Courtney Pulitzer's Cyber Scene

Startup City

2012-04-30T12:30:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to find myself in lovely New Orleans for a Pulitzer family reunion. My grandfather was the oldest of twelve brothers and sisters so there are a lot of cousins as a result; and we thoroughly enjoy getting together regularly.

Before arriving in the Crescent City one of my cousins [Carol Pulitzer] emailed me she was moving back to "NOLA" (New Orleans, Louisiana). She said NOLA was experiencing a renaissance technologically, entrepreneurially and artistically. I was intrigued. I emailed another cousin [Alexa Pulitzer ] who's a 3rd generation New Orleanian and she enthusiastically confirmed it. Now I was hooked on finding out more.

Alexa, who has her own incredibly successful brand of beautiful stationery, mousepads, party cups and other items, introduced me to The Idea Village Co-Founder/CEO Tim Williamson. So, while there, before the reunion festivities kicked-off, I walked a few short blocks from our hotel (the Monteleone, which by the way charges an outrageous $10 a day per device to access the Internet!) to their lofty space.

The next two hours flew by in what was one of the most friendly and interesting meetings I've been party to in a while.

The first 20 minutes or so were filled with "oh so your cousin is..." and "I went to school with your cousin ______ " and "my wife went to school with your cousin _____." I was struck by the similarities of "who do you know" and "what high school did you go to" between this town with French origins and the country where I now live (France). I guess some old habits die hard! Fortunately I had all the right answers. But there is something to be said for Southern hospitality and, of course, Entrepreneurial friendliness.

After introductions went around, Tim provided me with an excellent background and overview on The Idea Village and the city. Next Communications Manager Cameron Yancey offered the point-of-view of a native New Orleanian on the city's new growth. The Idea Village is home to several Entrepreneurs-in-Residence and one of them, Kevin Wilkins, provided insights as a recently relocated Mid-Atlantic experienced business manager.

And without further ado, here are the findings:

The Idea Village was founded in 2000 by five entrepreneurs. The mid-80s were a time of cycling down in New Orleans and the beginning of the Brain Drain. There were no quality jobs being created and the focus was on tourism. After school a lot of the new young professionals moved out of NOLA to live and work elsewhere. In the early 90s those who decided to come back found themselves in a New Orleans with crime, corruption, bad education and the worst football team in the NFL. It was bad from all angles. The entire community was risk adverse and fractured.

The real problem, however, was leadership. Bad leaders don't motivate problem-solving and innovation. In this environment, only the crazy ones would attempt to be an entrepreneur. And yet it is these very entrepreneurs who would attract outside resources, and new networks, and create jobs, and new wealth and then those people would create the change so desperately needed.

So. Tim and four friends decided to change all this by each investing $2K to create a $10K business plan contest. Like so many other startups, their first meetings were in a bar. Thus, they were initially called the Loa Groupafter the bar in the International House where they frequently met. Utilizing their own network they received $15K donations in free legal services, web design, a launch party and more. Seventy people submitted their business plans and they reviewed them all, narrowing the selection to five. The winners were two guys formerly from Shell Oil. The Loa Group helped them write their business plan and out of this experience, wrote a white paper on why New Orleans could be a business place.

This led to the fateful meeting with the city Mayor, which didn't go well. (Read all about it here:] Next Tim did what any forward-thinking entrepreneur would do. He waged war on the Mayor and went to the Chamber of Commerce. That meeting went so well, the contact in the Chamber was fired within a month! The regional Chamber was collapsing and so they set themselves up as a non-profit in 2002. They kept making noise and they got funding because people wanted to keep their kids, the future of the city, there. On the same day in 2004 Tulane University and the University of New Orleans came on board. They began getting support from local businesses and the community.

Everything was developing in a measured way until the hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans in August 2005. After this everyone became an entrepreneur. There was a latent talent in New Orleans; the old networks got fractured and New Orleans became global. New Orleans became a laboratory for innovation and change. New Orleans became a startup city. The people who came there thought they could change the world.

Meanwhile, the now-named The Idea Village was scaling up. They had "Idea Corps" week with six universities and six startups. Jumping forward to 2010, they rebranded as "Entrepreneur Week" and borrowing from two established iconic events already in NOLA, they organized it like a Jazz Fest or Mardi Gras with multiple events going on at the same time. However, like their predecessors, the "festival" was still mostly attracting tourists and out-of-towners.

In 2012 they focused on getting local entrepreneurs and called it "Entrepreneur Season." Running from July to October they received 2100 registrants, proof of the changing spirit of the city when compared to 2700 registrants from the first ten years of this organization. This year they engaged 282 locals to support 697 entrepreneurs with over $2.2 million worth of strategic consulting, resources, and startup capital. Never before had there been local engagement to this extent. 1,500+ people showed up just for the final Entrepreneurial Pitch event, The Big Idea. Google has also announced that they will be deepening their relationship with the City of New Orleans in the coming year - stay tuned for details.

During Entrepreneur Week, The Idea Village also hosted the National Advisory Council on Innovation & Entrepreneurship’s (NACIE) Quarterly Meeting. [NACIE was established by President Obama and the U.S. Commerce Department in 2010 and advises the Administration on developing a broader strategy to spur innovation and enable entrepreneurs to develop breakthrough technologies and dynamic companies.] NACIE chose to hold their quarterly meeting in New Orleans during New Orleans Entrepreneur Week to highlight on a national level the great work happening in New Orleans around entrepreneurship. The White House also hosted a Young Professionals Forum in partnership with The Idea Village and 504wardto engage New Orleans’ young professionals in a substantive conversation with White House and federal officials.

