A couple months after I had Alex jumping on the bandwagon (remember), I’m happy to announce that my friend Kari is joining the Tech IT Easy boat too.

A true geek with a very, very strong business acumen (an MSc Management graduate from the Helsinki School of Economics with a specialization in IT: the sort of perfect combination), Kari will undoubtedly bring a lot of valuable insights on how to make use best of technology & technology itself.

Kari lives in Helsinki, Finland, & works as an IT Project Manager at a major Nordic utility corporation.

Kari & I had met on a crazy Erasmus academic exchange in Rotterdam School of Management, back in 2004. Since then, we’ve been debating a lot on technological issues (including during our vacation time), and our faithful readers would’ve recognized Kari as one of the best commentors in the life of this blog, both quantitative- and qualitative-wise.

As for with Alex, no rule or obligation to abide by: Kari will write whenever he likes on all tech-related topics he believes are appropriate for you guys – and of course moderate the comment loads of his posts. To wind up, we now have Alex (the financier), Kari (the Project Manager), myself (tending to write more & more about software) – I’ll start hunting for someone in the telecommunications industry, a software developer, & probably an entrepreneur to ensure the panel of opinions starts getting mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive. It goes without mentioning: this blog remains mine, unless the number of posts of guest bloggers soundly overwhelms my blogging flow for a while. This being said, I do not rule out the idea of turning “Tech IT Easy – Jeremy Fain’s blog” into “Tech IT Easy” and switch to a proper URL one day. Well, enough housekeeping for today.

Let’s wish Kari a big welcome. Kari, I do not doubt you’ll blow us away with amazing posts!

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Hey all,

It’s Holiday time!

Although I’m French, I hadn’t been on vacations since April 2005 & I couldn’t stand it anymore (okay, I’m French). In two hours time from now, I’ll be on a plane to Israel. I’m not sure yet if I’ll be able to post anything from there. Not that there’s no Internet connection, but I know a girl that would probably be quite angry if I spent my time writing on my computer

This being said, I have many ideas for you in 2007, amongst these starting to blog about software start-ups of interest. Feel free to send (by e-mail or leaving a comment) your recommendations to me.

Well, it’s time for me to leave you with my 4 favorite videos (fun or songs) related to Israel, as a Christmas (/Hanuka) present. Enjoy!

Hilarious:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FscHi1a4Oo8]

A very realistic scenario on a Tel Aviv beach:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ujMx5w_aPI]

Best Israeli song ever. Pay attention to all the accents – Poland, Russia, Latvia, Romania, Czech Republic, USA, Germany, Morocco, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Yemen,…very few genuine ‘Tsabar’ (native) intonations – Israel is such a melting pot:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caKTyxB1amI]

Allright, the latter was from the 70s…This is how modern Israeli singers look like – definitely more sexy, Shiri Maymon here:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBWwdx9d4_A]

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One the one hand, people tend to more and more use their blog to sell their stuff (see Ouriel – again, thanks to whom I got this business idea), or even look for something through their personal blog.

On the other hand, e-Commerce sales have been booming recently: consumers have acknowledged that transaction security is no longer an issue, plus more and more interesting concept e-stores or e-companies helping supply meet demand have emerged. 2 concrete examples:

• Zlio, which empowers people willing to open their own online store with the appropriate web service tools (zero-inventory or -shipping hassle);
• aStore, a subsidiary of Amazon providing a platform for people to build up their own Amazon e-boutique and integrate it to their own website.

I believe, and I’m not the only one, that we’re just at eCommerce growth is an underlying trend of the world we live in.

If I were Ouriel, or say I would’ve liked to purchase his iTrip (very unlikely: I don’t like closed environments like the one iPod provides, here’s why), it would’ve been cool to have some sort of plug-in, feature, gadget or widget (call it as you like) ready to be integrated onto your blog for people to pay directly – it goes without saying, if the item’s still available – & why not using services like Paypal or Google Checkout.

57 million bloggers (huge market) worldwide spend their time building trust and common ground with their readers, key caracteristics of good bloggers who look for repeat readers (and even better, commentors) rather than one shot visitors. So, instead of advertising and polluting their readers’ environment (for those willing to monetize their time writing), why wouldn’t anyone put on her/his own weblog some items for selling to their readership? Allright, a blog for sure doesn’t have as much traffic as eBay. But I believe trust compensates for traffic, and many supposedly ‘famous’ bloggers could make a hell lot of money through this canal.

