REGISTRATIONS ARE CLOSED. NO MORE EMAIL PLS.
Fellas,
I should have 2 months available in Nov.-Dec. 07 – mainly to clear all academic obligations I’ll still have to abide by (reports, thesis, etc.). But I thought I could be efficient for once and find some time to enjoy my last bits of student life.
That’s why I decided a couple weeks ago to organize a study trip to Silicon Valley. It will be a week-long study trip focusing on the business of innovation & technology (entrepreneurship, venture capital, software, computer networks & hardware, consumer electronics & Internet, telecommunications) and actually take place between Sunday, 25th November 2007 and Sunday, 2nd December 2007. No kidding, it’s serious business so save the dates!
The study trip will be put up on behalf of the Master of Information Technology at Ecole Centrale Paris (ECP). But it’s opened to everyone although I have intentionally decided to restrict the number of attendants to 20, or so, for the group 1) to remain manageable; 2) to be big enough to open us the doors of Silicon Valley’s bulge bracket companies (yes, the big ones); 3) to be small enough to enable us to visit start up companies on US Road 101 or Network Circle and venture capitalists directly at their office on Sand Hill Rd.
- Why Silicon Valley? Because it’s Mecca for all geeks, entrepreneurs and technologists. The quality of the organizations we’ll visit and the people we’ll meet there is just unmatchable, and I’m convinced we’ll come back with plenty of new ideas and drive to pour in our respective organizations. Makes sense, doesn’t it? About our stay: I’d rather pick up a hotel in the city center of San Francisco so that we can hang around in the city at night (should cost less than paying cabs to go out and come back). So it’s a trip to San Francisco & Silicon Valley!
- What should we be doing there? Visit universities, start ups, incubators, ventures capitalists, corporations, research centers + probably get a snapshot of how the the wine tastes in Napa Valley + hopefully watch the 49ers play. I’ll keep you updated about all scheduled visits until the agenda is frozen. Oops, I was almost forgetting: we should also have some fun! I know it may sound a bit weird to register for a study trip you have no idea what and who you’ll be visiting. But trust me, every second of the trip will be worth it.
- How much? Should all pile up to 1500 euros maxi. (most probably less) including plane fare, accommodation, 2 meals a day (or maybe around 1200 euros & each one pays for its own meals, we’ll see), and local transportation (bus rental for 1 week for the group). I’ll ask you to pay around 2/3 (two thirds) of it by check or bank wire pretty soon to book for plane tickets and hotels (I’ll book everything before April 22nd 2007 as I want to get rid of this before starting to work full-time). All participants will be informed of all details of the cost breakdown of the study trip. Important notice: as many students are taking part of the trip, one should not be surprised by the low luxury standards we will go for in terms of accomodation and food (we’re heading for a low cost hotel & low cost restaurants). Or there’s no way we would fit in a 1500 euros budget.
- How do I join? Registrations are closed. No more email pls.
- How do I help? Help most welcome, but only if not meant to be polite but to actually help; in this case, just let me know that you can give me a hand organizing the study trip (and preferably what you’d like to do). Even if you’re not coming, I’d be glad to gather valuable contacts in Silicon Valley or useful practical advice.
- FAQ? Use the comment section of this very post. I noticed everybody asks the same questions so let’s pool the answers on this post. In case of a private question, I’ll be glad to answer by e-mail. For instance, I’ve answered this question thrice: in case you’re not departing from Paris and coming back to Paris, you’ll have to arrange your plane tickets yourself (and obviously, you won’t pay for the Paris – San Francisco return ticket).
All this being said, I’m looking forward to seeing you in San Francisco & Silicon Valley!
- Who’s coming already? (nationality, University if still student (if applicable), job & company, nota bene (if applicable))
Jeremy Fain (French, HEC Paris & ECP student, Emerging business team junior business developer @ Microsoft France)
Olivier Ezratty (French, independent innovation strategy consultant in Paris & visiting professor @ ECP)
David Merchin (French, technology innovation consultant in Grenoble)
Youssef el Alaoui (Moroccan, ECP student, information system architecture consultant @ IT service company Weave in Paris)
Julien Genestoux (French, founder and manager @ JobEtudiant & LBO Analyst @ BNP Paribas San Francisco, just joining – no plane & no accommodation to book)
Alexandre Otparlic (French, Director of operations @ IT service corporation Alligra in Paris & visiting professor @ ECP)
Philippe Vaillergues (French, CEO @ IT service company Henix in Paris)
Frédéric Boyadjian (French, entrepreneur, departing from Lyon so no need to arrange for plane tickets)
Fabrice Papst (French, independent innovation consultant, founder of Idou)
Olivier Marx (French, founder of web agency Altics)
Mikaël Benfredj (French, web entrepreneur)
Raphaël Labbé (French, founder and business manager of Internet start up company U.[Lik])
Emmanuel Douaud (French, cofounder of social networking start up SeeMy.fr)
Guillaume Limare (French, ESSEC student, founder of inoveum.com)
Bertrand Scache (French, founder of IT budget consultancy Episystem)
Sylvain Zimmer (French, student @ ENSIMAG, founder of Internet start up company Jamendo)
Yonathan Arfi (French, founder of Arcoprod & Doneo.org)
Nabil Bouchlouh (French, ERP consultant @ Scandent Group, on a mission @ IBM)
Henry Nidecker (Swiss, student @ ??, product manager @ Nidecker Snowboard)
Yann Le Gouic (French, student @ Euromed Marseille, marketer @ stuviVZ)
Jacques Froissant (French, founder @ Altaide and cofounder @ Moovement)
Alain Le Corvec (French, former President @ Philips France)
Jacques Cinqualbre (French, cofounder @ HOPI)
Saïd Sebti (Moroccan, venture capital analyst @ Ventech)
Special thanks for their help planning visits, even though they can’t make it:
Benoît Peyronnet (French, France Telecom Group VoIP Abroad program director)
Dana Parries (American, ECP student, IT specialist @ JP Morgan)
Ghislain Morard (French ECP student, entrepreneur)
Michael Salomon (French, Ph.D. student @ Stanford University)
Special thanks to all bloggers who help marketing the event:
Lucien Huang, Ilan Abehassera, Olivier Ezratty, Marc Duchesne, Julien Codorniou, Ouriel Ohayon & Loïc Le Meur, Thomas Faivre-Duboz, Michel de Guilhermier, Cédric Giorgi, Olivier Marx
Well,
I would love to join for a few days… Keep me updated with the schedule!