The Idea Village initiative is now viewed for its collaborative entrepreneurial spirit. There is an eco-system in place now. What Tim thinks makes it special is to have it not just a conference but as a season. Today New Orleans is outpacing the nation in the growth of start-ups and NOLA was recently named by Forbes as the "#1 Brain Magnet in the Country," "#2 Best City for Jobs" and the "Coolest Startup City in America" by Inc.com

2018 will be the 300th Anniversary of New Orleans. There is a convergence of plans for the city. Now is the time for all great new leadership and innovation and entrepreneurial spirit to solidify their roots. Today there is a competent leadership in New Orleans. There is an influx of young talent and wisdom. Tim's final thoughts were "how do we sustain this? There is a whole lot of work to do. Now we're out of the startup phase. We got the funding." Now it's a matter of sustaining and organically growing, like all good startups.

Kevin Wilkins: From The City on a Hill to The Crescent City

2012-04-30T10:39:00.002-04:00

Before learning about one of The Idea Village's Entrepreneurs-in-Residence Kevin Wilkins I learned a lot about his wife and her family. But that's how things are here in New Orleans. Family background is an important way things were in New Orleans. And it's an interesting parallel to how things are changing.

His wife, Ginny Wise, came from a family where for generations everyone went to Tulane University. She was the only one to break tradition and go to "Dart-mouth" as they called it. Kevin and Ginny met there and moved to Boston after school. While she began doing development, he went to Harvard Business School. Twenty years later...they'd built a life there. During all this time his Mother-in-Law was always asking when Ginny was going to move back home. Even after Hurricane Katrina, when many New Orleanians felt a need to go home and help rebuild their city, it wasn't the right time for her. Then, eighteen months ago she got a call from Tulane University to do development. This was the inspiration she needed and wanted to move back home. In August 2010 she moved back to New Orleans with Kevin and their three boys ages 13, 8 and 7.

Kevin, coming from a solid background in general management, marketing and operations for large corporations as well as start-up companies, decided to take some time off and was teaching at Tulane where he met Tim Williamson, CEO of The Idea Village.

During our meeting on Wednesday, April 4th, 2012, Kevin had a lot of great insights on New Orleans and the changes happening in this city. He said, "There's a sub-culture that's bubbling up." What surprised him was the economic energy. He has advised entrepreneurs through The Idea Village for six months and he states seriously "the Village culture is impressive. The network is real. The breadth of talent and a diversity of industry are among NOLA's strong points now. Before New Orleans was in disparate groups, The Idea Village is the hub to help these components work together. "

The Idea Village's big event, The Big Idea, on the closing day of New Orleans Entrepreneur Weekdrew over 1600 people. "That's a leading industry indicator and shows pent-up demand. The city wants to be a part of the energy. It's a tipping point." Areas where Kevin has been especially focused are the Charter School industry and Water Management technology. In the six months he's been working at The Idea Village he's experienced surprises, learning and humility. Kevin admits to being a structured, driven worker and he has learned to be more flexible and assume a more "can-do" attitude. "If you're driven you can do anything here. There are opportunities in water management, film and biotech. And it's real, viable, sustainable and growing!" As his 83-year old mother-in-law said at The Big Idea event, "I can't believe the momentum of this city." Today Kevin sees "there is so much more to the city than Mardi Gras and Jazz Fest. There is talent and innovation. And, you can have a balanced life here." Those are words to live by.

Cameron Yancy Shines

2012-04-30T10:32:00.000-04:00

Cameron Yancy is a bright star in her field. She has the luck of youth, enthusiasm and the gift of savvy smarts to help her build her budding career at The Idea Village. She started as a volunteer and then interned as she helped on the 2001 coffee table book HowThey Did It. Her hard work paid off and she transitioned into the Special Projects Coordinator and then finally to her present position as Communications Manager. Born and raised in New Orleans she returned in 2009 after school. Cameron says that coming back she didn't realize the wealth of opportunities available now in NOLA. The Idea Village, and NOLA in general, now has so many new connections and opportunities, you can come in and get C-level management roles and opportunities when you dive in and seize the opportunities here. Despite her youth, Cameron has an informed viewpoint having grown up in New Orleans. She informed me during our meeting on Wednesday, April 4th, 2012, that today "there is a holistic approach with entrepreneurs here." There is an idea of "how can we push New Orleans" to the forefront. They want to help each other. As The Idea Village's CEO Tim Williamson said, "the Brain Drain has stopped with Cameron. She is a real-life example of Talent who has stayed."

The End of an Era: The Official End of the Minitel

2012-04-30T08:00:00.000-04:00

The Minitel, a place where you could look up phone numbers, find a cinema, check the weather and more, and a forerunner to the Internet has it's end near. The Télétel service will end on June 30, 2012, rendering inoperable numerous Minitel's still actually in service. In an e-mail sent to its clients, the telecommunications company Orange reminded its clients of this due date marked by a significant step: starting Wednesday March 7th Minitel renters will not be charged. All good things have their day.

Mirsky's Back!

2012-04-30T07:30:00.000-04:00

David Mirsky is back on the web! Well, he never left but he has a new website, blog, Facebook Fan Page and Twitter feed. Old-timers like me will remember "Mirsky's Worst of the Web," a comical site in which he "honored" bad website design. WOTW was the first well-trafficked site to feature "bad" web sites for entertainment purposes and was a refreshing answer to all the "Cool Site of the Day" and other upstarts.

Now Mirsky's back at it again, this time with a "copywriting agency." If you're in need for a sharp copywriter, Mirsky's your guy.

http://www.mirskyagency.com/share

http://www.facebook.com/mirskyagency

Twitter: @MirskyAgency

Bits & Bytes

2012-04-30T03:00:00.000-04:00

- Mark Frieser has launched a blog focusing on music rights licensing, technology, and content at: http://disconic.com/blog. The first post, "Handguns or music rights - what's easier to license?" goes into the state of the sync licensing marketplace today and what can (in my opinion) be done to make it a better place for the buyer and seller through innovation and implementation of technology. His weekly posting will be joined with guest writers and profiles from noted industry executives and artists.