Such an initiative, this online payment feature for bloggers (of which business model would be based on commissions as you had already guessed), would also urge the development of a better sense of customer care and retail flair that too few people can claim to be gifted with in Latin and German cultures. This stance is less true in Anglo-Saxon and Arab countries where retailers of all sizes are better perceived socially, and quality of service is printed in most people’s DNA.

As for all business ideas, there’s a lot of room for improvement. This is where you’re coming in leaving challenging comments…The floor is yours!

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“TGIF” – Thanks God It’s Friday, New Yorkers say in the elevator coming in to the workplace.

Fridays are the worst days in blogging spheres: short days (people leave work earlier), busy days (urgent requests from the management, try to close deals and settle important matters), family dinners preventing you from blogging at night, etc.

However, Surprise!!, Ouriel (TechCrunch France & VC in Israel), & Julien (who blogs in French, but many goodies so pretty accessible ; my soon-to-be direct manager at Microsoft) just blogged about my precedent post. Both highlight the “Headhunting 2.0″ trend. Indeed, they’re both totally right: blogging in itself reveals a sort of opened mindset (people can criticize you, meet you, etc.), and how you make up your ideas and opinions. I had never thought of blogging as a recruitment canal (it to tell your the truth was even my very last motivation), but now, I’m like “TGIB“: Thanks God I Blog. I would’ve probably never ended up landing anything at Microsoft.

In other words, reading a potential newcomer’s blog is like doing a due diligence on someone’s motivations and, when applicable, skills as well. It’s priceless! I feel quite honored by the situation as you can imagine, although expectations might have raised a bit))) I guess it will subconsciously help me rise to the occasion though.

For the record, my stats (300+ visitors @ noon, half of them coming from Julien & Ouriel) have been reaching their usual daily stand. I’m impressed (although not too badly jealous; to repeat myself: I fish for comments, not traffic. I’d rather have 10 visitors and 10 comments than 1000 visitors and 1 comment. Got it?).

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There’s a saying: “Computer scientists think they have discovered the world” (anonymous). It made me laughed at first (computer scientists are likely to be really smart guys), but I’ve started to accept the idea that it may be true. As far as I’m concerned, I believe we’re still in the early ages of software engineering – a craftmanship relying on people (like Art) rather than processes (like manufacturing). Today’s state of advancement in software engineering could be compared to what aviation was in the early 1920s: back then, planes worked well. Indeed, one could fly a plane over oceans; but it was for sure rather expensive (although everyday more affordable), far from perfect and risks weren’t really calculated. Design Patterns are just a beginning in the rationalization process of software development methods.

Year in, year out, computer scientists have been reproducing features that have always existed in traditional, more mature industries. Design Patterns have been in automotive, production engineering and construction books for decades, and only emerged in software engineering in the midst-1990s, when a group of academics known as the “Gang of 4″ (Gamma, Helm, Johnson, Disvlisses) published a book that stands on every good programmer’s shelves as a Bible.

Oddly enough, design patterns both describe problems and their solutions. The actual solution can however be used a hundred times without having 2 implementations looking even close to similar. Design patterns are no method, their use provides a framework and a common language amongst software development teams, and allow for decreases in complexity when properly applied. To state things clearly, design patterns are the ‘big picture’ components of software architecture.

Today, there are at least 23 sorts of identified design patterns, classified in 3 categories: creational, structural, behavioral. In the latter category, let’s take the example of the design pattern named ‘Strategy’. In the ‘Strategy’ pattern, one single same object behaves differently under certain circumstances and situations. For instance, say you’re home (you’re the object) planning to go to the supermarket; you’ll behave differently knowing that it rains outside or that the sun shines. In the first case, you might probably grab an umbrella, and in the latter, you will put on your most stylish sunglasses. And since objects are precisely aimed at reproducing real life situations and models, there’s one pattern for basically any situation of everyday of life.