Comment by Julien — March 29, 2007 @ 00:50
Hey Ju,
Since you’re already in Frisco, I’ll get in touch with your to have you check that we chose a cool location for our hotel if you don’t mind.
And just keep reading – and I know you will – Tech IT Easy (and especially this very post), to get an updated schedule.
Take care, we’ll be glad to have you for with us, even just for a few days.
Jeremy
Comment by Jeremy Fain — March 29, 2007 @ 01:29
Hey Jérémy,
there are some trips it is not a good idea to miss…
So keep me a seat for this one!
Talk to you soon.
Comment by Sébastien — March 29, 2007 @ 01:43
Well, this is a great idea… I would have been delighted to part of it, but Jeremy, i am not going to be able to make it for the reasons you know.
Enjoy and tell us about it when you come back!
Comment by Alexandre Lucas — March 29, 2007 @ 01:56
Seb> Done.
Could you provide some details about your friend that is joining us?
Many thanks in advance.
Alex> Too bad you can’t make it. Let us know if you get fired though, we would be delighted to have you with us.
Comment by Jeremy Fain — March 29, 2007 @ 01:56
Hey Jeremy
Obviously I would love to help in anyway that I can…communication, advice, organization. Let me know what I can do. I’m back in the states every two months so I can do anything you might need done on this end.
Comment by Dana — March 29, 2007 @ 04:26
FFS, Jeremy… I mean, how could I say no? You’re one of the craziest, yet inventive guys I know.
I, too, had a really insightful conversation, but with an experienced IT leader. Why I bring it up here, is that he used to be in VC business and … well, you guessed it, in California.
Jeremy, as the other guys have already commented before, this is a trip that I don’t think I can miss. I’ll have to think about it, hopefully there are seats left when I finally make up my mind…
Comment by kari — March 29, 2007 @ 07:42
hi jeremy,
Great idea, I wish I could be part of this trip. Unfortunately, I will be at school and I guess they would not enjoy so much that I skip classes, even to visit IT entreprenors in the Sillicon Valley …
Good luck!
Comment by Léonard — March 29, 2007 @ 10:19
Dana> I printed somewhere in my ROM that you were willing and I really appreciate that. I’ll get back to you during the ‘filière’.
Kari> Excellent news you’re thinking of coming (watch availability though). It seems our crowd will be rather international. I can’t wait for you to blog your conversation btw.
Leo> What can I say? Too bad!
Comment by Jeremy Fain — March 29, 2007 @ 13:04
Very interesting.
Sounds fun, good opportunity to connect and learn w/ like-minded folks, and I happen to love that part of the world just in general.
I’ll think about joining (from New York City) for a bit.
Keep it up, Jeremy (nice shorter post titles!).
–D
Comment by Dave Notik — March 29, 2007 @ 20:08
I’m afraid I can’t write a blog entry on the discussion and besides we only discussed briefly on that topic. Suffice to say, he told that he really enjoyed VC stuff, because he could follow all that insanely great stuff that was being developed. He also saw big benefits in big companies investing into venture capital, even if the companies they invest in have no direct applications to the big companies.
Comment by kari — March 30, 2007 @ 09:50
It’s quite difficult to project myself in such a long time. But I surely enter the could make it group. I’ll discuss it with mathieu and let you know.
Great Plan
Comment by leafar — April 1, 2007 @ 01:44
Voyage d’études dans la Silicon Valley
Mon ami blogueur Jeremy (du toujours excellent blog Tech It Easy) a lancé un projet de voyage d’études dans la Silicon Valley pour fin 2007. Il s’agit d’un séjour d’une semaine pour visiter les plus grandes entreprises IT de la région, mais aus…
Trackback by Carnet Web de Cedric Giorgi — April 1, 2007 @ 13:00
[...] peut-être vous intéresser: un camarade & blogueur émérite, Jérémy Fain, organise un voyage d’études dans la Silicon Valley à la fin de [...]