- Old-timer lawyer Havona Madama is getting in on the Kickstarter craze with a book project by her daughter Stoney Nakoda Cooks. Kickstarter.com

BITS & BYTES - 3/5/99

2012-03-05T16:20:00.000-05:00

BigStar
David Friedensohn reports that BigStar is making mucho progress in terms of $$, $$%, and ##s. Investments, sales and traffic are up, up, up. Looks like his business savvy has grown with his new venture!

e-media
Alright, you always wanted to see Evander Holyfield workout, right? Well you can! Just pointcher browser over to (http://www.holyfield-lewis.com) and you will see all the content, chats, merchandise and promotions surrounding the March 13th event you could ever want. e-Media, a full e-business, e-commerce, front and backend developer based in lovely New Canaan, CT developed the site with TVKO (the pay-per-view arm of Home Box Office), ESPN and Microsoft. e-Media will host streaming video content, including live streaming video of weigh-ins, workouts and pre- and post-fight press conferences. So check it out, order a pizza and enjoy the drama!

ifilm.net (http://www.ifilm.net), produced by the dynamic brother and sister team of Rodger and Marissa Raderman, has launched and is determined to change the dynamic of the film industry for good--in favor of independent filmmakers. Filmmakers and folks with an opinion about this sort of thing (writers, film enthusiasts, web surfers, etc!) are encouraged to participate, send feedback, suggestions, and submit work. You can even give other filmmakers feedback via the automated rating system or an online review.

iVillage:
iVillage and Ralston Purina Company have announced a major content and e-commerce initiative for women who own pets. Ruff!

JAMTV
JAMTV has officially changed their name to Tunes.com (http://www.tunes.com) and become "the Web's LARGEST music site," including MP3 downloads from major artists, Webcasting, personalization, Rolling Stone Radio, three major music pubs online (Rolling Stone, The Source and Down Beat), among many other features! Whoo!

Kokopelli
Kokopelli New Media LLC, together with Merck & Co., redesigned and re-architected Merck's existing 3-year-old corporate site. The re-branded online identity for Merck is a result of hard work including an in-depth, online survey during a two-week promotional run, resulting in the collection of valuable data to guide the company's future online-marketing efforts.. (www.merck.com).

Razorfish
Razorfish Studios acquired 100% of Simon Ventures, Ltd., which was started and previously led by Michael Simon, a New York based artist management firm, to help increase its stable of artists, as well as concentrate its efforts on continuing to produce cross-content media and develop talent. Ahem!

Scio-Ltd.
Not just yet-another-e-mail newsletter: SCIO Ltd., (which means "I know" in Latin), an early stage startup founded by Jeff Hearon is offering "Internet Intelligence Now," an e-mail discussion and news resource dedicated toward tracking the growing security challenges facing an increasing networked world. Hearon says, "it is clearly focused on intelligence concerning Internet infrastructure vulnerabilities as expressed in such knowledge domains as infosec, iwar/infowar, and its related geopolitical realities." SCIO LTD seeks to provide a credible perspective on these issues and remove the cloak and dagger mystic, which is often associated with these issues and to offer a resource to freely discuss these topics. SCIO has three websites under developemnt, which will cover Internet intelligence, Internet Infosec e-commerce portal, and lastly a think tank. www.scio-ltd.com/net/org

Tricks and Trinkets
http://www.tricksandtrinkets.com/ -- the weekly "Cool Tricks and Trinkets Newsletter" offers insights into cool, useful, fun, offbeat, unusual and interesting sites on the Internet.

"Cocktails with Courtney" - Change your passwords!

2012-02-29T11:15:00.000-05:00

My my, time does fly. I can't believe here we are at the end of April and I'm planning my May "Cocktails with Courtney," which is a rude reminder that I have neglected writing about my February event. Mea Culpea.

And what an event it was. We were graced with the impressive (in stature, knowledge and wit) Henry Bar Levav CEO of Recursion Ventures and Henry Mbom who's in charge of Recursion's International Business Development. Both sporting hats and coats they settled into the push red velvet armchairs at The Westin Hotel's Tuileries Bar on February 29th and regaled us with their day's adventures in the silk district. Hunting for the perfect bolt of silk isn't Henry's only talent. After learning more about each of the attendees that night, he nearly terrified us with the depth and precision of his knowledge on computer (personal, banks, and corporate) security. After this brief talk, he and Bobby had to part for a dinner with some high-level government officials, leaving Antique dealer Alain Cartier, Oasys Consultants's Elodi Warnod, TimeTravelerTours.com's Sarah Towle, Sofitel Hotel's Susana Herrera-Masias and Kigo.net's Shawn Convery into thinking we should all change our passwords as soon as we got home!

3 Startup's New Offices

2011-10-27T11:58:00.000-04:00

The same night was the opening of the new shared offices of three startups: Codage, which makes customized cosmetics; UrbanLinker, a recruiting agency specialized in the Web and whose CEO Jonathan Azoulay came to the April CWC; and Green Republic.fr., a startup marketplace for bio and eco green products.

The Vitrine's Pop-up Shop

2011-10-27T11:57:00.000-04:00

Online shop The Vitrine had it's pop-up shop opening at Storie (20 rue delambre) on Thursday, October 27th. (http://www.storieblog.com/?p=486) The Vitrine presents selections of American-based artists and designers featured on the website but who have not shown their work in Paris before.

Cocktails with Courtney ~ October 26

2011-10-26T11:55:00.000-04:00

The magic of Cocktails with Courtney is working in Paris as witnessed at the October 26th event at the Tuileries Bar. It was reported this night that two guests from September's event chatted, one gave the other a contact and now this contact is in talks financially advantageous for the other! I have to be a little vague because of the sensitive nature, and unlike most reporters I won't break confidential news until it's ready to be released. It's just who I am.