For those who feel like going further into the understanding of Design Patterns:

• “Survey of Common Design Patterns“, a useful recap
• A free .pdf book named “Design Patterns, a Java companion” by James W. Cooper

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Before you ask the question of “Why 11?”, here’s on your right hand the picture of the 11 Microsoft pioneers. You might easily have spotted Bill Gates and Paul Allen already. Today at Microsoft, they (we?) are about 61K worldwide…That’s all as far the picture’s concerned. Let’s talk serious business now.

I know, many did write this very post before. But still, since I’ll be joining Microsoft France upon completion of my studies this year (starting End of April 2007, yeah I know it’s 4 months away from now but it’s all set up), first as a graduate trainee for 6 months in the Emerging Business Team led in France by Julien Codorniou, and hopefully as a full-time employee afterwards, I felt I could write my own version (Service Pack #?) of the “Why Microsoft?” post as well.

So, to get to the point, “why Microsoft?”. Here are I believe 11 good reasons I made a right decision. I’m not hiding this post also aims at helping you make up your mind if you’re in that position, or @ least consider applying to Microsoft, provided that you’re passionate about software & technology and want to make a career out of your passion.

1) Indeed, Microsoft has a true impact on people’s everyday life. Basically, everyone uses Microsoft technologies. MS is like Coca Cola, & even more: change the recipe and you might change the way the world goes round. Microsoft enjoys a capacity of execution that few companies may claim they have and that is in my opinion extremely motivating: it enhances you to give your best for the sake of all. This question of the “impact” relies on Microsoft’s unique ability to turn lab inventions into mass-market innovations – which stands in my opinion as one of the two greatest long-run competitive advantages of Microsoft alongside with R&D capacity.

2) Microsoft is the world leading software company: everyone there knows something about software, from the bus driver to the accountant. Since I’m passionate about the software industry (I believe we’re at the beginning of Age of Software, more on that in a post to be written before 2010) but still a beginner, where on Earth could I have found a better place to learn the job?

3) Microsoft is a global leader, but a local challenger. No, I’m not kidding. Microsoft is a challenger in many ways as it has been facing more challenges everyday: 90% of its revenues are derived from software licenses, whilst new business models & technologies emerge every second. So, in order to remain a leader, Microsoft has to act as a challenger and reinvent itself everyday – like all great companies (P&G, IBM, GE, Danone,…) did and will do. To state things differently, Microsoft competes with basically every major company in the computer industry. But it also cooperates with them, since one of the reasons of the success of Microsoft has been its ability to quickly build an ecosystem of excellence. Consequently, the company culture leaves room for new ideas, initiatives and innovation-driven people.

4) I like debating a lot and rather unfortunately, being an employee of Microsoft puts you in a position in which you have to spend time defending your technologies & company, and build trust, common interests, and all against ABMs (Anything But Microsoft – an ideology as there exists many), against piracy, etc. To repeat myself, Microsoft is definitely the best place to get to see what happens in software, and provides ground for ongoing debates from which many incremental or revolutionary ideas may emerge. As you may have understood, I’m a strong believer that ideas come from conversations between people with diverse backgrounds.

5) At Microsoft, I will definitely work with cleverer people than I actually am. Hence the fact that I’ll get to learn a lot, and adapt to changing environments, technology- and culturally-wise. The more Microsoftees or ex Microsoftees I meet, that more I realize how articulate they all are & have the broadest culture on technology in general, from enterprise software to consumer electronics. Since technology has and will even more revolutionize user & enterprise practices, being at Microsoft will at the end of the day help me understand better where the world I live in is heading to.

6) All that jazz boils down to the corporate culture at Microsoft: outward-looking. Talk to Microsoftees, and you’ll notice how obsessed with the outside world they are. Being at the crossroads of many technologies through their ecosystem, Microsoftees will actually spend more time talking about their partners & competitors than about themselves. This is I believe the only company where you can find such behavior: try to make an employee of Sun speak calmly about the .Net platform, or an Oracle executive read a speech on SQL Server: it’s tough! At Microsoft, it’s all different. I’m not saying it’s better or worse, but it’s the way I like it. 2 quick examples: no later than today, I witnessed a Microsoftee talk more about free software than Microsoft in a whole meeting. All this, needless to say, in very positive terms. Last but not least, I was asked when visiting Microsoft how I adapted to my Macbook Pro, whether I liked it or not (I pretty much like it and said so), why, etc. You could hardly believe the openness of the guys working there. So, I’m glad I can go on learning Java, using a Macbook Pro, blogging about Google, etc. It just makes me feel comfortable to know that it’s not only just tolerated but recommended that Microsoftees look and think outside the box.

