LeWeb10: Venture Capitalists Want to Pay Entrepreneurs

Good news if you are thinking about creating a start-up. Your investors want you to get rich and are even prepared to pay you. Or at least they are prepared that you might want to ask about it.

Interesting panel here at LeWeb from the money people—Philippe Botteri, Jeff Clavier, Bernard Liautaud, and Barry Silbert—which made perhaps the obvious point that if you spend 14-18 hours a day, six or seven days a week, at some point you may want to see some return even if your company isn’t making a profit yet. Paying bills is a nice thing.

VCs are now prepared to allow entrepreneurs to take some money “off the table” for themselves rather than having all their money being ploughed into the company.

digits: Will Europe Spawn Next Big Thing in Tech?

Entrepreneurs like LeWeb founder Loic Le Meur say Europe could produce the next big thing in tech. But some European VCs are still disinclined to invest beyond seed stages - which means some entrepreneurs may still look towards Silicon Valley. WSJ’s Ben Rooney reports from LeWeb in Paris.

Next Big Tech Startup from Europe?

Stephane Richard, CEO of France Telecom-Orange, discusses whether the next Facebook or Google will come out of Europe and the obstacles new tech start-ups face.

LeWeb10: Day 2

After the first day which was focussed on success stories and inspiration, there is a change of pace for the second day of LeWeb10. The day kicks off with a keynote by Yossi Vardi, the legendary Israeli high tech entrepreneur.

The theme of the rest of the morning is on money — how to raise it and how to spend it. Talks from VCs, including DST International, a round-table, and a presentation by Phil Libin, the CEO of Evernote. We hope to bring you an interview with Mr. Libin later.

Thursday’s 8×8

Smart Company: The 10 next social media trends
“Social media still dominates headlines as the new direction for business marketing, but it seems many businesses are resisting the call.” Big mistake.

Business Insider: The First 10 Free Google Chrome OS Apps You Should Download
“We took a look at the the initial offering of Chrome apps and put together a list of the best free ones you should get first. It’s pretty slim pickings so far.

GigaOM: WikiLeaks Gets Its Own “Axis of Evil” Defense Network
“If the WikiLeaks saga was a comic book, it would be starting to look a lot like the Justice League of America vs. the League of Supervillians — or maybe it’s more like Star Wars, with the plucky rebel alliance up against the might of the Empire.”

Checking In With Foursquare’s Crowley

Foursquare co-founder Dennis Crowley on staying independent, rapid growth and how he’s not losing any sleep over Google’s social media.

What’s Next for Angry Birds Creator?

Mikael Hed, Rovio CEO and creator of the wildly popular mobile gaming app Angry Birds, discusses what is next for him and his company.

World Leaders Love Twitter

The Russian president uses Twitter personally, doesn’t like to say too much, but does like to post pictures. The U.S. presidency uses Twitter, but Mr. Obama doesn’t write them himself. Even the North Korean leadership is one of 62 leaders on Twitter.

Well done to Matthias Lüfkens, social media architect at the World Economic Forum, for a great (and short — always a bonus) presentation on the state of, wait for it, Twitplomacy, the interplay of Twitter and diplomacy.

French Entrepreneur: Learn English

Loic Le Meur, founder of LeWeb, denies Europe lacks entrepreneurial spirit, but gives Europeans one piece of advice if they want to succeed: learn English.

Nokia’s MeeGo Will Bet on Differences to iOS and Android

One of the most interesting talks today at LeWeb, Paris, came from Marko Ahtisaari, senior vice president of design at Nokia.

The Finnish mobile phone giant is, of course, under pressure to fight back against Apple’s iPhone, Google’s Android operating system, and a resurgent Microsoft mobile platform.

Mr. Ahtisaari was, however, preaching patience and caution on stage today.

On mobile interfaces, he said: “We’re at the point the automotive industry was in the 1890s, where cars had tillers — not steering wheels, which were 15 years in the future.”

He said he’d left his own start-up to join Nokia, “making a bet on the steering wheel.”

[Read more over the jump]