You may notice in the U.S., putting an "i" in front of a word seems to "internet-ize" it. Well, here in France, the key words seem to be "Myeasy." I've written about Romain Lehz of Myeasypet.com and this month's Cocktails with Courtney welcomed Edouard Maitre and his partner Augustin de Beaurepaire of Myeasygolf.com. Myeasygolf.com aims to be the one-stop-shop for anyone planning a golf vacation. With links to courses, spas, hotels and restaurants, it is easy to plan a golf trip for yourself or with friends. If you're going solo, Myeasygolf.com helps you partner up with other golfers to play with for the trip. Edouard and Augustine were such nice, bright, young gentlemen with the classic French background it was a pleasure to meet them and chat about their business, the e-commerce aspect (selling American golf products to Europeans) and our new iPhone 4S's.

Nina Andronikof told us about her developments with the International Freeride Film Festival that will take place in St Lary in the Pyrenees: http://www.festival-freeride.com/home-en.php. Sounds fun indeed! She and long-time friend Nathalie Ohana (OMGmother.com) were catching up just before we did a little musical chairs for guests to meet other people. Financial and insurance advisor Dominic Jerome came by after meeting me at the AMEX Soiree where I presented my business in June. He and Stanley Gehry (klgates.com/) enjoyed the conviviality typical of Cocktails with Courtney. Afterwards, Irene Toporkoff-Mayer (Worldcrunch.com), Nathalie Ohana and I went out for some delicious Japanese noodle soups at Higuma restaurant.

Réseau Entreprendre

2011-10-19T11:58:00.000-04:00

Earlier the following week, on Wednesday, October 19th, I met with Hugues Franc, Directeur of Réseau Entreprendre, a network of over 200 business leaders who help entrepreneurs start their business, or help bring them back to life. Each year the association selects from a large pool of candidates and nurtures them to success. The track record is impressive and was born from an idea of Andre Mulliez (CEO of Groupe Phildar). Andre and several members of his family felt the following principal "To create jobs, you need to create the employers" was essential for business and the economy. Today, Réseau Entreprendre is comprised of 42 associations in France and was identified as a national non-profit by decree of the Council of State January 15, 2003. Réseau Entreprendre®Paris was created June 4, 2004 at the initiative of Hugues Franc and Gonzagues de Blignieres (Président of Barclays Private Equity). To learn more about this wonderful organization and all the many ways it offers invaluable services to entrepreneurs, visit: http://www.reseau-entreprendre-paris.fr/

Cocktails with Courtney ~ September

2011-09-28T15:49:00.000-04:00

Cocktails with Courtney, held on the 28th of September at the Tuileries bar in the Westin Hotel, was another intimate affair. Kigo.net's Shawn Convroy and I caught up since last meeting at the Harvard Angels France presentation and dinner in June. He and Emmanuel Cassimatis, who also attended the Harvard Angels June evening, had an opportunity to delve more into their businesses. Tim Eustis, an old college friend came by for a respite and chatted with antique professional Alain Cartier. Karine Maj popped over after just starting three days with her latest venture working in web development and brought along friend Susana Herrera-Masias, who's the Director of Business Development at Sofitel. Groupon's Eva Lane sparkled in her tales of Groupon, Google and Apple. Between sips of refreshing "boissons" and bites of some salty snacks everyone mingled amidst the lovely garden setting on the balmy September night.

Why the Vistaprint.fr website sucks

2011-09-01T06:33:00.000-04:00

I have had the unpleasant experience of having to work with Vistaprint on two occasions and both times were painful. The first time I was placing an order for an association's business cards. After going through several iterations of uploading the cards, and having to reselect the model we wanted, we are forced to go through at least five screens of promotional items that Vistaprint is pushing. We check out and pay. The cards never arrive. (Okay, this was a problem of the French postal system, which decided that since I wasn't available when the cards were delivered they wouldn't bother to put a notice or attempt other deliveries.)

After calling Vistaprint and complaining, I finally head over to the Post Office to see if they perchance have these cards. They do. They are ALL WRONG. Each card is off center but just a little bit, but obvious enough to be disconcerting. We must call customer service, explain the problem and have each order redone. They arrive, two days after the day we needed them--for an event.

Nearly nine months later I need to order one more set. I decide to go ahead with the dreaded Vistaprint (who's president is an alumni of the association I am doing the cards for) and take my chances. We upload the business card. It's exactly the same as the others (different name and email) and once again, the card is slightly off-center in the Proof. Our file is dead-center correct. We fudge our file so it's on-center for Vistaprint. (A risk, I know).

Next. Payment time! We once again go through the five or seven screens of forced promotional items they are pushing on us. (Is this where they make their money?) First problem is we cannot find the screen where we can add our "store credit." We call customer service. It's back at the beginning somewhere. We find it. We go through the eight or nine forced screens before we get to the shopping cart. We see the order. The discount is not reflected. We are hesitant to push "Place the order" in fear of not getting this precious discount. We call customer service again. The agent walks us through all the same steps again. He assures us it's okay to push "Place the order" button. We do. It's placing the order but the discount wasn't credited!

We get to the confirmation screen. We must click on "My orders" and then the most recent order to see, voila! the discount applied at the very last minute, behind closed doors, to the order.

Very disconcerting. Not very user-friendly at all. Never again, Vistaprint. Mark my words, "never again!"

June - July Tempo

2011-07-16T05:45:00.000-04:00

June is a busy month in Paris. There are "end of the year" parties almost every week as people begin to prepare for the summer, which is serious business here in France. Many people leave Paris in July, and August is a literal ghost-town. (For proof, see my photo-essay on "Closed for the Summer.") Thus, the next Cocktails with Courtney will not be until September! Have a great summer everyone!

