Try, try, and keep trying. Keep creating.

“Do a huge volume of work. Put yourself on a deadline”

Happy Sunday

thanks Greg for the video

Last fall, I had just started working with Seesmic. I had left Synthesio, a company that taught me a lot and is continuing to grow, and had joined up with Cedric Giorgi and Loic le Meur. Last October, I had the opportunity to work on one of largest tech events in the world – LeWeb – and jumped at the opportunity – who wouldn’t??

With both Seesmic and LeWeb, I have worked with incredible people. I have met incredible people. And I even started a new side project last September with a couple of friends – La MichAuré. I was in Elle with La MichAuré and even in the last Google Chrome commercial!

I would still say the last couple of months have been some of the most challenging of my life, both personally and professionally, but, like always, a trip home offered me some clarity. And hey – challenges are what make you grow and learn faster – life would suck without them

Living in Paris has at times been frustrating – what expat wouldn’t say that? But I love it here. I love riding my little blue scooter around, and walking to the bakery to get fresh bread, and dinners that can last 3 hours, and the growing tech scene, and especially my friends who have become my family. I’m not saying I can see myself living here my entire life, but for the next few years, I’m home.

Having had the opportunity to work on LeWeb for 3 months, I realized what I really want, and what I love doing. When Cédric announced he was leaving to start his own company, I thought it would be the right time for me to find a new project, as well. I know, for example, that I love working with startups. There’s a freedom there that I don’t think many (if any) large companies can offer – - the wiggle room to work your butt off and grow something like you can’t the same way with a well-established business.

Starting today, I’ll be starting with Communications with Uber, that just launched in Paris at LeWeb last December. If you haven’t heard of them – you should. If you follow my blog, you may have seen a video that I actually posted a few months ago here, about how to get rich in Paris (I really need to subtitle it in English…and PS the comments are PRICELESS for any of you that know that the first time I ever set foot in France I was 18) – easy : just drive around Paris on weekends and weeknights with a sign in your window that you’ll take someone anywhere for $50 and you’re bound to make a killing. Uber is definitely the uber..classy version of that… if you live in Paris or any big city, you probably know how difficult it can be to get a ride home after a night out – - no metro, no buses, and guess what you probably don’t have your own car, either.

Uber is your own private chauffeur that works with friendly, intelligent drivers that will come get you after you just hit the button in the app. You’ll see where they are on the map, and they’ll call you when they’re downstairs. Uber already has your credit card number when you create your account, so even if you just want to order a ride for a friend, it’s already taken care of – - and no stopping in the middle of the ride to pull cash out of an ATM.
You’ll be able to find me on @Uber_Paris, http://uberparis.tumblr.com, and at tons of events soon. Also- – we’re looking for an Operations Manager and a General Manager. If you’re interested or know of anyone that would be interested, let me know so I can put you in touch
OH! Also – My Little Paris offered a promo code that still works for 10€ off your first ride with Uber (so inside of Paris a ride should be between 5 and 10€ for your first ride) – - download Uber on iPhone or on Android and use the code “mylittleuber”

Ah – - and one last thing – - you may be wondering about videos? (Maybe not) I want to get back into making videos for SURE. I love it, and love hearing from everyone that visits here, and/or leaves comments on my YouTube, Facebook, or Twitter, so stick around. I even (immensely) enjoy the comments people leave on YouTube about whether I’m really American or French (I’ve cleared it up but here, for now, I’ll just let you decide):

I’m going to get back into blogging here on a more regular basis about life in Paris, kickass videos, and a few other ideas I’ve had…

In the meantime, I’m over at La MichAuré with Ludo and Auré kickin’ it..

Have a great week, and hope to catch you soon, here or elsewhere

For LeWeb ’11 (if you haven’t heard of it, I find it hard to believe that you follow me on Twitter ;D), Silicon Valley Bank and Lepe Partners invited a few entrepreneurs to network and get the most out of the event. One of the funniest? Gabriel Hubert who submitted this video to get a ticket:

I had coffee with him yesterday and found out more about what his company, Teleportd, ACTUALLY does!

If you love to travel and always dreamed of teleporting (who hasn’t, really) – -this app is for you.

In a nutshell, it’s the “mind-blowing” photo app (dixit Robert Scoble) that pulls together public, geo-localized photos regardless of what photo app you used. Say, for example, you’re addicted to Instagram like it’s sugar-coated crack. That’s fine. But now you can see all of the photos people are taking around the White House whether they’re also addicted or whether they prefer Foursquare, Lockerz, or any of the other 13 services they pull photos in from in real time.

Agencies, media, and brands can all find something interesting here…

Check it out:

Gabriel is on Twitter as well as his co-founder, Stan.

