Other cool stuff: culture, low salary, top tier math/engineer schools, good business school/MBA, great community but a bit too nice.
Bad stuff: weather in Paris, English is pretty bad (with some progress), French market too small for most businesses, a lot of uneducated BAs, VCs and Entrepreneurs. Europe fragmented market, administration is slow and heavy, overcrowd of start-up recently.