May 2013
9 posts
Comment être classifié Hotel 5* en France?
Voici la fameuse norme aux 124 critères:
http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do?cidTexte=JORFTEXT000021530180
Il est clair qu’elle peut permettre à des établissements d‘“usurper” leurs 5 étoiles, comme la chaîne Sofitel, intégralement classée en 5 étoiles et n’étant clairement pas au niveau. Le Pullman La Défense a même obtenu 5 étoiles, et il s’agit...
Darn it, looks like I was duped. be2 or not to be!...
While I was proud to never have been scammed before 2010, I then was on an almost hilarious roll which ended late 2012 when I returned to France.
Had I suddenly gotten “ridiculously unlucky” as some told me? was it because I started being well-off and wasn’t really before? each case was more surprising than the other, but there is still some learnings I thought to share.
Let...
2 tags
2 years later: lessons from the past!
http://www.slideshare.net/fabriceleparc/sd-investor-summary-may-2011
Deepclass : “Join the Luxury e-Retail Revolution” is coming next.
Found it interesting to see this document as I’m entering the last phase of launching of a very different business, Deepclass.
A bit the opposite of Smartdate: an innovative concept within an untapped market with barriers to entry and...
Better in America
From time to time (well, when I have time), I’ll post a delightful feature found on a US site - totally unbeknownst to anyone in Europe.
But something which we might get to see in 5 or 10 years when people this side of the Atlantic get closer and closer to the understanding of how much more business you can do by nurturing and pampering your customers.
And no, Amazon does not count (even...
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FANCY: lessons for Deepclass
Believe it or not, I just stumbled upon thefancy.com. Or “Fancy”, although they couldn’t get the domain, which very strangely redirects to some random Portland real estate agency (?!)
It’s a disorganized version of what I have in mind for Deepclass. Very entertaining though.
They started long before us and have a ton of the hype factors sought after by the Valley...
4 tags
Avvo, Trustpilot: BUSTED! Who's next?
“Dear Mr (Name of CEO), following our exchanges, I have finished my investigation and would like your written confirmation that companies / lawyers / doctors cannot pay your company to delete negative comments. I would also be interested in having more precise information on your business model, as your last email was not specific about how you generate revenue.”
My latest email to...
10 Solutions To Fix Your Marketing Campaigns
Do any of the following keep you up at night?
I have no idea what to test, so now I don’t bother
Our visitors are leaving our website without doing anything
We blew through our AdWords budget in a day!
Our market has dried up…
Look, all online marketers have been there. There is no miracle solution but persistence and dedication to basic principles help more than throwing your hands in the...
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My Dream Desk and untapped business for Deepclass
This stunning 10ft wide (3m) desk was made on order by Maxim Old in 1971.
Intrigued, I paid a visit to the gallery owner, who has no website, does not read email or answer the phone (in a typical old-school French fashion).
I told him about marketing and the internet and he gave me a brief puzzled look, as if I was talking of a very distant future.
Anyway, he could “let go of this...
April 2013
5 posts
Good design is good business. And it's a vision...
However, design is more than just how something looks. At the bottom line, the way it works — the nuts and bolts — what it communicates and how well an idea is presented is the underlying factor to innovation. Design is the process used to solve problems in a creative way, and across a variety of mediums. Rather than help you just decorate your business, project or product, we will...
Responsive web design!
So after a month of distractions with various companies (I like to keep thinking forward), and less pleasantly my biceps being ripped off and subsequent muchos painful surgery…
I am moving on with the development of a finalized version of Deepclass.
I am thrilled to have met many very talented designers and developers, too many almost, which is very new to me.
I wanted to share some...
Fund Raising: it's very difficult... if you are...
I absolutely disagree with that:
You need metrics in this ballpark to raise a series A, based on @angellist anonymized stats: pic.twitter.com/YtybCGkBoq
The guy contends “nowadays” you need a start-up that has already proven its concept and makes significant money to raise just $1M.. (because of one example?)
I’d say it may be the case if the potential is small and team and...
Time for a more upscale, intellectual Facebook?
