Pierre Schneidermann
Apr 4, 2018
Dive into the professional - and sometimes intimate - life of over-motivated entrepreneurs.
What do the joys, disappointments and jokes that punctuate the existence of very young French start-ups look like? Station F - the mega-incubator launched by Xavier Niel last July - tried to raise the curtain of mystery by putting on the sneakers of five start-ups… from Station F. Obviously.
"Foundation" (another capital F, is it a plot?), Which comes out on April 4, is produced in partnership with Allianz, Paypal and Sycomore and is divided into eight ten-minute episodes. They are broadcast among others on the site dedicated to the series or on YouTube . You can get to know Meetmymama (catering service that employs "mamas"), Recast.ia (AI-doped chatbots), Torq Labs (connected sportswear for athletes) and Sherpas (online tutors for athletes). preparatory students).
The cameras leave Paris twice to immortalize two of the essential stops for any entrepreneur driven by his ambitions: the Web Summit - the conference that brings together tech pundits and dozens of small start-ups seeking networking - and well sure, the eternal and magnetic Silicon Valley.
The series of documentaries "Foundation" is directed by Olivier Blaecke who, by his own admission, knew nothing about the environment and was seduced by the constant bubbling. The images are beautiful and the soundtrack very punchy, at least as much as the entrepreneurial energy. Those who know nothing about it will discover the human aspects behind the adventure. Those who know the environment better will recognize themselves in what is shown and will not have a shattering revelation.
Interesting initiative, therefore, for budding startuppers or simply curious. We will just regret not knowing the end of these stories. Failures, fundraising, redemptions, stagnations, unicorn metamorphosis , unforeseen events: the possible futures are numerous. Perhaps more time should have been allowed to observe the impact of these initiatives.