Franco-American Entrepreneurial Success Stories

Franco-American Entrepreneurial Success Stories: a talk and panel discussion with CEOs at Harvard Business School

The Consulate General of France in Boston and the HBS Francophone association, in partnership with Alumni from renowned French schools including ESCP Europe organized an event about entrepreneurial success stories with both American and French CEOs at the Harvard Business School.

Who were the speakers?

1. Denis Payre co-founder of BUSINESS OBJECTS, a software company that was eventually sold to SAP in 2007 for $6,8 billion
2. Adrien Nussenbaum CEO and Co-founder of MIRAKL; Entrepreneur for 17 years; Prior to Mirakl, he launched a 1^st start up that failed, then a 2^nd that he sold to FNAC
3. Elisabet de los Pinos, Founder and CEO of AURA BIOSCIENCES, a Phase 2 biotechnology company developing drugs against melanoma
4. Jennifer Schunemann, Founder and President of MD CONFERENCE EXPRESS, an innovative company communicating pre-published data from international medical conferences
5. Alessandro Babini, CEO and Co-founder of HUMON, a wearable sensor company that empowers athletes

The panel discussion was providing a French-American perspective on Entrepreneurship and was moderated by Martha Crawford, Senior Lecturer of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School.

Q1. How does the attractiveness of Boston compare to Silicon Valley or EU?

Most panelists agreed that the Boston area is a very compelling city to grow their business, given the city’s unique infrastructure of access to financial and human capital. In Silicon Valley, it’s tougher to retain talents.

Elisabet and Jennifer insisted that it is also the place to be for any healthcare/life science related ventures.

Finally, Boston is considered as very European compared to the other US cities.

Q2. What are the main cultural differences between the US and EU/France?

Pros:

• Business-wise, folks are ready to take more risks in the US
• The size of the market is easier to reach as it’s one single market with a unique language & legal system versus Europe’s fragmentation
• Panelists also praised R&D innovation funding
• Denis mentioned that the biggest deals he signed for BO were in the United States

Cons

• More complicated to build a company culture in the US
• It takes longer to build relationships in EU, but you can rely on it longer vs in the US
• France’s attractiveness was highlighted in terms of business and engineering talent
• French workforce are compared to “Swiss knives” in terms of skills vs Americans that are less agile even though very good at their specific missions/expertise

Q3. Last advices?

• AN: Choose your partners like you would choose your spouse
• JS: You’re responsible for people you attract; if you treat them well when things get bad they will support you
• ED: Focus, you can’t say “yes” to everything
• AB: Be courageous and start as early as possible
• Panelist consensus: Get rid of fear; Being an Entrepreneur is a lot of freedom, none of them regrets their adventures

By Arthur DE GARIDEL (MGE 2011)