OpenCoffeeClub klatch - July

2011-07-10T11:59:00.000-04:00

While most of Paris (nay, France) shuts down in the summer, the weekly OpenCoffee Club Paris stayed open for business each week. Like usual, there was mingling and sipping of coffee till about 10:30 am when Laurent Tatford (the event organizer) opened a discussion around "What's Your Business Model?" Several attendees brought up Spotify and the crowd-sourcing option like People for Cinema (http://www.peopleforcinema.com/). Others mentioned LaFraise (http://www.lafraise.com/) and Archiduchesse (http://www.archiduchesse.com/) (which is a play on words in French for chaussettes). Just before leaving two young chaps overheard me speaking English and introduced themselves. Julian Ezenwa and Aman Brar are two interns with Le Bridge (http://lebridge.org/), an association focused on building connections between Paris and London (and other European cities) for startups.

Club Amex soiree/presentation

2011-07-07T05:43:00.001-04:00

Yann Emilian and Courtney Pulitzer

There are certain large corporations that create a real community among their workers. And sometimes these corporations even have networks for former employees. Such is the case for American Express. Here in Paris, an enterprising Yann Emilian (now General Director France & Benelux for Affinion International) helped found the Club Amex, which brings together former Amex employees for monthly cocktails. Sometimes they have a presentation by a company or individual.

This month, on July 7th, they asked lil' ol' me to present. It was quite an honor and quite an impressive turnout. Over 60 people came to catch up with former colleagues and friends and to savor good wine and hearty hors d'oeuvres. I met Dominic Jerome, who works in travel and insurance; InterContinental Hotels Group's Director of Development (France & North Africa) Brice Marguet who said he might have some nice hotels for my next soiree (great!); and Oasys Consultant's Elodie Warnod. La Banque Postal's Director of Marketing, Card Offers and Daily Money (hmmm, interesting division) Béatrice Delanau brought several colleagues, including the friendly Rémi Desert.

Starting around 7:30 PM, there was plenty of time for networking before Carrefour's Strategy Director Corinne Moulin introduced me and I gave my brief presentation (in French!) to these friendly and welcoming folks. There were a few questions and many smiles as I invited them all to the next Cocktails with Courtney.

June "Cocktails with Courtney"

2011-06-29T05:41:00.000-04:00

The June "Cocktails with Courtney" was a notable affair on Wednesday, June 29th, at the Westin Hotel's Tuileries Bar, as we were able to feature special guest Kevin Werbach. The Parisian entrepreneurs were fascinated, and I think mutually interesting to Werbach. Kevin was in town for an invite-only conference held at the OECD on the Internet and Economy. "Internet Economy: OECD high-level meeting on generating innovation and growth." [Many topics were discussed, among them: "Business: Unequal Opportunities - why entrepreneurs thrive in some countries more than in others."]

Taking advantage of being in Paris, Kevin came over with the family for some touring. His wife, attorney Joanne Werbach is working at yorn.com (Yes-or-No), which is a real-time survey service as general counsel and VP of Operations. I think it's such a neat, instant-gratification service I will try it out myself! (http://yorn.com/cocktailswithcourtney)

Considering Kevin teaches a course at Wharton on "Gamification," Kobojo's Karen Hunt and Youssef Faury, partner of CAPPTAIN.com, had a lot to chat about. Youssef's business helps web and mobile apps publishers and developers with acquisition, retention, monetization and offers real-time analytics applied to constant customer engagement and touchpoint. (whew!) I met him through his partner, Laurent Lathieyre, who's been to CWC in New York years ago. Youssef was in NYC from July 3 - 9th meeting companies for partnerships.

MyEasyPet.com's Romain Lhez stopped by and brought along Florent Tardivel whose site (Mayoz.fr) allows amateur and professional photographers have their photographs voted on, then the winner's image is available for purchase, printed on beautiful hardwood. He brought a sample, which we felt would be a good addition to the existing artwork.

This month's cocktail, as the previous three others, was hosted by Recursion Ventures, which creates secure solutions for the world's most critical systems. If you haven't noticed before, Recursion's team has long-time heavy hitters like Henry Bar-Levav, Bobby Mbom and Michael Tiffany. We all know a secure system is a valuable system, so if you want more value--give them a call!

A long-time friend of mine, Victor Le Broussois, stopped by for a quick hello. Victor used to own a company called Stock on Web, but now is in charge of his family's business Country Corner and Interiors. If you crave gorgeous French Country style furniture, you must check them out.

Victor also happens to be the initial reason why I am now living in France. It was thanks to him that I met my husband! Cocktails with Courtney always strives to be personal, and this month was very personal-nay--familial! My Parisian cousin Hillary Goidell stopped by (chic as ever and flawless in her French) and got to hang out with one of my Dallas cousin's who was in town visiting: Randy Pulitzer. Randy's family business prints all kinds of promotional products, including my Cocktails with Courtney napkins. As his business card says, "the fine art of sticking your logo on cool stuff," if you need quality products and excellent service, check them out: pulitzerpromos.com. Randy came with his Paris-based girlfriend, Karen Lowett who has one of the coolest jobs: a middle-school Science teacher at the American School in Paris.

Fellow newish-parents (like me) Angela Peterson Newton and Andrew Newton stopped by for a respite from toddler-dom. Angela and Andrew have been working on several projects around corporate responsibility, the impact of the financial crisis and raising a 2-year old daughter in Paris.

Worldcrunch.com's Irene Toporkoff-Mayer stopped by for a drink, made new friends and reconnected with friends-of-friends. Worldcrunch offers English-language translations of articles from leading newspapers like Le Monde and Die Welt. It's recently gotten a write-up in the New York Times and is gaining momentum. OMGmother.com's founder Nathalie Ohana also popped by with Jean-Marc Larhantec to mix and mingle. Jean-Marc brought his own liquor--it's his own brand he's promoting: Hedonist. Ooh la la!