For once I don’t find this one too tacky or gooey, and it relates to the usage of Facebook, which isn’t great to discuss ideas and after a while seems too trivial and inconsequential to me.
You get a lot of (uninteresting) feedback when it’s mundane events or comments, or pics where you look sexy… which is entertaining to most people, especially under 25 or 30- but...
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Another French myth that collapses : our "best in...
While I could already testify how ridiculously inferior our administration and justice system are compared to the US (think 10 times slower and 4 times less efficient, so if you bitch in NY, you would die here!).. I had never experienced being seriously hurt and having to undergo surgery.
Well a huge piece of furniture was falling as I was moving it and a reflex had me extend my right arm to...
March 2013
15 posts
1 tag
What a blog post will look like in 2020
I believe that if you want to have success in the present you must anticipate the future. No crystal ball required.
Why? Because you want to sniff out trends to ride them. If you only act on what’s already happening, you’re getting sidetracked to second, third or even worse, fourth place. Like driving a Ferrari with two feet slammed on the brakes. Screeeech.
So, how can one even try to predict...
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Stunning web design. The wow factor. 432 PARK AVE....
http://www.432parkavenue.com/
Manhattan shows another example of its being the world’s most thrilling and dynamic city with this jaw-dropping $40 million a unit development.
The design is top notch and a model for the very latest techniques to seamlessly display content.
Working on it for Deepclass :)
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Top focus points for Deepclass in 2013
1. Building a “wow” innovative, scalable, aesthetic product with great features and intrinsic VIRALITY
2. Hiring hands-on talent both in Paris and NYC
3. Convincing hundreds of businesses to sell on Deepclass, and thousands of curators to get involved
4. Spending as little money as possible and invest in marketing only when I know users love what we have to offer
5. Sticking to a...
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Know what you are FOCUSING on
Basic stuff from Michael who I got briefly acquainted with in NYC - and qualifies as a really seasoned and respected entrepreneur.
What’s to remember, as most people understand they should focus on a few things and DITCH the rest (which can be heartbreaking ;) is to make the effort to WRITE THEM DOWN SO REALLY THINK ABOUT THEM AND REFLECT ON THEM.
I don’t believe it HAS to be 3...
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Update on Deepclass: Strategy!
“One of the golden rules is to avoid spending money scaling the business before you have really nailed what customers want and how to reach them.”
Since January I’ve been moving steadily and fast on Deepclass but with no precipitation.
For instance we’ve just limited our membership to 12,000 members and we’re now moving on the product to launch social curation.
...
2 tags
Insights on why start-ups fail
Clever people @punchlime pointed that out to me:
In one of the biggest startup surveys ever conducted, Startup Genome discovered why most startups fail. Their report, based on data from 3,200 high growth internet startups, revealed that 70% of the startups fail due to premature scaling.
What is Premature Scaling?
Premature scaling happens when a firm is focusing on one dimension of the...
1 tag
Uber goes cheaper in Paris
Probably reacting to the increased competition.
Plus it’s a continuous mystery: who affords life in Paris and paying 40€ cab rides here and there given the fact people make half as much as In NYC if not a third for the same job… and cost of housing and living is the same.
I know the city is loaded with mega-spending tourists and anyone who’s rich in the world buys an...
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Ce jour viendra ..
Un jour je lancerai une vraie grande salle de sport avec tout bien comme chez les Ricains. C’est le seul biz “brick and mortar” qui me tenterait.
Quand on voit le niveau de l’existant…
Moi ce serait GRAND (surtout), ouvert tard (pb avec employés mais bon), joli et lumineux, clean clinique, avec un énorme bar à prot et healthy foods et tout un tas de services...
La France Droite a un site web de travers, et...
Merci à @spiwit
Pour ma part après m’être étranglé de désespoir pendant 2 ans avec des “développeurs” français, j’ai juré que sauf exception exceptionnelle on ne m’y reprendrait plus.
Je me demande combien elle a payé pour cette bouze faite entre deux videogames (pour être PC- politically correct) alors que même moi dont ce n’est pas du tout le métier je serais...
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Deepclass: NetJets strengthens its "Pay-as-you-Go"...
