Altaide Valley

(FR) Petite revue du GeekTrip sur LCI

Plein Ecran S05E13
Video
Envoyé par LCIWAT sur wat.tv

Cédric Ingrand a filmé l'équipe du GeekTrip pendant une journée... Pour vous donner une idée du contexte!

Mobile can be smart and useful: check Dial2Do

I discovered Dial2to at Microsoft Launch 08 Conference in Montain View.

Dial2Do lets you do common tasks by just calling a number and speaking. Use it to send EMAIL or TEXT messages, record REMINDERS to help you remember things, post updates to your TWITTER or JAIKU stream and LISTEN to your favourite internet content. It’s easy and handsfree. A voice to text machine!

I received some news from them recently regarding new features:

• Some cool new commands - you can now post *and* listen to your email, calendar, twitter, friendfeed, blogs, evernote, i want sandy, mosio and more                         
• Some fun, simple content to listen to: Huffington Post, TechCrunch, New York Times, Yahoo Finance, etc. And if you really must, Perez Hilton!                         
• Roll-your-own commands: if you don’t like what we’ve provided - make your own! You can now make your own commands in Dial2Do and have something happen - post to a URL, send an email or read you some RSS content                         
• An improved layout to assist your navigation around the site

I asked few questions to Ivan MacDonald, CEO few days before last Mobile2.0 Conference in San Francisco...

So just to give a good example on what a great mobile application could be, some simple questions:

- What is Dial2do? 

Dial2Do is a phone-service for drivers. It lets you get things done safely and conveniently by just using your voice. You can send Text Messages, Send and Listen to Email, Create Reminders, Update your Twitter stream and use a range of other services by just calling a number and saying what you want to do.

- Could you tell us few words regarding Dial2Do background? What's the story behind the product? 

Well we looked at where people spend so much of their time - in the car. Over 80% of Americans commute to work.  I myself drive every day and of course some of my brightest ideas for things I should do come to me during this time :)  Without Dial2Do, this time is typically spent listening to the radio or maybe making phone calls. But that's about it.  So many ideas for things you should do come to you during that time, but you can't act on those ideas, especially with the increasing Hands-free safety legislation in the US and elsewhere.  So we wanted to make a service that would be kind of like the 'drivers assistant' a number you phone when you want to get something done.  It might be something simple, like creating a little reminder for a thought that just came into your head, or you might want to listen to your email to check for a particular message from someone, or add an event to your calendar.   We wanted to offer "One number to get things done."

- What is your vision of mobile space and how being successful in it! Is profitability a reachable target? 

Great new interfaces and 3G are finally making mobile a reality for data driven services.  Of course they don't really help during the time you are driving for 40-90 minutes per day. So we think that Voice activation has a huge future.  In fact users expectations that they can get things done while mobile, increases the opportunity to voice activate the services they use the most.  And of course the jury is still out on what kindof business models users like for mobile services.  We don't think there is a 'one size' fits all in the great debate about flat-rate subscriptions -v- pay as you use -v- advertising but we do think that if you create a compelling service that people use/call several times a day you can monetize it profitably.

- We met in Silicon Valley the first time. You come regularly. Are you looking for things you don't have in Europe and why?!

Well about 75% of our users are in the US right now and we have focused there which is maybe unusual for a startup from Ireland.  But the US is a good opportunity for us, Hands-free legislation has really just started to kick in in California and elsewhere just this year, so our offering is being received well by users.  Also, so many of the companies who are partnering with are in Silicon Valley, so it makes sense for us to be there.

There's some additional ideas around that product. My 10 cents (let's be optimistic).

GeekTrip#2: Day-1. A new story of 10 European entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley!

We're almost gone!

(FR) G1 tested by Guillaume Dumortier

Guillaume works in San Jose (California) for Bouygues Telecom US. He made this video to demonstrate the Google phone and give his first feeling...
The video is in French...

Paul Graham is speaking: "Why to Start a Startup in a Bad Economy"

Image via CrunchBase

I'm not supposed here to pick up any content I found on Internet, but more give feedback from my entrepreneur experience with Altaide Valley.
But to me Paul Graham is definitely someone we have to follow very closely, mostly if you ran a startup or you've got a project to start.

So please read his last post...

"The economic situation is apparently so grim that some experts fear we may be in for a stretch as bad as the mid seventies.

When Microsoft and Apple were founded.

As those examples suggest, a recession may not be such a bad time to start a startup.  I'm not claiming it's a particularly good time either.  The truth is more boring: the state of the economy doesn't matter much either way..."