[Here are some pics from the fete.]

Harvard Business Angels presentation

2011-06-23T05:42:00.001-04:00

Earlier in the month, on Thursday, June 23rd, Nathalie Ohana of OMGmother.com invited me to accompany her to a Harvard Business Angels event at the Restaurant Misia. This evening included cocktails and networking, short presentations, longer presentations, and then dinner. Among the quick presenters were Nathalie's OMGmother.com (of which I'm on her Board of Advisors) and Worldcrunch.com.

The longer presentations, which included financials were: Yoopies.fr which offers various services to parents; Kigo.net offers complete web solutions for companies (and individuals) in the vacation rental business. Distribution of digital books for children was the service offered and presented by Paul Van Den Bossche, who has 5 children so he knows a thing-or-two about kids and books. For the finale, we each got to inspect a gorgeous handmade leather handbag, created by Ragazze Ornamentali.

Over dinner I had a good trip down memory lane with Julien Ulrich, who was in NYC during the big boom with his former company Upoc and is now the Digital Marketing Consultant at Juan. I'm not too sure how many actual Angels were at this dinner, but all the entrepreneurs had a good time meeting each other and comparing notes.

Cocktails with Courtney ~ May

2011-05-25T21:51:00.000-04:00

Imagine the scene: it's rush hour in New York City. Fifth Avenue (or Sixth Avenue if you like). You're between 34th and 42nd Streets and the sidewalks are separated from the street by Police barriers. You've called for a cab (you have to because there are none available). He can't stop because there are police everywhere and there's no where to stop.

This was my circumstance as I headed out of the e-G8 conference towards my "Cocktails with Courtney" event on Wednesday, May 25th, evening. My cab found me though, and after traversing the City of Light we ambled our way up the hill towards the Pantheon. Just below was the little Corsican epicerie (grocery store) that specializes in wines, cheeses and charcuterie from Corsica. The owners also own a trendy cafe around the corner; this one (A Loghja) is opened just when they want or for their friends. Thankfully, one of their friends is a friend of mine--Ms. Nathalie Ohana of OMGmother.com. Sponsored again by Recursion Ventures, we settled in some chairs on the cafe sidewalk, sipped our refreshments and nibbled on some delicious cured hams and cheeses while the other guests arrived. First up was Romain Lhez of MyEastPet.com. Next was Alain Cartier and his friend from Stockholm. Alain was introduced to me via Elizabet Swenson, a long-time friend of CWC. Sarah Besnard of Western Union came after hearing about the event from the Club Amex and Karen Lovitt of the American School came after hearing about it from one of my Dallas cousins! Small world. And it all comes together face-to-face in a simple cocktail party. Some things never change.

Stay tuned for next month's CWC where we'll be featuring * exciting * guest * Kevin Werbach!

e-not-so-Gr8?

2011-05-25T17:56:00.003-04:00

The second day, May 25th, the e-G8 seemed to have lost much momentum. I headed back in the afternoon to catch Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg's "conversation" with Publicis's Maurice Levy. It wasn't so much a conversation as a halting question and answer session. Poor little Zuckerberg was baffled a few times by Levy's attempts at banter and his thick French accent left several questions and comments falling flat. Zuckerberg was bravely sweating it out, literally, though. Poor guy was just in a t-shirt and jeans but kept sipping his Gatorade the entire grueling 90 minutes. Wait a minute! Poor guy--he's got millions--never-mind! He can sweat it out for a few minutes. Which he did, while we hung breathlessly on every word.

ZUCKERBERG'S "CONVERSATION"
Some of those words were:
* "The best thing about the Internet is it gives everyone a voice."
* "The basis of being grounded in reality makes Facebook Facebook."
* "The Internet lets the best things rise to the top" (People will select what they like and the services that aren't useful fall by the wayside. Zuckerberg is a true Darwinian.)
* "Location is getting bigger and bigger." (My father always told me, "Location, location, location." Oh wait--that's for Real Estate!)
* "The Internet is competitive and the users make The Best win."
* Zuckerberg thinks there are only 1 or 2 things that companies can do well. He gave Gaming companies as an example. Doesn't think companies should try to be all things to all people. Focus on what you do best and just do that.
* "Social design" - a principal for designing something - is something Zuckerberg takes seriously for Facebook. He "bakes" this concept into all apps going forward. An example was the Friend Request. Initially you had to respond "yes" or "no" to a Friend Request. Through his studies of psychology he knew it made people uncomfortable and that there were real-world consequences for a denial. Changing the "yes/no" to "accept/not now" made it easier for people to politely decline a friend request.
* Advice for entrepreneurs: "Believe in what you're doing."

The first question from the audience came from a Frenchman asking a typically French-styled question, which baffled Zuckerberg, even after Levy tried to translate it. It was about the "transparency" of Facebook and could you trust people's sincerity. After several attempts at understanding this question, once even eliciting a huge laugh from the audience Zuckerberg was even more determined to understand it and answer it. He finally was able to frame it, and responded with, "one of the things I've noticed as the company is being built up is how similar people are and not how different they are."

He said they are "really gearing up for mobile development and have some exciting things coming out." "Most of the world will be accessing the web via Mobile and not computers."

Zuckerberg really kept downplaying Facebook's influence over the Jasmine Revolution. In a final comment, he summed up it all with, "[he] really cares about people being sure they can share their lives with each other." I guess that really does say it all of what the Internet can do for us.

