We Will Survive by Pierre Chapaz

[LeWeb 08] It is more difficult now for start ups since the subprime crash and the fact that web 2.0 services are loosing money. But some companies are doing very well, examples: Photolia is doing very well and since Freddy Mini took over Netvibes, he has increased the revenue by four in three quarters.

Wikio, is a pan European portal launched 3 years ago with a team of 35 people and no offices, they work from home. Can an information service be profitable? Lightspeed Venture Partners and Gemini founded it. Wikio allows internet users to find the most relevant information across multiple sources on the internet, it aggregates blog ranking, rss readers, consumer opinions, news etc…The business model is supported both by advertising and shopping. The traffic is growing super-fast, with 4 millions users in France and revenues of 120k euros in Q108 to 540k euros in Q4. At 430 K Euros, wikio breaks even (November 08)

• 3 advices from Pierre Chapaz to succeed in a recession time:
• One: believe in what you do and fight,
• Two: manage expenses carefully,
• Three: Europe is our market