The Marquis Card - soon on Deepclass- is being hugely successful in the US, and NetJets is starting to offer similar products in Europe, although its marketing there remains much more discreet.
NetJets Europe has launched a block charter jet card aimed at prospective customers wishing to carry out return flights of Cessna Citation Bravo light cabin business aircraft within the same calendar...
Finally, UberX
I kept wondering why Uber wouldn’t cater to all the price-conscious people. Who needs to go around in a limo all the time?
Before they roll out in Europe, where they’ll encounter further resistance from various taxi mafias, they started out in CA.
American Customer Service : Follow-up with...
With a bit of a push they eventually offered me a $350 store credit, which is quite neat.
It made me think again at how incredibly bad customer service is in France (and more generally Europe, although the more South you go, the worst). I mean, it’s bad in general, and due to cost-cutting such shops like Darty which used to be decent in store, it seems to have entirely disappear.
For web...
American Customer Service
I’m very persistent in the face of adversity and, faced with a dead-end with One Kings Lane, I finally resorted to tweeting their CEO.
Doug Mack sorted everything out on a SUNDAY.
It’s a pretty large and successful company and in Europe, a CEO would rather hang himself than answering an email, let alone a tweet if they use twitter, and much less on a week-end.
In the end,...
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CALL TO ACTIOOOON !
Don’t underestimate the power of the CAT CTA
Ahhh yes, the Call-To-Action, CTA for short.
What should it say? What color should it be? What size? Where do you place it? Above-the-fold? Or Below? Is it converting? What should you test? So. Many. Questions.
And let’s not forget, CTAs are everywhere – homepages, webpages, blog posts, emails, landing pages, etc, etc.
There are a lot of things to...
French Web "Design". Bon appétit!
That’s for the N°1 ecommerce site (or n°2 as amazon is n°1 but whatever).
I mean, Amazon is ugly, but that is trashy.
I really wish some schools started specializing in web design and coding in France as the lack and scarcity of talent is incredible. No one in our education system realizes that it’s pretty bad that hardly anyone can design a decent website.
I don’t...
February 2013
26 posts
1 tag
The Art of Copy. My favorite thing of the whole...
And then test, test, test.
When it comes to writing persuasive copy, smart writers know that the devil is definitely in the details.
Doing things correctly requires testing, testing, and more testing, but also a bit of inspiration (so that you have ideas on what to test).
Today, I’m offering up some scientific research on the latter, presenting 5 academic studies on copywriting + persuasion...
Why publish obvious stuff over and over again?
Really?
There’s about an article a week I read used to read about that “luck/work” theme somewhere.
OF COURSE YOUR ACHIEVEMENTS ARE DIRECTLY LINKED TO YOUR EFFORTS, CAN EVERYONE GET THAT ONCE AND FOR ALL ;)
I think there’s a confusion. Not everyone has the same talent in everything, but for two “equal” talents, the one who works the most has the highest...
4 tags
The power of self-proclamation: Kima Ventures
From the numbers I got, I can count already 25+ individuals on AngelList who are more active than they are.
Disclaimer: I hate to badmouth but I am not one to back down when someone does that to me :)
Berrebi looks like a total douche, not just bc he’s friends with Simoncini - who I can testify is the meanest person in the whole biz world (if you can imagine), a known ruthless bully who...
Of Kindness and Wickedness, and Being Successful
In life most go through our share of amazing moments and a few unavoidable disasters.
I am now certain that the only way to be happy is to be kind in all occasions.
When you are ambitious and want to achieve things, you will have to add to that a certain degree of firmness towards those (most actually) who won’t play the kind game.
First, when money is involved, it looks like over 95% of...
Why is French consumer web design so bad?
Besides being buggy, the French “Seamless”, the market leader, is UGLY and TACKY. Sadly, it’s just an example… below is the latest (sigh) “redesign” of their homepage. Why the ugly characters on the side?
Then the site is full of useless stuff and graphical gimmicks from 1999.
Their points are “miams” which is the silliest name one could...
Deepclass is HIRING
www.deepclass.com
Hiring various profiles in Paris, London, NYC or for remote work. Please pass along!
