Founding a tech start-up (software)

Start-ups are attractive. A 2015 study shows that only 9% of young people feel that the company integrates them well, and 40% of them are considering setting up their own business. The success of the GAFAs (Google – Apple – Facebook – Amazon), and the theorization of the unicorn concept - high-growth start-ups capitalized at over €1 billion, yet representing only 0.1% of the companies in which venture capital funds invest - mean that many are turning to web-based activities, attracted by the apparent low investment costs and the promise of massive fund-raising. In this case study, we take a look at a serial entrepreneur who created a start-up in the early days of the Web, in the 1990s, then, after making it successful and selling it, created another one in the context of 2015. This is an interesting business case, in that it highlights the evolution of an entire economic field, now a major one, which we often forget is only 25 years old.