Although start-ups represent a major phenomenon in the USA, they also create skepticism and even suspicion, perhaps because of the excesses of the Internet bubble. Apple, Microsoft, Intel, Cisco, Yahoo and Google were all start-ups and these success stories show that the phenomenon is not mere speculation. 

The goal of this book is to show start-ups from a different angle. Start-ups are created by individuals who are passionate and who have dreams. Therefore this work should not only be read by specialists of innovation or by high tech entrepreneurs, but also by anyone interested in the history and economics of start-ups. 

The book is presented in two parts: it begins with a presentation of Silicon Valley start-ups, which ends with a description of the ecosystem of this region. The second part is dedicated to Europe, where the start-up phenomenon has failed in comparison. The main message is that it is absolutely necessary to take more inspiration from Silicon Valley.

Herve Lebret manages at EPFL (Switzerland) the Innogrants, a program supporting startup creation. The program includes grants to entrepreneurs and conferences where role models share their entrepreneurial experience with students and researchers.  He is also teaching and doing research on high-tech entrepreneurship. From 1997 to 2004, he was with Index Ventures, a pan-European venture capital firm which invested in Skype, mysql, Virata, Numerical Technologies, Addex, Genmab. He began his career in 1990 as a researcher and teacher in electrical engineering and applied mathematics at ENSTA and ONERA (Paris). Herve Lebret is a graduate of Ecole Polytechnique (Paris) and Stanford University. He holds a PhD in Electrical Engineering from Université de Rennes. In addition to the publication of the book "Start-Up, what we may still learn from Silicon Valley", he regularly publishes posts through his  blog .