De Limoges à la Silicon Valley : rêver plus grand avec Carlos Diaz

From teacher in Limoges to entrepreneur in Silicon Valley, here's a new episode of Facing the Void with Carlos Diaz. At 23, Carlos Diaz was bored. So, in 1997, he launched his first startup. Back then, starting a business online meant three choices: websites, hosting, or network access. This first venture became Emakina, a digital agency that would establish itself as one of the largest in Europe. It went public. Without having raised a single cent. A few months later, he left. He bounced back with blueKiwi, a Slack before its time. That same year: $15 million raised. Huge, for the time. Then, in 2010, a radical decision: off to the United States. In France, he spent his time educating the market. In the United States, it's the opposite: "The market is teaching me." He doesn't know anyone. His English is poor, but he goes for it anyway. And he discovers an extraordinary world: The real difference between France and the United States? The level of ambition. It's enormous in the US. "Besides, everyone gives you a chance. But no one is going to help you." But his move to the US doesn't sit well with his investors. Four months after arriving, he's fired. From his own company. He and his family had left everything behind for this. Overnight, he finds himself with nothing in the United States. Why? Because he dreamed too big. Because he was too ambitious. The company is eventually sold a few months later to Atos. In 2012, he starts another company: Kwarter. It doesn't go as planned either. And for the past ten years, Carlos has been mentoring and funding entrepreneurs through an accelerator program in the United States. This episode is a masterclass. It's punchline after punchline. A rare perspective on entrepreneurship in France and the United States. On ambition. Failure. Bouncing back. And on what AI is about to change. Carlos is one of those entrepreneurs who are always several steps ahead, without ever forgetting their own failures. Thank you, Carlos, for your candor, your energy, your humility 🙏