Read full article here.

Mybooo.com still on the Road in Silicon Valley

Mybooo.com is still pursuing its roadshow in Silicon Valley...

Guys have been chosen by UnderTheRadar conference Team to be one of the 24 mobile startups to present at Microsoft offices in Mountain View, November 12th 2008.

Under the Radar: Mobility is a one-day conference uncovering 32 vetted, test-driven startups that have launched within the year in categories such as iPhone apps, location-based services, gaming, social networking, enabling technologies, and marketing/advertising.
Under The Radar is organizing really well reputed conference, so it's a very exciting spot for the team!

"MyBooo wants to free you from your laptop"... That's LindaGreen's conclusion from her perception of this mobile desktop. If you wanna test the service, contact me and I'll be very happy to bring you an activating key!

Box.net now lunching its french version: a US startup expanding in France!

Box.net, a San Jose based startup, has recently announced the release of its new French version.
The three main uses of Box.net are to backup, share and access files from anywhere.
The company started to run in 2005, have now 500 BtoB clients (having each an average of 3to 10 user, a few have some hundreds)...
Box.net is a very good example of a pure startup, creating a new service, meeting then Google as main competitor, and on its way now to expand internationally...
I asked few questions to Alexandre Scialom, Stategic Marketing at Box.net...

- Could you tell us few words regarding Box.net international strategy? Can you give us some metrics?

Box.net is an online file storage and collaboration platform. It allows our 2.1 million registered users to put any kind of files (whether they are word documents, spreadsheets, presentations, pictures, videos) online "in the cloud"... They can then access their content from any computer or cell-phone, share it with specific people, and collaborate at work, school or home. Thanks to over 20 OpenBox Services, Box users also have access to an extensive set of specific functionality provided by our partners' services. For instance, they can edit documents and spreadsheet hosted on Box with Zoho, send fax with eFax, edit pictures with Picnik, send documents to Twitter, and more.

We manage more than 100 million files and serve 1 million files from our servers every day. In 2005, Box.net started as a consumer product and we learned how to design simple and efficient applications that anyone can use. Since the end of 2006, we also propose an offer specifically tailored for enterprises. We now have more than 500 Box Enterprise clients, a majority of them having between 3 and 10 users, and some of them up-to several thousand users.

Our service is currently used in more than 200 countries. We're going to use what we've learned through our experience in the US to accelerate the development of Box.net internationally. For instance, our affiliate program and our Box Enterprise reseller program will be made available to businesses who wish to distribute our application abroad. We're also talking to local internet actors to expand our base of partners that already encompasses companies such as Dell, Facebook, or Netvibes.

- Did the fact Google recently came in your market as direct competitor accelerate your international expansion?

Competition is very aggressive in the online storage market. New start-ups are created every month even though we recently saw Omnidrive, XDrive, and Mediamax, 3 companies that pioneered the industry, close their services. Microsoft recently entered the game too, but as far as I know Google doesn't offer an online storage service so far... Anyhow, we don't really intend to wait for them and we know we have to expand our business as fast as possible. Going international will help us towards that goal.

- Why choosing France as first localization? What are your objectives?

French-speaking users have been very actively asking us to translate the site in their language. Many of them also proposed to help us translate the site, and it was natural for us to fill their need. Today we have over 80,000 users in France, some of them using Box.net in the biggest French companies in the engineering, financial services, telecom, fashion, or advertising companies. Our goal is to make sure we put the right marketing and business development effort to continue extend our reach on the French market.

Thank you Alex, and all the best to Box.net in France and everywhere else!
Box.net and Dell has signed recently an online and storage collaboration deal: more here...

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If you can't meet Guy Kawasaki, read him!

Image by Laughing Squid via Flickr

Guy Kawasaki is a very well known hi-tech evangelist, mostly due to his work at Apple where he worked in 80's then 2 years in 90's. He has written some books, and he's doing seventy five speeches a year, he's Managing Director of  Garage Technology Ventures (a venture capital firm which specializes in high-technology start-up firms located in Silicon Valley) as well as co-founder of Nononina, the company that created the Truemors and Alltop websites.

I did not have the chance to meet him for real yet... surely best way would be to walk through University Avenue and see him by chance for a 5 minutes coffee!
What makes me really impressed and interested by Guy's work and talks is simplicity...

Listen to one video you can find on his blog:

Now for entrepreneurs, Alltop is aggregating two interesting themas... just click on the one you prefer!

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Mobile 2.0 in San Francisco: Startup registration!