7) At Microsoft, you get exposure from Day 1: nobody spends one’s time on a chair, sitting in front of an Excel spreadsheet all day. At Microsoft, you get to meet people, learn from them, start a debate to come up together with an idea, make your point, draft a project, execute it, make the project evolve with its environment, show results, meet new people, etc. Go to Microsoft and you’ll think it’s a Bachelor party before figuring out you’re in a company: everybody’s young (if not physically, mentally) & passionate. Maybe it’s only Microsoft France, I don’t know, but it seems they bet on young people over there. Good for me. Furthermore, the French BU President, Eric Boustouller, shares outloud his very high ambitions for the French branch and makes sure Microsoft France uses the adequate resources to match these expectations of excellence. So, I will most probably not only be getting exposure to business in the software industry, I’ll also be empowered with the appropriate resources (knowledge, budgets, etc.) to achieve and, why not, outperform my goals.

8 ) On the actual mission, it’s like taylor-made. No bullshit, I couldn’t dream of a better training description. Basically, about a year and half ago, Microsoft France & Microsoft Corporation’s Emerging Business Team set up a program named IDEES (a French word standing for ‘ideas’ in English – click on ‘French’ for the press release in French, and on ‘English’ to read an article published in the International Herald Tribune about Bill Gates coming to France to announce the launch of IDEES). IDEES aims at helping the best French software start-ups become leading global players and henceforth help Microsoft itself develop its own ecosystem. The happy few (too few) psychos addicted to my blog will have read about the dilemma I was facing as my career was dawning: should I start in a world leading corporation or in a small, dynamic start-up company? I’m usually not a man of compromises, I prefer to make bold decisions, but I have to say doing business development to develop the Microsoft start-up ecosystem combines the best of both worlds: the job is at the same time hands-on and involves strategic issues (I’ll have to show my can-do capacity & hence execute; but also and at the same time, think and abide by the corporate strategy devised in Redmond, WA); I’ll most probably get a broad understanding of the French (and European?) software landscape since I’ll meet with hundreds of entrepreneurs implementing a hundred different busines models, I’ll have to use both my business & technology backgrounds to make & assist my manager Julien making the right decisions. Last but not least, Microsoft has launched a very exciting program named IP Ventures. IP Ventures allows would-be entrepreneur to pick up intellectual property in the Microsoft portfolio & start a business out of it using the Microsoft ecosystem vs. a small percentage of the new venture’s shareholder structure for Microsoft. The very existence of this program is an epitome for Microsoft being able to constantly reinvent itself: large corporations find it harder to innovate than smaller, more agile structures. Hence the need to foster entrepreneurship in the software industry at the expense of full ownership in order to make better and better software available to all. Oops, and I was almost forgetting: the job involves countless interactions with technologists, venture capitalists, marketers, evangelists & other Microsoft business developers from the French business development division (actually named DPE, standing for ‘Division Plate-Forme et Ecosystème’, & led by Marc Jalabert) which enjoys an outstanding reputation for providing both an easy-going and performance-driven environment.

9) The existence of the MACH Graduate Program also influenced my decision. MACH is an 18-month global program combining ground training with actual classes in either technology, marketing or sales taking place around the globe. Looks like rocking. I guess It’s part of the exposure thing at Microsoft I explained in point #7.

10) I will settle in either the US or Israel one day, most likely not in this decade. 2 options: i) I can move within Microsoft; ii) Microsoft provides such a fertile ground for developing one’s talents that I’m sure that I can sell my skillset when that time comes, in the software industry or not. Unless, like many Microsoftees did before, I chose to start up my own company – a no-brainer step as far as I’m concerned. I guess Microsoftees may adapt to new cultural environments pretty quickly. How? Well, Microsoft is a zoo, where you get to work with people from every corner of the globe – hence the fact that I would be quite skeptical if anyone told me Microsoftees aren’t amongst the best prepared people in the world to play in the global league.

