This session was very interesting given Aaron Patzer, the founder of Mint.com which was bought by Intuit last year for a 170M$, was mentoring with me. I was very excited about meeting with him. I thought that we'd have the chance to talk after the session but Aaron was a bit in a hurry and we've decided to catch up in the Valley.
To go back to the session, I was very surprised that our slide decks were almost the same, the main differences relying on the salaries! Oh my god, US developers salaries are too high, 100k$ for a senior engineer and 150k$ for a VP Engineering. You know what, we have enough skilled people in France to build the right technologies.
At the end of the session, I started to think about the ideal organization for a company and I think I'll share my thoughts in an other post.
Finally, a very good session with only one conclusion, you French guys, you rock enough to develop the best technologies in France. Don't forget that one of the largest Apple R&D team outside Cupertino is based here in Paris!
Edit: this presentation mentions some standard salaries. The figures could vary and depends on company's internal policy.
Hiring & Firing
My first mentoring session at The Founder Institute was about Earning Revenues. I was a bit nervous, given this was my first session and I decided to make it in French. The video is available at on the French version of this post.
Earning revenues is not an exact science, it's not just about selling, it's mainly about the convergence between your product offering and your client needs. Most of the time, you'll have to adapt yourself and your products to earn your frist revenues. But earning your first revenues doesn't mean you'll have to change your company DNA. Be flexible and listen to your environment, stay focus on your product. And never forget, your clients are your VCs, the less you need them the better you are!
This is my personal blog and i'll try to share some thoughts. This blog is also available in French for now, but i don't know if i'll continue to blog in both langages. Feel free to share and comment.
Stay tune!
Jonathan
