Thursday, October 27, 2011

3 Startup's New Offices

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

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.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Cocktails with Courtney ~ October 26

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.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Réseau Entreprendre

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/