11) Steve Ballmer, Microsoft’s CEO. He’s got so much energy, drive and passion. I’m proud to be on the verge of having him as an n+6742 boss. Since a good video ’s worth much more than a nice poem, check it out by yourself:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJQk5P-DqUE]

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We students have had during the last 3 weeks a learn-by-doing course on network security. Basically, what happened is that we had the class split in 2 groups: attackers & defenders.

I was one of the defenders. We did a pretty good job trying to build a fortress (but a fortress from which one may work properly, that’s more tricky) against our mates’ attacks using firewalls, on both hosts & networks, IDS like Snort, antiviruses & system updates.

The attack team tried to make use of freely available software exploits, and hardware or human tricks like watching one’s password or using key loggers to leave a troyan on the system. In other to abide by French laws on system break ins, we had altogether had a VPN (Addendum: thanks to Jean-Sébastien for making me realize I had made a mistake: we had actually devised a private network, not a virtual private network granting access at a distance) to avoid interference with the outside world. Defenders had WinXP machines, attackers had Debian and Ubuntu (a friendly sort of Linux).

What I learnt in these past few weeks from this extremely interesting course is that hacking is no complex science. I used to watch these kids arrested for hacking the, say, CIA website and say “wow, these guys are genius”. Not at all: many free and not free hacking tools are available. The same goes for defensive stuff.

Although I’m far from being a techie (I wish I were ), I have to say this course has been one of the richest we’ve done so far in terms of learnings, on top of being fun and useful.

To move on to another topic, I recently talked to a friend and Harvard MBA alumni, he told me that “case studies were not perfect but the less ineffective way of learning they had found so far”. Well, I quite disagree: hands-on learning curve is much steeper provided that it’s backed by solid foundations. Learning-by-doing methods, when they can be applied, represent in my opinion the future of Education.

Adddendum: got an e-mail from Sarah 2 minutes after I posted this note; yes you did recognize me, I’m the guy wearing the ugly purple t-shirt. I know I look tired, & I actually am.

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..i.e. from the dorms @ Ecole Centrale Paris (about 20 minutes driving from Paris). Jealous, anybody?

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Many friends or friends of friends have been in the process of organizing their own wedding. Too often do families crash on miserable issues such as the color of the stamp on the invitation envelope, the brand and millesime of the wines to put on the tables, the songs the band should play, etc.

Furthermore, I saw my mother follow exactly, step-by-step, the same organization agenda to prepare my bar mitzvah (11 years ago ) and my 2 sisters’ bat mitzvah – I repeat, exactly the same agenda. And I bet many people, be they setting up a bar mitzvah, a wedding, an anniversary party or just a birthday, follow the same actual tedious process.

So why not actually map this process in order to manage it better? Sorting out all functional details (not so complicated after all, just repetitive) should allow for devising an online platform aimed at making party planning easier. The positioning of such a software is crystal clear: an ERP for individuals and/or companies planning big events.

Moreover, such a service could be used as the nucleus of a web service ecosystem at the center of many different Internet companies: Evite (invites), Photomugs, VistaPrint (printing service), 1000mercis (wedding present lists), Serenata (flowers), etc. Some fun mashups could even be integrated.

I’m telling you: it’s not so complicated to devise and, hoping a buzz will come out of nowhere, an online party planning software can easily be a cash machine, a killer making money on commissions generated via bringing together supply and demand.

I would find pretty cool to develop this very idea just for the sake of it some day, at night or on week-ends…Unfortunately, no time for the moment, and I don’t think it will get better any soon. Maybe I should just write a software to help me plan my own schedule rather…

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Here’s a little chronology of recent alliances between computer industry giants & Orange, the mobile telcos brand of France Telecom, Europe’s second largest telecom carrier, which operates in many different countries worldwide (France, Poland, Jordan, Spain, UK, etc.).

October 18th 2006: Orange & Microsoft CEOs Didier Lombard & Steve Ballmer met in Paris to announce the launch of Windows Live Messenger for all existing and new Orange customers.

December 14th 2006: Orange & Apple co-launch a co-branded bundle including a Macbook laptop & full Internet access.

December 18th 2006: The British newspaper The Observer (see article here) reveals Orange & Google have built up a multi-billion partnership aimed at devising a Googlephone making search and use of Google software such as YouTube & Google Maps easy.