The Mobile 2.0 conference organized next month in San Francisco Monday November 3rd 2008 provides a platform for pre-A round and A round start-ups focusing on mobile applications & services looking for funding and trade press, tech blogger and early-adopter attention.

The only thing entrepreneurs in mobile have to do is fill-in the registration below to apply to present at the Mobile 2.0 Launch Pad at Mobile 2.0 Event - any start-up with a mobile service or application can apply.

Entering the start-up selection costs $249.00. If your company is not selected you can apply your payment to the Mobile 2.0 registration fee.

Deadline for submission is October 17, 2008 at midnight PST.

The selected startups will get to present at the Mobile 2.0 launchpad and will also be invited to participate in the -invitation only- investor breakfast.

Part of the team organizing the event is well known in mobile space, like Rudy De Waele or Daniel Appelquist.
See you next month in San Francisco then!

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Announcing Startup Ignite at Web 2.0 Europe!

Are you a hot technology startup? Are you in Europe? Do you have a new announcement you want to share with the Web community? On the first night of Web 2.0 Expo Europe we will highlight six companies on the main stage, presented in front of an audience of industry peers, media and VCs. The format is simple, five minutes on stage and a maximum of 15 slides. No demos. Videos are allowed.

Date & Time: Tuesday, October 21, 17:15 – 18:00
Submissions Deadline: Friday, October 10
Submissions Form: https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?key=pGj9uVDQ6OGMO4pja5WCsFQ&hl=en

A committee of esteemed industry judges will be reviewing submissions:

• Brady Forrest, Web 2.0 Expo Europe conference co-chair & O’Reilly Radar
• Lukasz Gadowski, Spreadshirt
• Mike Butcher, TechCrunch UK
• Christophe Maire, gate5 & Plazes

Companies DO NOT have to be launching but company, product or project announcements MUST BE new. Words of advice: aim to present something that is interesting but also entertaining!

I'm more than happy to encourage any entrepreneurs who will attend Web2.0 Europe and whom startup is corresponding to criteria to register this specific Ignite.
I'm organising Ignite events in Paris, and this is a really great space to give all the best from your ideas, your vision, your passion... No need for dozens of slides, boring bullet points, hours of blablablas: just the best, just the simple...

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Startups: go for LeWeb'08 competition! Plus a Birthday to remind...

Geraldine and Loic Le Meur have announced LeWeb'08 program you can see more in details here.

They have once again this year included a startup competition in partnership with Seedcamp.
The competition is opened to 30 startups, applying is free of charge. They will accept startup applications until October 20, 2008.

I have only one thing to tell: go for it!
Oyez entrepreneurs! LeWeb'08 is one of the greatest moment in Europe to validate your pitch, compare your business and vision to others and get all the benefits from the coverage of this great event!

By the way, meet us there, we are proud partners!

Of course this is not a final process, neither having the chance to get few words from your company on TechCrunch.
But it takes part to give you a ROI (Return on Information...) which is to be seriously considered. And helps you to take some time for review, strategic thoughts (once again but it's good to have a break on operations)... Then it can take part to your company consolidation, until you realize it's 5 years birthday of it, like for Mobissimo... happy birthday and congrats for that, Beatrice Tarka, CEO of this travel search engine based in San Francisco (available in 5 languages)!

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(FR) GeekTrip#2: offrez vous la Silicon Valley et soyez prêts pour Le Web 08 !

Altaide Valley propose un voyage d'études dans la Silicon Valley du 15 au 22 Novembre ouvert à une dizaine d'entrepreneurs pour être bien paré à vivre un Le Web 08 pleins d'opportunités !

L'objectif est triple :
- rencontrer les gros acteurs de la Valley, discuter avec ses représentants, sentir les tendances et les enjeux (sans sortir vos NDA...)
- échanger avec des entrepreneurs Français qui ont leur entreprise dans la Valley, quelles sont les différences avec l'Europe, quels enseignements en tirer pour vos propres projets
- s'enrichir en une intense semaine par les feedbacks de vos collègues de la semaine, les réponses aux questions que vous vous posez, toutes les questions !
En clair, revenir avec une vraie valeur et le fameux business spirit de la Valley ! L'assurance de voir du monde, c'est clair (et des entrepreneurs de toutes nationalités, c'est aussi ça la Valley)

La formule GeekTrip est un modèle rodé :
- au moins 3 RDV par jour, de San Francisco à Palo Alto (pourquoi pas San Jose !)
- on loge en binôme (dans un hôtel standing GeekTrip, donc du Wifi sûr, le luxe non), ça permet d'être tout le temps dans le bain, et on peut continuer de parler business même en rêvant !
- déplacement en voitures (2 au total), flexibilité et respect des horaires assurés !
- on prolonge l'expérience de la journée par des diners ABAP (as business as possible)

Nombre de places : 8 ou 14 selon le succès des réservations (déjà 3 ou 4) !  Profils attendus : entrepreneurs de start-ups !
Pour en savoir plus sur l'organisation, le programme et le budget (oui c'est payant !) contactez Phil Jeudy : phil.jeudy@altaide.com

(FR) Altaide Valley, les start-ups Françaises et la Silicon Valley

J'ai répondu à quelques questions posées par Jérôme Bouteiller pour Neteco...