FINAL NETWORKING

The big hype was over and the final "recap" panel had no less than 11 people on it! I stepped out for some air, and to meet some new people before there was total dispersion. Chatting with Qwerly's Max Niederhofer was Linkedin's EMEA Marketing Director Laurence Bret. I also met Advocate-Hypermedia.com's Stanislas De Livonniere and Whoog's founder Geurric Faure who described (in French) his company's service utilizing mobile phones for emergency communications. Back over by the water/juice/soda bar I met Vincent Barbey, Adminium's Director General, who also was celebrating his birthday this day. Adminium's stores all your appliance and utility invoices online. Its real use comes into play when you're at Darty (http://www.darty.com/) (or BestBuy for example) and you have a broken stereo tuner but not your receipt. No problem, log into your Adminium account, find the doc, and have it emailed or faxed to the store from your online account. Pretty nifty, huh?

On my way out I met New York-based ScrollMotion founder Josh Koppel and Scoop.it!'s CEO Guillaume Decugis who described this service as a publishing platform between Blogger and Twitter, helping people find content, and thus users, by locating pertinent items for your site.

Locating content for my site wasn't a problem this week. Thanks e-G8!

e-Gr8 NETWORKING

2011-05-24T17:34:00.004-04:00

Immediately after the opening speeches on Tuesday, May 24th, I ran smack dab into John Perry Barlow and Juliette Powell. They were bubbly and while cynical about Sarkozy's speech, I think we all had Hope for what the rest of the conference could bring.

Shortly after, I ran into the famous Colette Ballou (Ballou PR) who graciously let me stand with her and watch the parade of fans come by to connect with this ultimate connector. She introduced me to Vincent Picou of SquareClock who explained his 3D realtime platform for personal and professional uses and Victoria Ransom, Wildfire Founder and CEO who's grown her business from 7 to 110 people in record time. Some gents gathered round our table for lunch were Ari Wegter of Mogul Associates, Andrew Scott of Urban Horizon, Frank Kelcz, VC/entrepreneur, Richard Titus of Octavian Ventures in the UK and Sokaratis Papfloraratos whose company TrustedPlaces just got acquired. I met Toussaint Roze of Notrefamille.com (which has now grown to 70 people) and has the enviable domain name of genealogie.com (take that geneology.com!) TechHub's Co-founder and CEO Elizabeth Varley was friendly while TechCrunch's Mike Butcher was busy looking at his phone the whole time we chatted.

Other folks spotted in our Internet Celebrity Bingo game were: LeWeb's Geraldine & Loïc Le Meur (who had their own group of fans), Personal Democracy Forum's Andrew Rasiej and the legendary Esther Dyson of EDventure. Gathered in their own little cluster were Ann Winblad (Hummer Winblad), Timothy Draper (Draper Fisher Juvertson) and the other money-holders.

Some new folks were:

Gilles Babinet who is the president of the Conseil Nationale Numerique, a new council (created by Sarkozy on April 27, 2011) to advise the government on digital subjects. This group does not have much support from the press and it seems it isn't destined to be an effective representation of actual digital enterprises and their needs.
Paddy Cogrove, a spritely modest wunderkin has created his buzz by creating a forum for just 150 founders of the companies like Skype, YouTube, Twitter, Wordpress and other leading influencers: F.ounders based in Dublin.

It was a whirlwind once again that I was used to, so I was sad to leave before the big party at Arc...but motherhood demands are more essential than even a hyped-up networking soiree...

e-G8: Opening Speeches by Levy and Sarkozy

2011-05-24T12:05:00.002-04:00

Well. You've read the rest, now read the...Cyber Scene! :)

I can't compete with instant twitterers and bloggers, but I do have the scoop that others don't present. I find my position, of living here in France after having run a successful enterprise in the States, offers a unique perspective. For instance, while many reviews of the e-G8 were negative, I found it extremely useful. I suppose in large part this is because for me this was an over-the-top reunion where I got to see old friends from New York and San Francisco and meet new ones from Paris.

It was an the impressive setup (massive fully-furnished, wired and outfitted tents) in the Tuileries Garden. The an entire section of the sidewalk on rue de Rivoli was blocked off just for e-G8 participants. (Imagine blocking the West side of 5th Avenue's sidewalk from 34th Street to 42nd Street.) Then there was the fact that, according to Philippe Le Corre, Publicis Consultants Partner, who lead the organization of the conference, just 3 days before there was nothing--well, nothing save a gorgeous, historic garden created by a famed landscape architect (Le Notre).

SARKOZY'S SPEECH
The first morning, Tuesday, May 24th, there was a steady flow of reporters, press agents, CEO handlers and catering staff running to and fro. Eventually, everyone settled into the grand hall for Publicis Groupe Chairman & CEO and e-G8 Chairman Maurice Levy's welcoming remarks. Both Levy and Sarkozy spoke in French, which would seem to exclude a large number of attendees. However, French law dictates that for all official public speeches, French representatives must speak in French. Such is the love and respect for their language.

Comments about Sarkozy's speech ranged from "passionnante" (the French woman sitting next to me) to "pure rhetoric" (most everyone else). Some commented it seemed like they were hosting this conference so they can understand the Internet, so they can dominate and control it. I thought Sarko's speech was great. What kind of a statesman would a statesman be if he didn't lead off a conference that he created as his own personal marketing vehicle to demonstrate his interest and knowledge on a subject, days before another massive power mash-up, if he didn't have a speech full of passionate ideals?

I thought it was fascinating to watch Sarkozy speak. But perhaps that's because I can sit and listen to the French language, mesmerized, even if I'm not fully understanding it. Among the tidbits I gleaned, before getting the printed version to follow, were:

* This is a new form of civilization
* You've changed how the world looks at itself
* You've changed the relationship to space (not only by abolishing distance that separates man but it works a virtual world which is, by definition, without limits)
* You've changed the notion of time
* You've changed the the perception of History
* In several years you have shaken up the foundation of the economic world of which you are becoming the major actors
* You've changed the world.
* Something unique in History--this total revolution is immediate and irreparably global.
(Of course a French politician has to talk about REVOLUTION! :))
* Something unique in History--this revolution isn't attached to a person; there is not a flag or slogan; it is for the common good.
* Something unique in History--this revolution was made without violence.
* The discovery of the New World had lead to the annihilation of the American Indians.
* The world revolution that you have embodied, it is peaceful. It was not born on the fields of battle but on the university campuses.