My call: although these three partnerships are brilliant, taken independently, I’m not quite sure Microsoft, Apple, and even Yahoo! really appreciate Orange’s new liaison with Google. For Google, it’s all a safe bet: the worst scenario sees Orange cancels or postpones the agreement and Google does it with someone else (Deutsche Telecom? Cingular?). No big deal. Best scenario: Microsoft cancels its partnership with Orange, customers are unhappy, and Google promises them they will get a replacement solution soon. Same as far as Apple’s concerned: the soon-to-be-released iPhone would’ve probably be launched in Europe in partnership with Orange – what if Orange already puts its logo on Google phones? Although I believe it’s quite likely that a status quo will actually take place, Orange’s behaviour is either strategic genius, making partners compete against one another, or complete diplomatic clumsiness. How can you build trust with a business partner foraging to your competitors weeks after you sign on something big?

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Installed through Parallels; speed’s bearable. Now operating 3 OSs with Mac OS, Vista & Ubuntu. Did you say ‘Geek’?

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Frankly, I feel a bit disappointed by the very first Truffle 100 European ranking. We’re not doing too bad, but it could be a lot better! Okay, we’re #2 behind the US and Asia (India included) hasn’t caught up yet. But software being strategic and more and more integrated to people and employee’s lives, I think it’s time for a revolution: EU countries have everything they need to lead this industry (financial & human capital – especially with Central & Eastern Europe engineers ready to hit the job market, strong demand (most notably in financial, security & public sector software), past examples showing the way to success: SAP, SAGE, Business Objects, Dassault Systems). Now, you software publishers have to make sure the best European code hackers don’t leave for Silicon Valley! So do what it takes to keep them in your teams: open your fucking wallets and call them back quickly when you receive a résumé on your mailbox. For instance, how come LinkedIn (chief software architects are French) and Microsoft (many ex-employees from French R&D institution INRIA) have so many development teams lead by French software developers?

Some figures

Industry revenue growth: +15,1%

Industry profit growth: +35%

Industry profitability: +13%Total revenues: 20,7 €bn

Total aggregated net profits: 2,76 €bn (13.34% of revenues)

Total R&D investments: 2,7 €bn as well (headcount: 37K software developers) vs. 5 €bn for Microsoft only: 1 software company invests more in the future than the entire European continent! R&D investments is definitely not a figure to be proud of.

Investments in software are rather liquid: 83% of European Truffle 100 ranking are publicly traded

Country ranking:

1 – Germany (47,2%, of which 41% are made of SAP only)

2 – the UK (20,6%)

3- France (14,7%)

4 – Norway + Sweden + Finland + Denmark (5,1%)

5 – the Netherlands (3,1%)

Come on guys, where are you Italy (7 players in the Top 100, 2 in the Top 50 only), Spain (1 player ranking 72), Greece, Portugal? It’s time for Southern Europe to sort of wake up: olive oil is certainly nice, but I’m not sure it prepares you best for 21st century technology & economic leadership. Furthermore, I’m impressed and actually thrilled by SAP but I’m not sure having one giant and many followers is necessarily good for Germany. Why? It’s software industry relies too much on one single player: today, SAP does great, but what if SAP suffers a future economic downturn? To all software developers @ SAP: get out of there and start your own software start-up. And if you have no idea about what to develop, contact me.

World software publishers ranking:

1 – Microsoft

2 – Truffle 100 Europe

3 – Oracle

4 – Computer Associates

As a European, I don’t feel especially proud of this: it takes your 100 biggest software publishers to put you on the map!

Anyways, if I had to strike an optimistic stance before I finish: congratulations to SAP for its unbelievable leadership. Summing up the revenues of European software vendors from #2 to #35 allows for starting to compete with Europe’s #1 software company SAP!

See below for the full Truffle 100 Europe ranking:

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Don’t you think the TV channels landscape sort of lacks what could be the most useful and profitable channel ever?

Close your eyes, and imagine you’ve always watched Friends in English, from your childhood up to yesterday. Everytime you need a brushup, you would switch to the LearnEnglish TV channel instead of watching your favorite soap in your native language!

Of course, the Netherlands, Scandinavia, Israel Austria, & India, where people speak fairly good English, wouldn’t be fruitful markets for such an idea. But think of China, Japan, Italy, France, Russia, etc. The market for such a satellite broadcast is huge.

