The startup ecosystem
Maxime Pico
Startup guide and STARTUP42 Managing Director
maxime@startup42.org — @maximepico

startups everywhere
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« Software is eating the world »
— Marc Andreessen

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comments
- Stating the obvious
- A trend that was already
indicated by the 2000 bubble
- An incredible pace! From room-
sized computers to super
computers in our pockets to… ???

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sources
- Why Software is Eating the
world, Marc Andreessen, WSJ
- Moore’s Law, Wikipedia

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Mind = Blown

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comments
- Incredible innovations are to
come! If one wants to look into
the future, one should dig into:
Blockchain, NBIC, Virtual
Reality, Augmented Reality…

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sources
- NBIC = Nanotechnologies, Biotechnologies,
Information technology and Cognitive
Sciences (wiki)
- Blockchain: Forget Bitcoin — What Is the
Blockchain and Why Should You Care?,
ReCode
- THE RISE AND FALL AND RISE OF VIRTUAL
REALITY, The Verge
- How Augmented Reality will change sports
… And build empathy, Ted Talk

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The “I’m a startupper” starter
pack

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comments
- Bootstrapping (starting without significant fundings) a
startup is easier than ever!
- Entrepreneurs have access to many services cheaper and
“as a device”: internet as distribution (ex: Amazon),
huge communities online = easy marketing, building
websites get easier everyday…
Even with biotech and hardware company it’s easier thanks
to fablabs and biohackerspaces!
- Initial fundings can take new forms with crowdfunding and
subsidies
- This goes really far into non-digital worlds with
examples like AirBnB selling more nights than any hotel
without ever building a single hotel and Uber moving more
people than any Taxi company without owning any cab!

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sources
- Why It's Easier Than Ever To Be
An Entrepreneur, Business
Insider

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wait, what is a startup?
« A startup is an organisation
formed to search for a repeatable
and scalable business model »
— Steve Blank

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comments
- We will dig into this definition
that is the most accepted in the
startup world but another one is
commonly accepted: “a startup is
a company designed to grow fast,
typically 2,5% to 5% WoW” Paul
Graham

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sources
- Steve Blank, wiki
- What’s A Startup? First
Principles. steveblank.com
- Paul Graham, wiki
- Startup = Growth, paulgraham.com

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wait, what is a startup?
« A startup is an organisation
formed to search for a repeatable
and scalable business model »
— Steve Blank

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comments
- A business model is the strategy
of a company to make money flow
between different entities a
given point in time
- It can be represented in a
business model canvas
- It shouldn’t be mistaken with a
business plan

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wait, what is a startup?
« A startup is an organisation
formed to search for a repeatable
and scalable business model »
— Steve Blank

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comments
- Repeatable means it’s identified
and can be theoretically
repeated by a competitor and by
yourself over time
- Scalable means margins are
getting higher with the number
of customers

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Lean Canvas

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comments
- Thinking with a Business Model
Canvas can be hard in the
beginning of a venture, Lean
Canvases are easier and more
flexible in really early-stage

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CDO
Growth Hacker
Head of Digital Marketing
Open Innovation Director
Head of Digital
CIO Digital
Startup Ecosystem Manager

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comments
- things are moving really fast
and a lot of new jobs are
created as startups evolve

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however…
STARTUPS ARE HARD

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comments
- Always remember this
- Not many reach 1b$ valuation or
even 100m$ valuation, it happens
really rarely! It’s so unlikely
that we call them unicorns or
centaurs!
- If it’s really rare it’s for a
reason: you’ll have to do things no
one wants to do = hard things

the ecosystem
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VCs
IncubatorsAccelerators
Makerspaces
Co-working
Grants
BAs Contests

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comments
- BA = Business Angel
- VC = Venture Capitalists
- Makerspaces = Fablabs,
Hackerspaces and Biohackerspaces

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comments
- They all help startups to reach
success one way or another

wait, what is success?
???
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comments
- I mean, who defines what is
success in the first place??
- It is/should be the founders
themselves! (eg. Zuckerberg
saying he wants to connect the
whole world)
- But common definitions of
startup success are:

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success?
Predictable Growth
Raising funds at increasing
valuations
Being Acquired
Going Public

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comments
- Notice how most of them are
linked to a liquidity event
- Liquidity events are moments
when investors (among others)
can get their money back
- Why that correlation?