JB - Phillipe Jeudy bonjour, Quelle est l'ambition de Altaide Valley ? Que proposez vous concrètement à vos clients ?

Philippe Jeudy

PJ - L'ambition d'Altaide Valley est double : tout d'abord être un acteur reconnu pour sa capacité à accompagner les startups Françaises (et pour certaines Européennes) à s'exporter dans la Silicon Valley, mais également d'être identifié par les startups américaines comme une référence pour les aider à constituer leur équipe lors de leur implantation en Europe et en France en particulier.

Pour le premier volet, nous proposons un accompagnement adapté et personalisé, avec une implication qui varie selon les besoins de la startups (études, création, recrutement, représentation commerciale). Pour le second, nous nous appuyons sur l'expertise d'Altaide en terme de recrutement dans le domaine des startups et de la High Tech (presque 10 années d'existence aujourd'hui).

Lire la suite sur Neteco

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(FR) 7 conseils pour réussir un voyage d'étude dans la Silicon Valley : le GeekTrip

J'ai eu l'occasion d'organiser un GeekTripSFO#1 (comprenant Matthieu Delgrange, Christophe Ducamp, Raphaël Arbuz, François-Xavier Tanguy, Olivier Seres, Frédéric Dumeny, Henri Kaufman,  PPC) en Mars dernier.

Les incontournables Pierre-Philippe et Henri ont récemment consacré un HowTo - les Clefs du Succès très spécial avec 7 conseils pour réussir un voyages d'étude dans la Silicon Valley :

Ce voyage d'études a été un vrai plaisir à organiser, à vivre, mais n'a pas été une simple visite de courtoisie (et cela n'est pas aussi simple qu'on peut le penser!). Cela a été pour la plupart une étape dans leurs projets d'entrepreneurs, une familiarisation à l'écosystème de la Silicon Valley qui éclaire une vision ou des ambitions.

Vous pouvez trouver quelques petites notes prises ici et là :

- sur le blog de Pierre-Philippe,

- sur le blog d'Henri, aussi là, et pour le suivi de la semaine une causerie autour d'OpenID et du Web sémantique, du Web social avec Google, d'Open Social, petit programme du jeudi, du mercredi, du mardi, et du lundi !

- sur le blog d'Olivier (ici l'épisode 2 et la conclusion)

Le programme complet était le suivant :

Il n'est pas dit que l'année se terminera sans un... GeekTrip#2?!

Meet Mybooo.com in Silicon Valley!

Mybooo.com is one of our customer. It's a virtual desktop, developed for 2 years now by Cyril Attia and Jeremy Dahan.

Here Jeremy during a demo at Velocity 2008

A lot of companies tried to develop this kind of solution, and there are surely still some ventures working now on that topic somewhere in Silicon Valley. Google docs, Box.net, MobileMe are mentioned sometimes in meetings, but none of it hit each specificity of Mybooo.com characteristics.

Here Cyril preparing a demo during CloudCamp in Microsoft SF offices

The platform, developed with PHP and Ajax, is now in Beta version.

It's a real accessible desktop from every PC with Internet access where you can store, share, double sync: documents (Zoho technology), agenda, contact. There is an online application you can use too, and open any social network application for example from this desktop. Mobile is a potential platform that can be used to access from data located on your Master PC... in fact any device with Internet access (PSP, what else!).

Soon some applications could be accessible (part of Business Plan).

Cyril and Jeremy in meeting at eBay HQ

Cyril and Jeremy made the decision to come a month and a half in Silicon Valley to meet people, find partners and get feedback. They think this is the best place to develop their business significantly, and to prepare the coming public launch of their solution next September.

We supported them to get some meetings in Silicon Valley, and we are looking for partnerships into Carriers space in US and Europe.

If you want to test the application, just leave a comment and we will send you a code.

Cyril and Jeremy met Robert Scobble this Monday. Check this video...