Give Teleportd a try  - – it’s on the App Store – -and TODAY they will be pulling in photos from Loopcam, an app that let’s you create your own GIFs. Yes. GIFs!!!!!!! It’s…addicting to say the least

Related articles

• Teleportd lets you search photos shared on Twitter, Instagram and more in real time (thenextweb.com)

Say hey on:
Facebook: http://facebook.com/ObservingParticipant

Twitter : http://twitter.com/#/MiChmski

And happy Monday

Khyan1

A dude with one of the coolest accents that makes me laugh every time. One of the first videos I saw from him that had me super laughing was :

but I would recommend checking out more

Another channel just discovered tonight, in which Michelle Bachmann apparently says “I bring milk, not backyard meth… it’s a prison party”. You know it’s a good time, thanks to a little misunderstanding. Oops. :

Bad Lip Reading:

Happy Friday, new video on Monday

PS Click on the “CC” button on YouTube for sub-titles

Aurelie is also with me on La MichAuré

Enjoy, and have a kickass week

You’re awesome, Gerard.

Now I’m just waiting for the remix of this.

If you read my blog, you must have.

Sunday I got to meet the founder Jamie Wong (@JamieJWong) of Vayable.com, a site that just launched for travellers all around the world and that you’re probably going to love :

For travellers : a way to experience a new city – or your own – with locals that know the ins and outs and off the beaten paths. Think of the Lonely Planet standing and breathing in front of you, showing you around the way you want to see the city.

For locals : Meet people from other cities — and your own — while showing off what you know best about your city, and earn an extra buck while doing it.

The catch : they may not be in your city – - yet. Don’t worry, though, Jamie says that they’re growing quickly and are looking to grow internationally as quickly as possible while maintaining a grassroots, organic growth.

You can check out who is offering what via the videos that present their offer, and pay directly via the site, so no cash ever changes hands between the guide and the guidee.

Obviously I fell in love with the site when I first saw it, and after meeting Jamie am an absolute FAN.

I had a couple of questions for her, though, that you may have too (NB : these aren’t exact transcripts, but notes I took because I didn’t want to forget anything ) :

What about security? How can I be sure that I’m really getting a scooter tour of the city and not being thrown into a dumpster off the left bank?

Security is absolutely an important issue, and making sure that people have great experiences. Everyone currently on the site is known by someone on the 4-member Vayable team, meaning that they know them personally, or have been recommended by a friend and met with in person or via Skype, and has been backed up via multiple checks. They’re looking into having a type of “Vayable vouched” stamp that would help users identify which are trustworthy and offer incredible experiences not to be missed.

Jamie acknowledges that this may not be scalable, but if when the site becomes a major success with millions of members, they will most likely have to resort to other types of checks, but will always maintaing multiple checks to ensure that the people on there are awesome. It’s a main point that they’re basing their brand on and prefer to take the time handpicking “tour guides” to growing too quickly.

Vayable also has a “1 strike you’re out” policy, so anyone doing something crazy or wrong is blacklisted from the site.

Can people pay from any country to any country?

It took some time (international banking laws do not translate easily), but thanks to some creative work, Vayable offers international payment.

what if my guide doesn’t show? or i don’t?

Guides are paid after they provide what they promised, so if they don’t show, then you’re fully refunded. If you don’t show, it’s your loss (both in terms of money and probably a great experience). There is a bit more to it (like cancelling 5 days prior, and getting 50% back if you cancel 24 hours before, so I let you find that out here all by yourself )

There are certain exceptions when needed, that are only available because the team takes personal relationships so close to heart. One guide in Uganda, for example, offers jungle gorilla tours, but can only give them after obtaining a government license that costs probably 3 months’ salary for him. In his case, he is paid early to be able to offer such an incredible tour.

who does the videos on the sites?

personally, one of my favorites (and someone I want to go shopping with) :

The Gay BFF Experience: SOHO from vayable on Vimeo.

The Vayable team does! Jamie has a background in video production and journalism (and has worked on the most awesomest coolest show ever), and says

The story is the most important, and you have to showcase the characters.

i.e. it doesn’t matter if they film with an iPhone (which they mostly do) or a badass camera, what matters is that you get to see who is really going to be leading you around.

Human instinct is so powerful and seeing a video of someone really lets you get a feeling of whether you think you can trust them or not.

The music is local, too, so it’s free for them and helps promote local bands.

all of the descriptions are super long. why?

Setting expectations is super important. Vayable realizes that experiences are so intangible before they are bought and can vary greatly, and wants to reduce the uncertainty as much as possible to make it easy to click and go.

Vayable is still in Beta, BUT if you’re in Paris and free tonight, head to :

O Chateu


68, rue Jean-Jacques Rousseau

from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM (GMT+0200)

Vayable is hosting a mixer to launch in Paris TONIGHT and you can RSVP for a free ticket here

Add it to your calendar so you don’t forget  It looks like there’s already a good group of people going, so join in!!

ADDED BONUS : They’re hiring

Happy travels

If you’re interested in another project I’ve been working on with some friends, it’s coming soon here, and you can already follow us on Twitter and join us on Facebook for when the fun really starts next week

Otherwise I’m on Facebook here

And check back tomorrow for a good idea for anyone that’s ever travelled. If you’re here, that’s probably you.

Happy Monday