LeWeb: a look back at the international conference in Paris

With LeWeb, Silicon Valley comes to you! The ninth edition of the international LeWeb conference took place from December 9 to 11 at the Docks de Paris Eurosites in Aubervilliers. On site, more than 3,000 attendees, with a mix of start-ups, investors, large companies and media. Among them, Loïc and Géraldine Le Meur, the organizers, as well as “stars” of French entrepreneurship such as Xavier Niel, CEO of Free, Marc Simoncini, founder of Meetic, or Jacques-Antoine Granjon, founder of Vente-privée.com.

Jacques-Antoine Granjon and Xavier Niel

But also Tim Berners-Lee, the principal inventor of the World Wide Web, and Phil Libin, the CEO of Evernote. Emmanuel Macron, the current occupant of Bercy, and Axelle Lemaire, Secretary of State for Digital Affairs, were also present.

An opportunity for all these players to discuss the major trends of the web, through “Digital and multi-theme” sessions. To this end, keynotes and panel discussions brought together analysts speaking about innovations and entrepreneurs presenting their approaches. This year, the topics revolved more specifically around health, connected objects, the collaborative economy, the arts, media, education and digital transformation.

The first talk, with Fred Wilson, a venture capitalist well known for his investments in Zynga, Twitter and Tumblr, notably raised the issue of net neutrality. Fred Wilson continues to believe in protocols like Bitcoin, an internet payment system and a unit of account.

LeWeb thus offered a panorama of the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Young entrepreneurs eager for recognition and funding rubbed shoulders with the event’s regulars and digital transformation consultants.

Semji was represented by Melina Valaythen and Trésor Bapré, two of our e-reputation consultants. An opportunity for a report from them.

Loïc Le Meur surrounded by Melina Valaythen and Trésor Bapré

This is the first time you have attended the LeWeb conference. What struck you the most?

Trésor Bapré (TB): I was especially struck by the quality of the networking. LeWeb really makes it easy for the different attendees to connect. A small start-up can talk to a multinational without any difficulty. There was a large hall dedicated to networking, which is truly part of the event’s DNA. Over there, 90% of the discussions took place in English. This networking was very internationally oriented — 47% of attendees were from abroad, with Koreans, Finns, Turks, and more.

Melina Valaythen (MV): Our role was to talk with as many people as possible and to show what Semji does as an innovative start-up.

One of the headline talks was “In conversation with Sir Tim Berners Lee.” Which talk stood out for you in particular?

TB and MV: The talk titled “Andela” was without a doubt the most memorable one for us. This company, based in West Africa, shares its expertise and trains high-quality developers. They can then go on to work at large multinationals.

Jeremy Johnson, the CEO of Andela, fascinated everyone. He conveyed human values while highlighting innovation and excellence.

Jeremy Johnson, CEO of Andela

Did e-reputation play an important part at this event?

TB: With the topic of disruption — an approach that breaks with traditional systems in order to stand out — e-reputation was often mentioned at this event, as a kind of common thread.

Attendees were curious, receptive and very open to discussion. People shared their experiences readily. One speaker notably touched on the impact of the selfie trend among politicians.

MV: Attendees also asked us for our opinion on the right to be forgotten. We told them about our ethics committee. Regarding the fact that we highlight positive links in search engine results, some spoke of a “magic wand.” We explained that, far from being a “magic wand,” we work with proprietary technology over time.

I also had a conversation with Emmanuel Macron, the Minister of the Economy. He was applauded when he said, “We have to take more risks to be more innovative.” For him, France gives innovative start-ups the means to succeed, notably through the Young Innovative Company status.

Emmanuel Macron and Melina Valaythen