Pingback by Blog-conversion.com: le Blog dédié à l'optimisation du taux de conversion des sites Internet! — April 1, 2007 @ 20:31
[...] Pour s’inscrire ou en savoir plus, voir le site de Jérémy Fain. [...]
Pingback by Opinions Libres - Le blog d'Olivier Ezratty — April 2, 2007 @ 08:47
Partez d?couvrir la Silicon Valley. Vite.
Jeremy a lanc? une super initiative pour partir d?couvrir la Silicon Valley du 25 novembre au 15 d?cembre avec un programme VIP (visites chez Yahoo, Google, Cisco..) et pour un tarif plus que sympathique. 20 places seulement. Je crois quil
Trackback by Loic Le Meur blog [FR] — April 2, 2007 @ 10:35
I’m very interested by this trip !
Add me to the list if it’s still open.
Thanks
Emmmanuel Douaud
founder of SeeMy.fr (Social Network for young people – style in private beta)
Comment by Manu — April 2, 2007 @ 10:39
Partez decouvrir la Silicon Valley. Vite.
Jeremy a lance une super initiative pour partir decouvrir la Silicon Valley du 25 novembre au 15 decembre avec un programme VIP (visites chez Yahoo, Google, Cisco..) et pour un tarif plus que sympathique. 20 places seulement. Je crois quil
Trackback by Loic Le Meur blog [FR] — April 2, 2007 @ 10:40
Great initiative.
I’m coming for sure if it’s still open for subscription.
David Guillocheau, ceo, jobmeeters
Comment by GUILLOCHEAU — April 2, 2007 @ 11:03
Great !
I will be there too. Count me in if it’s still possible. And that’s a definitive yes.
Thanks.
Guillaume Limare, CEO, Inoveum
Comment by Guillaume Limare — April 2, 2007 @ 11:24
Guillaume & David> Done.
One or two more attendants (via email or comments or whatever) and registrations will be closed.
Comment by Jeremy Fain — April 2, 2007 @ 13:13
Jeremy,
I’ve had the information through CIET, and I will be glad to join you.
Consider my application as confirmed.
I’m currently starting a company. It will help lower the IT costs through innovative solutions. Hope I’ll find a couple of ideas there !
Warm regards for setting up this study trip.
Comment by BScache — April 2, 2007 @ 13:59
Hi Jeremy,
If this is still open, i will be happy to join the group.
Tell me how I can do to confirm, please?
Thanks
Comment by nabil — April 2, 2007 @ 14:31
Jérémy,
I have sent you an email 30 minutes ago.
I would like to take part of the trip.
Thank you for the organization
Comment by David A. — April 2, 2007 @ 14:48
Nabil, David> Sorry guys, left an hour and got several dozen emails regarding the trip. I’ve put you in the waiting list.
Comment by Jeremy Fain — April 2, 2007 @ 15:44
That’s a lot of French people
Comment by The CraveDog Company — April 2, 2007 @ 16:00
If you need any help, since I’m also in San Francisco (and met Ju yesterday BTW), don’t hesitate to tell me.
Cheers
Comment by ooto — April 2, 2007 @ 20:16
With great pleasure! Many thanks Ooto. I’ll get back in touch with you.
Comment by Jeremy Fain — April 2, 2007 @ 23:38
[...] USA, Economics, Microsoft, Internet — Jeremy Fain @ 2:04 am Whilst taking a look at my Silicon Valley study trip announcement published a few days ago, Conor O’Neill from Web 2.0 Ireland, an excellent blog for those [...]
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juste un petit commentaire sur deux endroits a voir… le Software Developer Forum a San Jose, plus de détails sur http://www.sdforum.org … plein de reunions de geek quasiment tous les soir sur tous les sujets (je me souviens notamment de réunion chez HP à cupertino ou chez IBM au nord de Palo Alto)… Il y aussi DBF … voir sur http://www.dbf.net (avec le très célèbre jean louis gassée et ses amis) qui ce réunit le premier lundi de chaque mois… un moyen de rencontrer les français de la valley (avec un buffet de fromage, pain et vin francais)…
Comment by Philippe — May 5, 2007 @ 11:47
[...] Ca sera sans doute parmi les aventures les plus chaudes que j’ai connu dans ma vie. Grâce à Jeremy, nous serons une vingtaine à aller visiter la Mecque des industries de pointe. Silicon Valley [...]
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[...] the success of another Bay Area study trip of which I’m an organizer, which will take place slightly later (more about it soon). Actually, we have even built a partnership with the French Embassy to ensure [...]
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Hello
I read your comment abou thye travel of Silicon Valley and I would like to know if you can pass me some contacts of the companies that you visited in your travel. I´m a student in Mexico and I am plannig a trip to Silicon Valley and… I don’t know if you can help me with it?
I hope your answer !
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