Le Business: Empowering Startups

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Co-presented with the French American Chamber of Commerce of New England, this panel will explore the validity of President Macron’s desire to embrace entrepreneurship, and compare the evolving business landscapes of Paris to Boston in becoming a cradle for startups.

What lessons can be learned from Boston’s ongoing evolution and what can be applied to the French business environment under President Macron’s term? Are France and Paris capable of the reform needed to adopt this agenda, sustain startup growth, and attract new ventures or promote repatriation?

Moderated by Martha Crawford, Senior Lecturer at Harvard Business School.

Student (valid student ID must be presented at check-in)

For Members

$10

For Non-members

$20

This event is SOLD OUT!
We are sorry to announce that due to a scheduling conflict Clement Cazalot will be unable to attend tonight's panel discussion.

About the Moderator

Martha Crawford is a Senior Lecturer in General Management at Harvard Business School, where she teaches the school’s main course on innovation in the energy sector. She mentors start-ups in the US and Europe, through the Tech Stars program. Crawford also serves as a Director for Altran (Euronext ALT), a French multi-national specialized in R&D and engineering outsourcing.

Prior to moving to Boston in 2016, Crawford lived and worked in France for nearly 20 years. There, she worked as Chief Technology Officer for Areva (now Orano) and for Air Liquide, based in Paris. In these roles, she managed a global network of in-house R&D centers, as well as innovation partnerships with start-ups, national labs, and universities.

Holding a PhD in engineering (Harvard University SEAS) and an MBA (French College des Ingenieurs), Crawford blends a strong focus on technology development and cost control, with a laser focus on business models and go-to-market strategies. Crawford has been involved in numerous efforts to promote entrepreneurship in France since the late 1990s, including serving on the Boards of the Initiatives d’Excellence (IDEX), on the Advisory Board (Conseil Regional) of the Region Ile de France, and on the Boards of the CNRS and the CEA.

A dual USA-France national, Crawford has been decorated as a Chevalier in the French National Order of Merit. In her free time, Crawford enjoys spending time with her family, competing in triathlons, and sampling French cuisine and wine.

Our Panelists for the Evening Include:

Emmanuel Arnaud is the CEO of HomeExchange and GuesttoGuest. A graduate of HEC Paris and the Harvard Kennedy School, he has combined his passions for sustainable development and travel to revolutionize the home exchange market. In 2011, Arnaud founded GuesttoGuest, which in 2017 acquired U.S.-based HomeExchange, creating a world leader in the home swapping market. Anchored in the sharing economy, GuesttoGuest is a promising alternative to traditional hospitality markets, ensuring that peer-to-peer transactions become more mainstream. Arnaud is a sharing economy insider with management, entrepreneurship, start-up, and leadership expertise. He is a frequent keynote speaker and panelist at travel and technology events. He is the recipient of Echo Touristique’s “Person of the Year 2017” trophy for innovation and the FACCNE (French-American Chamber of Commerce New-England) Business Award 2018.

Suchit Jain leads Corporate Strategy, Alliances, User Advocacy, and New Technology Acquisition at Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks. He is looking at how emerging technologies, such as the Internet of Things (IOT), 3D printing, and robotics can be integrated within SOLIDWORKS software to help customers design better product, faster. Also, Jain led the expansion of SOLIDWORKS design software into the hardware startups and the maker world including Fab labs and hardware incubator and accelerators. Suchit holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology in Bombay, India. He also holds a master’s degree in Structural Mechanics from the University of Southern California.

Clement Cazalot is an entrepreneur, angel investor, and startup advisor, and now focusing on working and advising early stage startup. He’s currently Managing Director of Techstars Boston, which is the #1 Global Tech Accelerator with $80 Billion in value created. His latest company, docTrackr, was recognized as one of the most innovative cybersecurity players, was acquired by Intralinks (NYSE:IL), and deployed to 99% of the Fortune 1000 within a couple of years, securing some of the world’s most sensitive data. Cazalot has been featured in several publications, conferences and recognized by peers and media alike for his information security expertise.

Aymeric Vigneras is the Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of OpenFrame. Aymeric is responsible for setting the overall direction and strategy for the company. He’s a serial entrepreneur with experience building scalable businesses. He founded Exsyde and Colego, both were sold to Cameleon and Alti respectively. He also was the CEO of CIDC, a $100 million gaming company with over 4 million customers. Aymeric has a Master of Business Administration degree from Ecole Nationale Superieure des Télécommunications de Bretagne, France.

Le Business, a Series

Forty years ago, Général Georges Doriot took the helm as President of the French Library. French-born Doriot is regarded as a pioneer of venture capitalism, a legendary Professor Emeritus of the Harvard Business School, and one of the founders of l’Institut Européen d’Administration des Affaires, which is consistently ranked as one of the best business schools in the world.

In honor of his legacy, the French Library / Alliance Française of Boston and Cambridge and The French American Chamber of Commerce of New England proudly present a special series dedicated to French and American perspectives on business—from startups, healthcare, and biotech, to cross-cultural challenges in a global economy.

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