He went on to talk about how this revolution has played a determinate role in other revolutions--from Tunisia to Egypt. Sarkozy continued with passion. Perhaps it was a speech related to a world in his own mind, or one that he's afraid of and wants to ultimately learn how to control, but either way--it was great entertainment.

Questions ranged from the Jasmine Revolution, Arab Spring, "internauts" (someone who knows how to use the internet) in Iran and privacy issues. My favorite was the (now famous) final comment from Jeff Jarvis of the City University of New York: "some say the Internet is the 8th continent; this discussion is wonderful; but I would like to ask the Government to take a Hippocratic Oath: 'Do No Harm!'" to which there was resounding applause by those who understood him.

OpenCoffeeClub klatch

2011-05-19T15:23:00.000-04:00

On May 19th, for just the second time in three years, I made my way over to the OpenCoffeeClub at Cafe Elgi on rue St. Marc. Every Thursday morning a group of technology entrepreneurs meet to unwind, catch up and listen to a member present their business or website.

I arrived just in time to chat with Alain Cavel, Founder & CEO of SocialMetry before the presentations began at 10:40 am. Then, Romain Lhez, Associate Director of MyEasyPet.com presented his website and recent developments, followed by Godefroy de Compreignac, co-founder & developer of Eklablog.com who brought us up to speed on his site.

Afterwards I met Paul Zuliani of Open Media Strategies, who slipped right into French with a Texas accent when he heard me introduce myself. (I guess my accent tipped him off.) English was Iva Pavlovicova (Inexence Group's General Director) first foreign language, in which she explained her luxury custom-made furniture business and other services she provides for Slovak businesses. We all chatted in a combination of French and English for a bit before we each went on to our next adventure of the day.

Each Thursday there is a different theme, and lots of interesting people. It's a nice change from the usual cocktail party--I will be heading back most definitely.

Cocktails with Courtney ~ Paris Debut : April 25

2011-05-11T14:51:00.000-04:00

It was a classic temperate Spring evening on Wednesday, April 25th for the “Cocktails with Courtney” ~ Paris debut. And, classically for this part of the world, the sun was still out when people began arriving at the Flute Bar and Lounge near the Arch de Triompe. As I prepared the room and ordered some pink champagne for guests, several had already arrived: Erzsi Deak, a writer, literary scout & editorial consultant whom I met through Josh Freeman (Director of Interactive Services at Columbia University) and her friends author & illustrator Jeanne de Sainte Marie and Sarah Towle (Time Traveler Tours).

Upstairs in the open lounge (with a large space for the chandelier) was Rozenn Milin who is the director of Sorosoro, an affiliate of the Chirac Foundation, which works to preserve disappearing languages by filming and recording remaining speakers around the world and her friend Aline Rutily.

Next to arrive was the dashing Francois Mouclier (Canal-Luxe.org VP) and his lovely wife Catherine Le Yaouanc who is the GM of the Franco-British Chamber of Commerce & Industry. Francois has a history of being in the fashion world—his father is Jacques Mouclier who was President of Chambre Syndical D'Haute Couture. Catherine is apparently the only woman head of a Chamber of Commerce at this level making this power couple gracious and engaging as we began introducing ourselves.

My cousin (and photographer) Hillary Goidell popped in looking as lithe as ever (she also had a baby shortly after I did) and we spoke with attorney Stanley Gehy (who also has a recycling business in Haiti) about children’s bi-lingual language acquisition.

The dynamic Nathalie Ohana (OMGmother.com) arrived with a great gaggle of good-looking geeks—all entrepreneurs who are working in the web and developing cool sites. These were: Margaux Derhy (La Petit Etoile.net) who writes business plans and business development for companies and Hélène Duthilleul and Karine Sabolovic (MadamePopandKids.com) which transforms your child’s drawings into real art (on a canvas, a pillow and more! Nathalie facilitated many introductions, easy for her as her whole business is about creating a network—that is a trusted network of friends for your child. These trusted friends become OMGparents...so your child can have more than just one set of God-parents. They can have “OMGParents” for all those “oh my God” moments in your child’s life!

Then the dudes arrived with their classic French casual charm-- Raphael Vannier and Ygal Sananes of (seventyone-percent.com) who’ve created a line of super slick sunscreen for surfers after seeing a gap in the market for this demographic. Emmanuel Cassimatis could be considered a “vrai” serial entrepreneur already—he’s founded Goodwizz, a global social meeting network that helps people go beyond that first contact and previously co-founded an energy company, EGG-energy and founded an NGO Paper for All. And Mr. Urban Linker himself, that's Jonathan Azoulay, stopped by--he's the one to know if you want to recruit someone in Information Technology.

I had a chance to chat with Philip Yook, a lawyer who’s spending some time traveling and enjoying what life has to offer around the world and Karen Hunt, who just started with Kobojo which creates social games for Facebook or iPhone (and just raised $7.7 million).

Flutes of pink champagne were sipped, tea sandwiches were nibbled on as this nice mix of young entrepreneurs, artists and business-minded creators had a chance to meet each other in this first intimate, convivial and special “Cocktails with Courtney.” Sponsored by Recursion Ventures, which develops solutions for the world’s most critical systems, making them more secure and valuable as a result, I can say the buzz from this first event will build. I can feel it. And this month (May 25th) we’re smack dab in the middle of the eG8 forum. Stay tuned for some titillating exposure of the Parisian Cyber Scene!