November 2013
October 2013
10 Things Paris Does Better than San Francisco
10. Demonstrations
9. Flea markets
8. Door codes
7. Vertical gardens
6. Cafe gourmand
5. Hipster hangouts
4. Car sharing
3. Procrastination (“Vite fait bien fait”)
2. Health care
1. Community
“A walk about Paris will provide lessons in history, beauty, and in the point of Life.”—Thomas Jefferson
September 2013
“Paris isn’t a city, it’s a world.”—King Francois I
Day 1: Ne me tutoie pas
NATHALIE
Thoughts from a dinner in Paris…
We met so many people in the first day as we tumbled out of the airport and headed to the 10eme arrondissement. After a quick shower and nap, we set off to find a dimly lit restaurant around the corner. It had excellent roasted cheese, salads topped with perfectly poached eggs, and seared salmon! My mouth literally watered for an hour–or maybe that was the drip of cheese that Michelle kindly wiped away from my chin. The wine was flowing and conversation bubbling as we met with other founders, entrepreneurs, and share economy enthusiasts.
Who did you meet?
It’s actually funny because the first three people we met were not originally from Paris! Our taxi driver was Vietnamese, Marguerite who manages the apartments where we’re renting is Polish, and our handsome waiter was a Texan. This is why I love cosmopolitan cities like Paris!
What interaction stood out most and why?
I really liked our welcome dinner. Drinking loads of wine and talking about life and work and love is always a good recipe for fun.
When everyone went out to smoke I was left alone at the table with Greg, a Parisian blogger and entrepreneur. He told me that he had recently ended a long-term relationship with an American–and I told him that I’d ended a six year relationship with a guy who, around this time last year, asked me to marry him. “Why didn’t you want to get married?” He asked. It was hard to explain. The guy was lovely and decent and good and took care of me like I was a porcelain doll and might shatter in his hands any minute.
“I guess the bottom line,” I said, “was that I hoped one day I might feel as in love with someone as he did with me."
"And has that happened yet?” Greg asked.
And it actually has. I told Greg the story.
It’s interesting what you’ll share with a complete stranger, in the time it takes for everyone else to smoke a cigarette. But perhaps I’ll write about that love affair in the next episode… It’s almost too romantic and beautiful and amazing a story to put on the Internet!
What was the biggest challenge?
Jetlag.
What new ideas did you have?
Paris’ diversity made me think about what it means to be an insider or an outsider somewhere. Actually when I look at our network of Vayable Insiders, there are quite a few expats. Having been an expat myself for four years (in Vietnam), I realize that part of what makes you feel more like an insider is when you can introduce visitors to what you’ve discovered. You feel closer to a place when you can share it with others.
What did you discover about yourself?
My French is a little rusty!
What did you learn about the business?
There are always little interactions I witness that make me realize the culture I’d like to bring into our platform. For example, everyone I’ve been with (or spied on from the other side of a cafe) has been so respectful of their servers. As someone who used to wait tables, my mantra has always been that EVERYONE on earth should work in the service industry for at least a while so that they learn how to treat people nicely. I love that our platform is creating a community founded on respect–because an Insiders one day might be a traveler the next (and vice versa). This business isn’t founded on traditional hierarchy between client and vendor. It’s much more horizontal than that.
How’s the team doing?
Somehow we’re all tired and energized at the same time. Michelle has managed her lactose intolerance despite downing a good portion of roasted Camembert. Seth is only slightly shaking from a post-voyage caffeine binge. Jamie is glowing from being in one of her favorite cities in the world. And my happiness level is in direct inverse proportion to the bags under my eyes.
JAMIE
Who did you meet?
I met Fred the founder of BlaBlaCar, a French ride-sharing company that been taking off in Europe. I also met some of the members of Ouishare, and Greg, a marketer here in Paris. Oh, and Shane, the nice guy from San Antonio Texas who served us drinks at the local cafe. Funny that it took us half of a kir royale to discover he actually spoke English and Spanish. Oddly, it felt wrong to speak to him in English and my French isn’t very good, so I spoke to him in Spanish. Turns out his mom is from Barcelona, where I lived for 6 months.
What interaction stood out most and why?
Hearing Fred’s founding story was really inspiring. It made me realize there truly is a common theme of a mix of delusion and determination among all startup founders, regardless of age, gender or nationality. He’s been working on Blablacar since 2004, and the first couple years was just him going at it alone and everyone telling him he was crazy. Now they have more than 5 million people using the service. Also, I learned how BlaBlacar gots it’s name (which I discovered later is on the website, but I felt special hearing it from the founder).
What was the biggest challenge?
This sounds silly, but determining whether the restaurant was close enough to walk or if we should take a cab or metro was a bit stifling. We ended up taking a cab (it was raining) and realized we could easily walk back. I do worry that by the time our inner compasses acclimate, it’ll be time to leave.
What new ideas did you have?
I realized I think it would be great to have access to multiple, specialized Insiders while here in Paris. I want someone who can help me figure out how to get access to some of the great parties we’ve heard about, and also someone who can help me discover the best art galleries. I’m not sure that’s the same person.
What did you learn about the business?
Everyone at dinner was very enthusiastic about the new services we’re offering and could envision themselves as Insiders. I am realizing that Vayable Insiders are really any and all of us. They’re everyday people who love where they live.
What did you discover about yourself?
That once I embrace the discomfort of uncertainty, I am can accomplish so much more and magic starts to happen. I need to remind myself this. So much about this experience is uncertain, which is the point.
What ‘s something new you learned about the Vayable community?
There’s a strong sense of loyalty among our community that seems to solidify when we all meet in person. Real-life interaction seems to create an inflection point in devotion and trust. There’s an ocean (literally) between what you’ll do for someone you met virtually versus someone you’ve met in the flesh.
How’s the team doing?
Good! Half the team is jet-lagged, but powering through. We’re all very excited to be here and for the adventure that awaits.
“You belong to me and all Paris belongs to me and I belong to this notebook and this pencil.”—Ernest Hemingway
Bon Voyage, San Francisco!
The Bay Area is sunny and calm on this Sunday morning, but it’s hectic in the homes of various Vayable team members as we make the final preparations for our departure. Imagine bags exploding with clothes and a bed of wires, chargers, and Macbooks. At least our bags are now packed and in little neat piles. The majority of our team leaves for Paris now in just a couple of hours. We’ll be gone until October.
What are we doing?
The bigger task at hand is to change the way that people experience travel. We’re heading to Paris for our PopUp headquarters to connect with users, learn from them and improve our product. We’ll finally meet the travelers who use Vayable to connect to locals in destinations as well as the Insiders who use our platform to offer travel advice and trip design services.
We couldn’t be happier. Of course there’s the obvious benefit of a series of European urban escapades: drippy cheese, walks on the Seine, wine and tapas. But more importantly, we’re finally in the same timezone as our community! Gone are the nights (at least for a couple of weeks) of setting our alarms to 2 am to make calls to France, hoping the Skype camera wouldn’t somehow turn on and reveal our crazy bed-head and sleep shirts.
See you on the other side of the pond!
Cheers,
The Vayable Team
Maeby helps Michelle navigate the streets of Paris before saying goodbye for almost a month.
Jamie’s determined to keep up her boxing training while on the road.
Nathalie wins the toiletry-packing challenge.
Nathalie packing up last-minute supplies while our Lyft waits outside.
Arriving at the SFO International terminal!
Nat and Michelle trying to finish off our Kombuchas before going through security.
Last minute recharge break!
Thank you, British Airways, for hooking up our flights! Off we go!