Are You a Taiwanese Startup? Key Tips for Entering the French and European Markets

In April 2026, UBIK once again served as a key partner and mentor organisation in the G-Camp VivaTech Pre-Training Programme: a three-day intensive training initiative designed to prepare 30+ selected Taiwanese startup teams for their participation at VivaTech Paris, Europe's largest technology and innovation exhibition.

Pascal Viaud's Masterclass: Cross-Cultural Decision-Making & Business Communication

On 29 April at TTA Taipei, UBIK CEO Pascal Viaud led a masterclass on how French professionals think, communicate, and make decisions, and how Taiwanese companies can adapt accordingly. The session covered five axes of cultural difference with direct business implications.

Key learnings:

• Terroir and regional identity. France operates as a network of distinct ecosystems. Taiwanese companies should target a specific regional cluster: Grenoble for deep tech, Lyon for health and biotech, rather than approaching France as a single market.

• Relationship to time and process. French professionals require a clear understanding of who their counterpart is before engaging commercially. The first meeting is for building credibility, not closing a deal.

• Public versus private space. French professional relationships maintain a defined level of formality, particularly in early interactions. Before entering in private places, people must do a proper greeting and not hesitate to say "Bonjour!".

• Relationship to authority. French culture encourages intellectual challenge at all levels. Being questioned is a sign of engagement: companies should respond with structured arguments and data, not deference.

• Cartesian analytical thinking. French professionals are rigorous and systematic. Coming prepared with a clear agenda, well-structured arguments, and defined next steps significantly improves meeting outcomes.

Important Practical tips:

• Always greet people with “Bonjour” before starting a discussion, both in professional settings and public spaces.

• Expect critical questions and view them as opportunities to demonstrate expertise.

• Create a professional LinkedIn profile for you and your startup. People use LinkedIn more than business cards.

From Theory to Practice

To close the masterclass, each startup was assigned a real-conditions exercise: draft a cold email to Pascal Viaud at UBIK requesting a business meeting, with no further context provided. Teams were required to independently research UBIK, assess its relevance as a target, and write accordingly.

On Day 3, Each startup team had the opportunity to sit across from Pascal Viaud for a dedicated, one-on-one simulation session, a format that, in a normal consulting context, would represent a significant professional investment. Pascal had personally reviewed every cold email submitted the night before, and arrived at each session with individual written feedback ready for the team in front of him.

The 10-minute format was deliberately intensive. In the first minute, Pascal presented the team with a challenge scenario drawn directly from their own email, exposing gaps in their research, questioning their assumptions, or probing the clarity of their value proposition. Teams then had one minute to regroup internally before delivering a live five-minute business meeting performance. Pascal closed each session with three minutes of direct feedbacks.

Participants left each session with specific, immediately applicable corrections: to their email writing, their opening, their argumentation structure, and their ability to close a meeting with a concrete next step.