For Comic Relief, Consider The Plight Of The French Entrepreneur

Earlier this Spring, Yahoo wanted to buy a controlling stake in French company, called Dailymotion, for $225 million.

But then the French government said it would not allow the deal to happen.

The reason: Yahoo is not a French company and transfering control of Dailymotion to Yahoo might result in the loss of a few French jobs.

That loud smack you just heard is a thousand French entrepreneurs facepalming themselves. Mon dieu!

Creating a startup, like Dailymotion once was, is a huge risk that's only worth it if there is serious upside.

Often that upside is the sale of a company.

The tech companies that can afford to make big acquisitions are mostly not French.

That exit path is apparently off limits to French startups.

When you factor in how hard it is to fire people in France – thus increasing risk greatly – it's a wonder anyone creates new companies over there at all.