1Tech and videogames angle
2 Beware of history course, people give you advice regarding their failure of their successes instead.
My own anecdote 6 years ago
3 So I will tell you my own path to understand why I am talking about Québec today
4 But you need to write yours
5 I have a history of not being always politticaly correct
Always wanted to work in the movie business but it was a totally closed environment that wasn’t moving forward
Working at Telerama, I saw my first CD-ROM the whales from the discovery channel and was blown away, came back to my work and told them that we should move toward that medium, big silence on their side.
Being too young, not having any connection in a world where the word VC didn’t exist, if starting a company in France might be difficult today, it was incredibly hard in these days.
I joined a videogame company
Why Ubisoft picked Montreal (…) andwhy I settle for Montreal why I dreamt of Los Angeles
I arrived in Montreal in 1997
2 years after the referendum
Not one crane in the city
We hired more than 400 people in the first year
To tell you the truth at that time, I hated it. I was too young and stupid to see all the opportunities
The snow, the cold, also the city and the province doesn’t offered itself like Paris or London or San Francisco, you need to be guided or take the the time to know it.
I decide to leave for the country that I think will bring me everything: the US
Here I am building a studio for Ubisoft.
Ubisoft was booming and we opened studios everywhere in the world, besides, Montreal, Paris and NY, Casablanca, Milan, Shanghai, Tokyo, I also had the opportunity to work with other developers in Australia, South Africa, Korea, etc.
I saw something very interesting and my eyes were starting to open on the reality that even if you work on the same type of products, people behave quite differently and every country has a different set of competitive advantages and drawbacks.
Spain always late in meeting
Germany always on time
Have to ask 5 times the same question to know the answer in china
In Japan the answer is always yes..
For instance NYC
Some stuff were easy, other less finding young talent yes because of the topic and the universities, rent were crazy life style was crazy (anecdote on Manhattan always looking the same in terms of people).
Sept 11 move to what I thought was going to be the ultimate place Silicon Valley and San Francisco
Amazing place but to build platform not content and not a lot of time
-expensive in terms of everything
I have an amazing opportunity to work in Los Angeles but I can’t see myself raising my family in LA give examples of superficialities
Amazing time!
We built up the first studio started from scratch at EA which was at the time #1 company in the world, the first bilingual studio and we were able to reach over 800 people by 2010.
Sava failed but it is ok to failed here and I started again
Came back for Electronic Arts but I discover a new city
Cranes were back
VC
Schools and universities
Pool of talent
At Ubisoft and EA
Invest more
Bring the right people
Invest more
(invest More)
Stable and been here for a while because it is working!
Accelerate
(accelerate)
(compete with the best)
Not only about recruiting but also being able to work together (example of McGill, HEC)
accelerate
CPQ
New generation
Unique in the world
Language but also richness of point of views
senior and junior
Importing people and it is easier now
People want to come to Canada
Came for the Tax credit and stayed for the talent
Anecdote of Catherine Roy
School
Safety
Nature
Gay etc.
Cirque du Soleil
Food culture
To not underestimate how it can affect
Different industries
Never been a better time
Don’t stop working because of it
Work together
Go through it
Solid even in stormy weather
Understanding the culture
Not french living in NA
Not north american speaking french
Own culture, own history and you need to understand and embrace it in order to be successful
