Both students from Bowdoin and from Toulouse seem to have good connotations of start-up companies. Both use words such as “innovative” and “entrepreneur.” Are start-up companies something that are encouraged in France? Are they worth the risk and do any of you want to start one?

Both students from Bowdoin and from Toulouse seem to have good connotations of start-up companies. Both use words such as “innovative” and “entrepreneur.” Are start-up companies something that are encouraged in France? Are they worth the risk and do any of you want to start one?

Salut Sarah, je ne pense pas qu’en France lancer une start-up soit vraiment encouragé, en fait je n’ai encore rencontré personne qui veut lancer sa propre société. Je pense que démarrer une entreprise ici c’est beaucoup de galères, de papiers, et de taxes, enfin c’est ce qu’on entend. Après je ne sais pas comment c’est aux Etats-unis donc je ne peux pas comparer. Mais ça vaut surement le coup puisqu’il existe pleins de start-up qui ont réussis en France.
Du coup je me demande si chez vous certains font des études dans le but de lancer une start-up, est-ce que c’est le cas? Et est ce que la start-up actuellement aux Etats-Unis est toujours une sorte de rêve américain?

To answer Jérémy T’s question, I think that start-ups are a mix of middle-aged and younger people. While there are definitely many young people who come up with great ideas for start-ups in America, these young companies need funding. They often reach out to older, successful businessmen and businesswomen to ask for money and their expertise. This is why the successful companies often have younger, motivated people pushing their ideas and older, more experienced business executives who have already guided companies to success. In the United States, Computer Science as a college major is taking off in popularity. Is Computer Science becoming more popular in France? What would you say is the most popular college major in France?

Students from Bowdoin seem to have more enterprise opportunities in Silicon Valley and San Francisco. Also, they seem to be interested in NGOs and internships. Do students in Toulouse popularly go for internships? Are the major business enterprises confined to a particular major city or state?

I noticed that Toulouse students used the word “entreprise” more than “entrepreneur.” I’m curious as to why their focus is more on business than the individual–perhaps they see starting a business as a group effort rather than an individual’s perseverance.

On the Toulouse list, there is much mention of being young when talking about start-ups. Is this because it is more difficult to start a company after a certain age or because of the media’s portrayal of entrepreneurs of start-ups being newly graduates? In any case, both lists mention Silicon Valley. Silicon Valley is indeed a home to many start-ups, but I would argue it is mostly centered around technology-based innovations. Start-ups can range from the clothing market to the restaurant business, therefore I would ask again, why do we have a certain picture of entrepreneurs? I believe that the picture that the media portrays is not representative of the wide array of business leaders that world has.

In response to tiny rick’s question, establishing a “start-up” and founding one’s own business—acting as boss and leader over one’s own self and prospects—is often imagined as following in the path of the true American Dream. Many students in the United States commonly specialize in a business-related major in college and beyond, hoping to one day become involved in such entrepreneurial behavior. Particularly because of such grand advancements of technology, creating a business through a phone application or via the Internet has really never been easier. Of course, what with so many opportunities, people often join others in a shared vision for success or in a search for reform. Needless to say, the level of diverse and novel pathways to achievement today are expanding in shocking, exciting, strange ways.

To add to ccapello, I believe why a large number of start up companies oftentimes come about from younger entrepreneurs has to do with generational influence. The “fresher” a generation is, the more seemingly that the people of said generation will have new ideas, which may initially seem strange or extravagant to older generations. These extravagant ideas through time become the norm. Because many of our societies are very technologically dependent, I believe we will begin to see a lot of new start-ups or inventions by people who grew up around this rapid raise of technology, as they are/ will be more accustomed to it and may end up fostering ideas which will also initially be thought of as more “out there” and extravagant.

To answer Jérémy T’s question,

I believe that the term “start-up” usually brings to mind images of young entrepreneurs. In reality, the term is no different than any entrepreneurial endeavor to start a business. People and companies alike, most of whom are not “young,” constantly create new markets. Therefore, I think it is just the term in particular that resonates with the images of youth embarking on courageous forms of business that exists.