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sources
- What is a Liquidity Event?, wise
geek

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failure?
no obvious differentiator
no IP or barriers
no founder diversity
not a sexy market
no ability to go international

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comments
- Failure is obviously when the
company stops
- But some signs can help predict
futur failure
- Of course, no one can predict
the futur and successful
startups are always anomalies

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want to help?
mindset
network
money
flexibility

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comments
- Bring one of these without
slowing down the startup and
you’ll already help

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VCs
VC =
money + network + mindset

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comments
- A VC firm is company collecting
funds and investing them on
startups hoping for a medium
term really high return
- But good VCs bring much more
than money! And you should
really look for that

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$
time
t t+3y t+6y

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comments
- VCs expect a startup’s valuation to grow over time, typically
x20 in 5-8 years
- Ways to estimate a valuation depend on how mature the startup
is, but just think of it as a multiple of the amount of money
that will be generated during the 3 next years
- This is roughly what the air under the curve represents (in
blue or grey)
- When the VCs invest at time t, from the past growth of the
startup they project the future growth. If this growth is
exponential, then the air under the curve should grow
exponentially and the valuation with it
- They take the risk to believe in it and support it at time t
- When a startup has little to no past growth, the valuation is
more a game of negotiation and standards (x$ for y% in this
industry)

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sources
- Andreessen Horowitz (a16z)
- Accel Partners
- Sequoia Capital
- Partech Ventures
- ISAI
- Kima Ventures
- Boris Golden’s presentation

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BAs
BA =
money + network + mindset

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comments
- Business Angels are individuals investing their
own money
- They generally invest earlier than VCs
- Some typical names are: Paul Graham, Paypal Mafia
(Peter Thiel, Elon Musk, Hoffman Linkedin, Andrew
Chen, David Sacks…), Dave Mc Clure, Chris Sacca
in the US
Xavier Niel, Jeremie Berrebi, Marc Simoncini,
Jacques-Antoine Granjon, PKM in France
- Sometimes they invest in groups

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sources
- Paypal Mafia (Thiel Palantir, Musk, Hoffman
Linkedin, Chen Youtube, Sacks Yammer…), wiki
- Dave McClure, wiki
- Portrait de Kima Ventures, le business angel
hyperactif (Niel + Berrebi), capital
- Marc Simoncini, wiki
- Jacques-Antoine Granjon, wiki
- Pierre Kosciusko-Morizet, wiki
- Paris Business Angels (PBA)
- #Startups : Découvrez le classement des 30
Business Angels les plus actifs de France,
Maddyness

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incubators
Incubators =
network + flexibility

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comments
- Incubators can be traced back to 1959 with
the Batavia Industrial Center
- Incubators were always built to fight
unemployment/sustain the country’s growth
- Startups can stay for 1 to 2 years at
incubators, come when they want and rent a
space. Incubators create an ecosystem around
them (lawyers, accountants, events…)
- French examples include: Incubateur ville de
paris, creative valley, le cargo, agoranov
etc.

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sources
- Incubators of the world, book on Amazon
- Paris&Co
- Creative Valley
- L'inauguration très politique du nouvel
incubateur parisien Le Cargo
- Agoranov

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accelerators
Accelerators =
Network + Flexibility +
Money + Mindset

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comments
- Y Combinator was the first accelerator in
2005
- Accelerators typically have 3 to 6 months
programs where startups apply and are
selected. Accelerators then provide a space,
some education, and investment against equity
- Some examples in the US: Y Combinator, Tech
Stars, 500 startups, The Alchemist, HAX,
IndieBio
- Some examples in France: Startup42, Numa
Sprint, 50 Partners, l’accélérateur…

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sources
- Y Combinator
- Tech Stars
- 500 startups
- The Alchemist
- HAX
- IndieBio
- Startup42
- Numa Sprint
- 50 Partners
- l’accélérateur
- Accel corporate (Orange Fab, TechStarsMetro…)

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SLP
Melcion Chassagne & CieeFounders
Google Ventures
AngelList
Makesense
The Family Rocket Internet

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comments
- Other types of organisations
helping or creating startups
exist
- They all provide at least one of
the four elements of the
equation

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sources
- The Family
- Startup Leadership Program (SLP)
- Startup studio = eFounders & Rocket
Internet
- MakeSense
- Melcion Chassagne & Cie
- Google Ventures
- Connecting platforms = AngelList, f6s
etc.

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in general…
« During the Gold Rush, most would-be
miners lost money, but people who sold
them picks, shovels, tents and blue-jeans
(Levi Strauss) made a nice profit. »
— Peter Lynch

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comments
- Right now is the gold rush as
startups are sexy
- History will tell who survives
once less startups exist

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contests and venues
Tech Crunch Disrupt
Slush
DLD Tel Aviv
Pirate Summit
LAUNCH
Mobile World Congress
etc.

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comments
- Big events are nice for education
- In my opinion it’s rarely good
for startups though…
- Rule of thumb: know exactly how
it will help your business when
going to an event (visibility
among the startup ecosystem is
rarely helping the business…)

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sources
- Tech Crunch Disrupt
- Slush
- DLD Tel Aviv
- Pirate Summit
- LAUNCH
- Mobile World Congress
- Futur en Seine
- Viva tech
- Start In Paris
- Hackathons, wiki

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makerspaces
Hackerspaces
Fablabs
Biohackerspaces

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comments
- These place are putting tools and
ressources in common so that
entrepreneurs can start more easily
the prototyping phase
- Hackerspaces are for Software
startups
- Fablabs are for hardware startups
- Biohackerspaces are for biotech
startups

