Tag Archives: Paris

Dementica Brittanica… Written on Brexit last July.

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I originally wrote this in July for The Memo, which published a watered-down version. After recent events, I thought I’d publish it in its original form here. It’s quite angry and contains swearwords, although I use wanker when I really mean cunt.

dementica

In World War II, the Nazi propaganda machine wanted the world to know that the British were starving and running out of food. They used the term Dementica Brittanica to describe this so-called state of being.

Some would say that leaving the EU was a similarly demented act and as we live through this important summer, it’s easy to think of The Reprieve, Jean-Paul Sartre’s second book in his Parisian trilogy leading up to and during World War II. Continue reading →

TWO YEARS ON: Which startup is Europe’s next €100 million exit?

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€100 million_exitTwo years ago, I wrote a piece for TechCrunch about which European startup was ‘cleared for the next €100+ million exit’ and picked out five European companies that I considered the most likely to do so.

A lot can happen in two years, but as can be seen from the summaries below, all five have ‘moved on’, pulled in more funding and taken their businesses to another level. These five predictions weren’t too far off the mark and I’m currently putting together another list of five companies that look as if they have huge potential. Any suggestions would be welcomed. Continue reading →

Le Web London stank of perfume but the grass outside was good

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I’d never been to the Le Web conference before, I’d planned to go to Paris last year, but was waylaid by something MUCH MORE IMPORTANT, er, I mean a job for a client.

So the conference’s debut in London this week piqued my interest and off I toodled to the People’s Hall in Westminister, a venue I imagine was not chosen for its egalitarian description of men and women, but for its proximity to the more privileged shadow of Parliament.

Entrepreneurs, naturally, are selfish bastards, a description that most would believe a compliment. I, too, have designs in that area so I strode past the LA-nightclub-style security into a two-day show that costs around £1,500 to attend. Continue reading →

It could have been oh so different, but there’s f*ck-all Olympic bunting in Paris

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Yesterday I went to Paris to meet Maria Sharapova but it rained and rained so I stayed in the Orange hospitality tent and drank lots of champagne.

By the time I entrained the Eurorail back to Ashford (International is a joke btw) she had just started her match so she didn’t have the pleasure of meeting me. Shame, it could have been the highlight of her career.

Paris is a nice city, but as the taxi wended its way to Gare du Nord I noticed there wasn’t much bunting around… and there was certainly no Olympics signage around. Funny that. Continue reading →

It could have been oh so different, but there's f*ck-all Olympic bunting in Paris

Posted on by
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Yesterday I went to Paris to meet Maria Sharapova but it rained and rained so I stayed in the Orange hospitality tent and drank lots of champagne.

By the time I entrained the Eurorail back to Ashford (International is a joke btw) she had just started her match so she didn’t have the pleasure of meeting me. Shame, it could have been the highlight of her career.

Paris is a nice city, but as the taxi wended its way to Gare du Nord I noticed there wasn’t much bunting around… and there was certainly no Olympics signage around. Funny that. Continue reading →