Meet France’s unsung heroes. #RejoignezUneStartup
As my partner Saul Klein said in his recent speech at the European Pirate Summit in Cologne, it feels like Europe is screwed. And France is no exception. But, as he soon pointed out, it doesn’t mean we should be discouraged, but rather, take inspiration from the countless examples of people who have managed to exploit uncertainty and crisis to innovate, challenge the status quo, and build massive businesses in the process.
And, all over Europe, more and more people are doing just that. Investing all of their hard-earned savings (and often their friends and families’) into daring ideas, at a time of almost unprecedented economic uncertainty. Chasing seemingly impossible dreams, much bigger than the wealth they could create for themselves if they happened to succeed. To prove to the world that they are not crazy: that their vision is reasonable and can be achieved, that change is possible.
Who’s got the guts?
That requires guts. The ability to withstand the pressure and the stress of seeing your bank account edge back to zero, and your professional life back to square one. To bear the weight of guilt that comes with losing your investors, your friends and families’ money. To forget about the flat you could have bought, or the great wedding reception you could have given. Those of you who have ever experienced these feelings of cold rocks in your throat and acid in your stomach that come with it will know what I’m talking about.
How many among us are ready to take that kind of life-changing risk? Very few. And those who do should be handsomely rewarded when they succeed, cheered up when they fail, and cherished all the way. And the morons who call them parasites or selfish, while living off the taxes they and the jobs they’ve created are paying (French readers will know who I am talking about), deserve nothing else than a cream pie in the face.
Let’s join them
If you want to see what these entrepreneurs look like, more than 50 of them will be holding a big job fair in Paris on Saturday (the 22nd September). Together, their companies will be offering 140 full-time, well-paid jobs, to over 500 candidates. They didn’t wait for anyone’s permission or money: they just decided to get together and do it, within their limited self-sufficient means. Because this is what they do: they put things in motion.
So, if you are a developer or a designer and want to work with the best in the business, while taking a decisive part in these incredible individual and collective adventures, you should apply here: www.rejoignezunestartup.com.
Let’s thank them
Not all of these startups will succeed. Actually most of them will fail. And most of these entrepreneurs will lose a lot: savings, years of hard work without a salary, and, maybe worst of all, the opportunity to realise their dreams. They know it, and still, they are brave and crazy enough to give it a go, and give everything they’ve got. To create services and products they think will make their customers’ life better, creating jobs for themselves and hundreds of others in the process.
It is all too easy to forget the risk they first took once they have succeeded. To bash them for being selfish when they claim they don’t own their success to anything or anyone but to their hard work, intelligence, and nerves of steel. This may not be entirely true, but they are entitled to think that without their self-starting energy, nothing that we built would exist today.
Successful or not, those entrepreneurs are heroes, and should be praised as such.
Notes