To ensure successful implementation of the project, the content has to be:

0) in English exclusively, it goes without saying…

1) entertaining, so that kids don’t associate boring stuff with LearEnglish;

2) subtitled, in English of course, so that people subconsciously learn to write whilst learning how to speak (most Israelis for instance speak pretty well but just can’t write English);

3) diverse, variety is key;

4) innovative in many ways, one of these being interactivity: people tend more and more to watch TV & surf on the Internet or chat on their instant messager at the same time. So LearnEnglish would have to take it into account and adapt its teaching methods accordingly;

There you go. Already raised money to start the project? Good. Mastering English has become a key skill in this flat world. Provided that you’re good at making things happen, in other words that you know what it takes to execute properly, this business idea is just gold. Thanks to Tech IT Easy, you have no more excuses for not starting a business saying “Come on, I have no fucking idea about what I should do if I started working for myself!”.

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I went this week to an AIESEC Alumni dinner, on Le Cercle de la Mer, a restaurant on the Paris River – namely ‘la Seine’. From my seat, I had the most lovely view on the Eiffel tower ever (cf. picture on your left hand).

AIESEC is a crazy organization. Born in 1947 in Paris (founding members include ESCP, ESSEC & HEC) to organize corporate exchanges of French & German students in order to help the two countries get through the bloodshed of the War, AIESEC is by far the biggest non profit organization worldwide. Today, its Alumni network reaches 400,000 @ headcount, can you believe that? This huge network of people sharing the same values (international mindset, ability to sell your ideas, self-starters, team players) actually raises concerns amongst governments (the French secret service DGSE was in the room ): a lot of information are shared during such gatherings, probably too much information!

I was happy to see my mates, it had been a while. It’s interesting though that 50%+ of AIESEC Alumni work in an IT-related field, as if people keen on international issues were also familiar with technology. My neighbours were working for Accenture & Unilog, and sitting at my table were people from financial software publisher Cartesis, telco mobile operator Bouygues Telecom, IT service company Sopra Groupe, 3D-software company Dassault Systèmes, etc. I found it amazing that we all find ourselves in the same industries after spending time on totally different stuff like cold calling, travelling Europe to attend seminars, signing partnerships with companies, etc.

Anyways, if you’re still a student thinking about the student organization you’ll be joigning, don’t think anymore. You’ll never regret it.

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So far, although I’m a Frenchman, I’ve been blogging in English only. Indeed, one of the reasons why I enjoy blogging is that Tech IT Easy allows me to confront my views with people that don’t necessarily think the same way – and if I may generalize a little bit, this is something less likely to happen between people who share the same culture & language. Furthermore, blogging helps me keep in touch with good friends living abroad and meeting fantastic and driven new guys, with lots of ideas.

However, I feel like writing stuff on which my friends from abroad wouldn’t give a damn: Johnny Halliday decided to leave France for Switzerland to avoid taxation (I think this is a good move: it might create a media hype and urge politicians to do something at last about France’s tax burdens); I got some really crappy service by my online bank ING Direct and I’m planning to move out quickly; some French-only e-Commerce are doing a pretty good job and don’t plan to move abroad, uninteresting stuff for an international readership.

As you may have understood, I want to blog in English AND French (and mostly in English, don’t worry – maybe 80% in English, 20% in French) but will start doing it on the condition that:

1) My non-French speaking readership (80% of my readers) tells me “it’s allright, I won’t feel frustrated by not understanding every single post of yours”.

2) My French-speaking readership (20% of my readers but 50% of my comments) tells me it’s a good idea that won’t keep them away from posting comments (the French post less comments on English language blogs than on French-speaking blogs).

I need your help to improve this blog, please take a sec to tell me if I’d be right or wrong to switch in Frenglish.

Nota Bene 1: Michel de Guilhermier, a French blogger and entrepreneur, did switch to English – French from French, only a while ago. Botton line: traffic increase I guess, but I noticed his posts in English don’t quite get as many comments as his posts in French.

Nota Bene 2: As I’m sure you have understood from my former posts, I blog for comments, not for traffic. The day I’ll stop getting comments (most of the time value-creating), I’ll stop blogging.

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