Fight the Hackers Part 2
SQL Injection Attack
What is it?
A “SQL injection” (SQLI) attack is an exploit that takes advantage of poor web development techniques and, typically combined with, faulty database security. The result of a successful attack can range from impersonating a user account to a complete compromise of the respective database or server. Unlike a DDoS attack, an SQLI attack is completely and easily...
Fight the Hackers Part 1
Even if you’ve only loosely followed the events of the hacker groups Anonymous and LulzSec, you’ve probably heard about web sites and services being hacked, like the infamous Sony hacks. Have you ever wondered how they do it?
There are a number of tools and techniques that these groups use, and while we’re not trying to give you a manual to do this yourself, it’s useful to understand what’s going...
Dating sites are dead. Here's why.
Sure there will remain for a while a dozen sites with significant sales in teh world, with a slow decline or flat growth.
I tried to disrupt that with Smartdate, working around the “social dating” thingy.
IT CANNOT WORK.
Why on earth would people pay (quite a bit) for what they get (better) for FREE on Facebook?
On my casual profile, I put a shirtless pic. In ONE DAY, I had 113...
A French employee, 28% of what his company pays....
An American employee gets 62% of what his company...
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First Deepclass Teaser newsletter: lessons
Sweet: Click-thru rate on the whole list of prospective members was 15 times industry average, at 30%!
Look at how clicks were spread out:
1. Most email clients don’t load images = low % of clicks on top images. I’ll try putting them in more spots.
2. The most mundane CTA works best: “get a sneak peek”
3. The intriguing title worked (open rate of 75%), and 21% of...
In France, everyone wants to live in Paris.
And nowhere else which leads to ever more scandalous abuse
… and even in a rather remote suburb this “splendid”, “magnificient” closet of 130 sq ft with toilets into the kitchen/bathroom sink is for sale for $115,000.
Rejoice, future owner. Someone will rent this.. thing for a mere $700/mo.
Plus utilities.
Now picture how ugly things can get when you actually...
Being Uber-Performing..
From Business Insider- a bit conventional but rather interesting. Goes in the line of “you can’t achieve great stuff without breaking some eggs”.
Makes me think it’s very typical of ego and image-obsessed politicians to think their job is mainly to take care of their perception by the public. It’s too bad strong opinions get more and more rare, and the fear of...
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Happiness... and Business?
I feel happy, energized and so much wiser than just a few years ago. I believe a lot of people experience this tipping point where they reach their “best age”, a mix of wisdom, knowledge, experience and energy.
On my end, living a perfect romance, being madly in love with a partner who reciprocates the same feelings to me, happens to be my main driver for happiness.
Well, what a...
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How long does it take to be a millionaire?
Great stuff from the Economist. Bear in mind that this is EARNINGS not NET WORTH.
INFLATION may have ruined “How to marry a millionaire” as a good film title, but there is still something magical about $1m. How long would it take for an average person to earn that special sum? To find out The Economist looked at how much the main breadwinner in an average household makes each year...
Deepclass Teaser email campaign
Feels so good doing everything myself. Although it can’t last forever, I love not depending on anyone to launch businesses. I think when you’re a passionate entrepreneur, it’s worth the time investment to learn to master any aspect of what your business is going to be doing.
Email marketing is so intricate and interesting.
Much more exciting than when I decided to learn how...
Why Does Time Go Faster As We Get Older?
It is a widely accepted adage that, “The older you get, the faster time seems to go.” But why should aging have this effect? After all, there is the parallel adage that, “Time flies when you are having fun.” But as we age, time flies whether we are having fun or not. So what’s going on? I have recently been trying to understand the phenomenon, because for the past...
Beyonce and the "Streisand Effect": don't you see...
It seems pretty obvious that if you want a gossip to spread, you vehemently deny it. That’s why the “No Comment” was invented.
Likewise, asking to take down embarrassing photos is a sure way to spread them.
Could Beyonce’s PR be that stupid when they asked to take down her ugly pics from the Superbowl? HELL NO.
I have another theory: as we all know, there’s no...
