Yahoo wanted to buy a controlling stake in French company, called Dailymotion, for $225 million.
But then the French government said it would not allow the deal to happen.
That loud smack you just heard is a thousand French entrepreneurs facepalming themselves. Mon deiu!
Creating a startup, like Dailymotion once was, is a huge risk that's only worth it if there is serious upside.
Often that upside is the sale of a company.
The tech companies that can afford to make big acquisitions are mostly not French.
That exit path is apparently off limits to French startups.
When you factor in how hard it is to fire people in France – thus increasing risk greatly – it's a wonder anyone creates new companies over there at all.
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