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comments
- This map can be found on Makery
- There are roughly 40 makerspaces in
the Paris region, if you want to
explore them MakerBox can be a nice
way
- Fablabs are “split” into two
“groups” the Mitch Altman school and
the Neil Gershenfeld MIT Fab
Foundation school

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sources
- World map of labs, Makery
- Biocurious
- Noisebridge
- NYC Resistor
- TechShop
- Mitch Altman, wiki
- Fab12 (Shenzen) event
- Neil Gershenfeld, wiki
- MIT Fab Foundation
- /tmp/lab
- Le loop
- Artlab
- Electrolab
- UsineIO
- fabclub
- maker/seine
- ICI Montreuil

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subsidies and co
Subventions
Avances remboursables
Prix
Prêts à taux 0
Bourses
etc.

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comments
- These are good, but they take A LOT
of time! And while you’re doing that
you’re not developing your business
which is the only reason why you
breath
- Paid services can help you to build
the applications
- Often founders hide from hard things
as long as they have “free money”…

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sources
- AIMA
- Scientipole
- Bourse French Tech
- i-lab
- PIA
- Ensemble des dispositifs BPI

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Y Combinator
3 months
7% 120k$
+107 startups

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comments
- Founded in 2005 by Paul Graham
- They are the first accelerator, both
historically and in terms of success
- 80b$ cumulated valuation over the
800 startups accelerated so far
- AirBnB, Stripe, Dropbox
Docker, Algolia, Motion Lead,
Pulpix, AfroStream were all
accelerated by YC

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Y Combinator
Make something people want
Do things that don’t scale
10% WoW

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comments
- The mindset conveyed by Y Combinator
is really key!
- You can look up their blogs,
channels and other ressources they
share online to understand it
- WoW = week on week

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sources
- Paul Graham, blog
- Y Combinator, blog
- The Macro, blog
- How To Start A Startup, Youtube
Channel
- Be good, essay by Paul Graham
- Do things that don’t scale, essay by
Paul Graham
- Startup = Growth, essay by Paul Graham

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Startup42
4 months
0% 0€
7 startups

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comments
- We are an early-stage tech startup accelerator
- Our program is pro-entrepreneurs and we lower
the entry barriers by taking 0 equity and
putting 0 fees
- We are focusing on quality not quantity,
creating real bonds between the startups and
the network we bring!
- We accelerated 43 startups so far, they raise
+6,5M€ in private equity, created +200 jobs,
generated 4 exits, and two went to Y Combinator
after SU42

ressources
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books

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books

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books

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books

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comments
- Books are critical don’t
underestimate them!
- I personally think Lean Startup
and Lean Analytics are must
reads!
- Clicking on the covers send you
to Amazon

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blogs
Paul Graham
Y Combinator Posthaven
Ash Maurya
Andrew Chen
Steve Blank
Neil Patel

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podcasts
StartUp Podcast
a16z
Traction
Mixergy
Product Hunt

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videos
How to Start a Startup
Google Ventures
Startup Foundation
This Week In Startups
Pioneers, Le Web, Slush…

faq
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I’m looking for a
CTO, do you know one?

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comments
- Learn How to Code. Seriously.
- Don’t search for the skills first,
search for a passion for the mission
and then enrol if they have the
skills (eg. your startup is about
music, meet people on music forums
and maybe you’ll find a dev)
- Be creative, go as far as you can
without the CTO!

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I want to raise
money, how do I do?

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comments
- It’s not so much about wether you want
or not but wether it’s the time to
raise or not
- The best time is basically when you
begin to find a scalable business
model, anytime before will be super
hard!
- Initiate relationships, with partners
way before you want to raise! Ask them
tips

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Should there be a
CEO?

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comments
- Yes.
- Read this article I wrote

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Where should I
start?

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comments
- If you have the opportunity to choose
the location where you start your
startup, think in terms of markets and
partners: where can I make it the most
easy to build relationships?
- For instance Silicon Valley might be
awesome to start something linked to
Social Networks but would suck to start
something with music

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How to have a great
idea?

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comments
- Work in a startup that is scaling
(typically just raised a series A -> 1M
€ or more). You’ll get the mindset, the
knowledge and the cofounders for almost
certain. Maybe even a good problem/idea
to start with
- Be at the edge of one worlds/
technologies. If you are at the edge of
two worlds, connect them

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I don’t get any
traction, why?

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comments
- Talk to your customers. For real.
Face to face. Where are they?
What do they like? What do they
use? Do they have the problem
you’re trying to solve?
- You probably don’t know them well
enough

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How much should I give
to my new cofounder?

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comments
- Project yourself in five years in
both scenarii: when he is there
and when he is not. What is the
difference in term of value?
- You have to both agree on the
final decision. With all your
heart
- Use vesting mechanisms

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BONUS:
95 Advice by Sam Altman
Startup42’s manifesto

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Maxime Pico
06 62 66 71 34
maxime@startup42.org
@maximepico
www.startup42.org