According to Meetic’s Marc Simoncini, France is definitely not the place to start a web business – the US or London are much better locations, he says, and only China is more complex than France. Simoncini was speaking during the opening keynote of AdTech’s European roll-out in Paris – to be followed shortly by Hamburg in May.

Marc Simoncini amused the French audience by listing the regulatory problems a French entrepreneur faces. “We are in 22 countries,” he said, “including Brazil. And I can tell you that nowhere, apart from China, is a more complex place to start an internet business in than France”.

He was joined in his criticisms by ShopWiki founder Kevin Ryan, who said “Many of the most capable French talent is to be found working in London or New York. Simoncini said he had to face 6 meetings with regulatory organisations just in the next week or so.

Kevin Ryan added, “The French market is tougher to work in than the US, but it’s also one tenth of the size – and yet Paris was the most logical centre for a European business.” The challenging French environment was one of the reasons that many American organisations set-up their European offices in Dublin or London. Of course, Mr. Ryan is a fluent French-speaker delivering his comments in French – which might be why he didn’t mention the language barrier!

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