Failure is not tolerated in French business culture as it is in the U.S., Lescent-Giles says, and both the legal and social consequences of bankruptcy are much more dire in France. The government dominates the economy, and the business elite is almost exclusively recruited from the elite schools, the Grandes écoles.
For having lived in the Silicon Valley for a year, I must acknowledged there are many French people there, who created their own companies. That is pretty sad to see this talent exported out of France, because there are a lot of great ideas coming from French entrepreneurs. The Divx format has been created by a French engineer, Loic Lemeur is doing a great job with Seesmic, and a lot of big companies in the Valley are seeking for French engineers, considered as among the best in the world.
I believe the situation got better here, but there is still a lot of room for improvement. entre
