Chris O'Brien

Chris O'Brien is the founder of The French Tech Journal, a newsletter that covers France's innovation economy. He previously covered Silicon Valley for the Los Angeles Times and San Jose Mercury News.

10 posts

Scaling Up Talent In Europe

Chris O'Brien

With startups raising mega-rounds across Europe, they now face the challenge of hiring the talent they need to be global champions. That means not just attracting the best local or European talent, but the very best from around the world.

4 min read Jun 29, 2021

Events public

VivaTech, Macron, and Scale-Up Europe

Chris O'Brien

Perhaps the most notable thing about the return of VivaTech, the French mega-conference, was that it was held at all. One year after the pandemic forced its cancellation, VivaTech became the first sizable European tech conference to welcome a live audience, albeit in a hybrid live-video format.

4 min read Jun 23, 2021

Community public

French Tech Down Under

Chris O'Brien

Sesamers on Tour made a recent stop in Australia in collaboration with Pause Fest. This farflung ecosystem in on the rise.

1 min read Jun 2, 2021

Entrepreneurship public

Francophone Africa's Tech Challenges And Opportunities

Chris O'Brien

While Francophone Africa may hold enormous potential, it still badly lags the English-speaking regions of Africa in terms of startups and funding.

4 min read May 25, 2021

Community public

How SISTA and The Galion Project Are Building Community

Chris O'Brien

As French Tech gains more visibility, there are groups emerging within that ecosystem that are trying to build more specific communities.

2 min read May 18, 2021

DeepTech public

What Is Deep Tech For Good?

Chris O'Brien

France has become increasingly focused on 2 important pillars for the French Tech ecosystem: Deep Tech and Tech For Good. But what happens when these two themes intersect?

5 min read May 10, 2021

SaaS public

How Sendinblue And lemlist Are Building Global SaaS Brands

Chris O'Brien

No matter what the pundits dispensing entrepreneurial wisdom might tell you, there is no one right way to build a startup. To illustrate this point, consider Sendinblue and lemlist, two French SaaS companies in the marketing space that are taking very different routes going international.

3 min read May 4, 2021

Events public

What Is La French Tech? Kat Borlongan Explains

Chris O'Brien

The goal of La French Tech is to be a bridge between government, its vast administrative functions, and startups. The broader idea is to create a service-oriented culture that makes France a more welcoming place to launch a company.

5 min read Apr 26, 2021

Venture Capital public

Investor panel @ Sesamers on Tour (France)

Chris O'Brien

Just a few years ago, the French Tech ecosystem was begging to be noticed by international investors. Now, the venture capital community is knocking on France’s door and trying to figure out how to compete for deals.

4 min read Apr 19, 2021

Venture Capital public

Seed Funding: How Frst Encourages Risk

Chris O'Brien

Co-founders Pierre Entremont and Bruno Raillard see a Seed gap in France they want to plug.

6 min read Feb 3, 2021