*|MC:SUBJECT|*

FFLOK together!

So there you have it… a new name. I knew that dinner with Mr. Bagwell would prove useful. The logo will hopefully be revealed next week assuming Kanishka from Sri Lanka gets back from vacation and logs back into the fiverr platform.

In addition to that discussion, I also spent two days at an Alexander Osterwalder Business Model Canvas workshop in London last week (brilliant and very applicable to what we’re trying to do at FFLOK); I had an enjoyable dinner with Ben Zola who is an expert on making things go viral (in a good way); and we also had an excellent session at the Founders Institute (FI) on all things legal on the Tuesday evening.

My old friend Laurent Dalard, who is kindly lending me a couch to sleep on after each FI session, was somewhat amused when I told him that the spring in my step on the Wednesday morning was due to the fascinating presentation we’d had the night before about incorporating companies, intellectual property and employment law...

Mind blowing stuff

In doing this week’s assignments I have learned more about French taxes than I ever thought I needed to… In France we’re lucky enough to have corporate income tax, dividend taxation, capital gains taxation, value-added tax (VAT). All fairly standard fare thus far, but then we also have some other belters including the CET or Contribution Economique Territoriale, which comprises the CFE (Cotisation Foncière des Entreprises, or the "Corporate Property Contribution"), and the CVAE (Cotisation sur la Valeur Ajoutée des Entreprises, or "Contribution based on the Value Added Produced"). The French seem very keen on this word “contribution” :-) And we also have a local property tax called the taxe fonciére for good measure. Just don’t get me started on French employment law… I’ll keep that one for another post when we actually have some employees!

This is not me...

This incoming week also promises to be busy. Tomorrow night’s topic is building the right team including the advisors. I also have trips to London, Paris and Amsterdam for work, and that’s all before Wednesday evening! Thursday should hopefully see a meeting with Emmanuel Macron’s new special advisor for the digital economy, and then Friday evening is a visit to the blacksmith for a new set of shoes for Vent des Chênes. I’ve got a feeling this week is going to fly by again…

Thanks again for all your ongoing help and support, I really appreciate it.

Aidan