AI 让在任何地方创办公司成为可能，但创始人仍然倾向于坐在一起，Station F 主管 Roxanne Varza 和 Anthropic 的 Aiden Blake 如是说。他们在周四于都灵的 Wave by Vento 小组讨论中发表了讲话。
AI makes it possible to build a company from anywhere, but founders are still choosing to sit together, Station F director Roxanne Varza and Anthropic’s Aiden Blake said. They spoke on a panel at Wave by Vento in Turin on Thursday.
“真正有趣的是，自从‘AI 热潮’以来，我们看到越来越多的人加入。我认为实际上很多团队真的在拥抱实体存在，”Varza 说。
“What’s really interesting is we’re seeing more and more people coming since the ‘AI boom’. I think actually a lot of teams are really embracing physical presence,” Varza said.
Varza 说，位于巴黎的 Station F 始终有 1,000 家早期公司入驻。Blake 是 Anthropic 在欧洲、中东和非洲的初创企业销售负责人。Les Echos 的 Charlie Perreau 主持了题为《亲近的力量》的会议。
Station F, in Paris, always has 1,000 early-stage companies on site, Varza said. Blake is head of startup sales for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Anthropic. Charlie Perreau of Les Echos moderated the session, titled “The Power of Proximity”.
“构建产品并在线与潜在客户互动的能力从未如此容易。这对人们的实际意义在于，真正的信任，我认为，发生在面对面的时候，”Blake 说。
“The ability to build a product and to engage with prospective customers online has never been easier. What that actually means for people is that the real trust, I think, happens in person,” Blake said.
Station F 于二月推出了 F/ai 项目，这是其面向 AI 初创企业的计划。其合作伙伴包括 Anthropic、OpenAI、Mistral AI 和 Meta。Varza 说，团队可以采用混合模式，但必须在项目的某些关键时刻来到 Station F。否则，她说，他们将无法获得所需的动力。
An AI programme with set days on campus Station F launched F/ai, its programme for AI startups, in February. Its partners include Anthropic, OpenAI, Mistral AI and Meta. Teams can be hybrid, Varza said, but they must come to Station F for certain moments of the programme. Without that, she said, they do not get the momentum they need.
Varza 说，当前批次约有三分之二的团队不是法国本土的，成员来自亚洲、斯德哥尔摩、英国和波兰。
About two-thirds of the current batch is not French, Varza said. It includes teams from Asia, Stockholm, the UK and Poland.
Blake 表示，Anthropic 加入是因为希望在初创社区中占有一席之地。他说，Google、Notion 和 Anthropic——他最近的三家雇主——都是 Station F 的合作伙伴。人、信息与机遇当被问及亲近感是关于人、信息还是偶然性时，Varza 说三者兼而有之。她指出，今天的许多创始人都是有丰富人脉的重复创业者，和他们同处一室会打开许多门。她说，关系无法被工程化，只能被影响，很多时候最好交给偶然。
Blake said Anthropic joined because it wants to be present in the startup community. Google, Notion and Anthropic, his last three employers, have all been Station F partners, he said. People, information and chance Asked whether proximity is about people, information or serendipity, Varza said it was all three. Many founders today are repeat founders with large networks, she said, and being in the room with them opens doors. She said relationships cannot be engineered, only influenced, and much is best left to chance.
布莱克表示，Anthropic活动上的创始人们希望结识面临同样问题的其他创业者。他们还希望聆听走在前列的人的经验。他将获得资金支持也视为一种“近距离优势”，并指出斯德哥尔摩和华沙是不断涌现新公司的城市。周三在同一场活动上，Bending Spoons公司的卢卡·费拉里（Luca Ferrari）表示，资金已不再是欧洲面临的大障碍。
Blake said founders at Anthropic’s events want to meet other builders with the same problems. They also want to hear from people further along. He named access to capital as part of proximity too, and pointed to Stockholm and Warsaw as cities where new companies are emerging. On Wednesday at the same event, Bending Spoons’ Luca Ferrari said capital is no longer Europe’s big barrier.
布莱克称，Anthropic在都柏林设有办事处，拥有150名分属不同团队的员工，以此支持欧洲、中东和非洲各地的初创企业。他说，这座城市拥有人才优势，其时区能够覆盖从南非到法国和德国的市场。
Anthropic supports startups across Europe, the Middle East and Africa from Dublin, where 150 people work across several teams, Blake said. He said the city offers talent and a time zone that covers markets from South Africa to France and Germany.
瓦尔扎表示，公司曾经历远程办公，随后又重新聚在一起，如今一家伟大的公司可以在任何地方建立，但实体聚落依然重要。布莱克说，ElevenLabs最初完全采用远程办公，随着公司发展陆续开设了办公室。上个月，该公司在布鲁塞尔开设了一家新办事处。
Remote, then back together Varza said a great company can now be built from anywhere, but coming together physically still matters. Blake said ElevenLabs started fully remote and opened offices as it grew. Last month it opened one in Brussels.
布莱克说，许多曾远程工作的人希望重新回到队友身边，特别是在负责开拓市场的岗位上，他们可以在那里互相学习。并非所有公司都持这种看法。今年8月，Dropbox的新联席CEO表示，该公司将继续保留远程办公模式。
Many people who have worked remotely want to be back around teammates, Blake said, especially in go-to-market roles, where they learn from each other. Not every company agrees. In August, Dropbox’s new co-CEO said remote work is staying at the company.
当被问及五年后是什么让初创企业具有竞争优势时，瓦尔扎回答说技术栈很重要。她还表示，创始人们建立关系的速度同样关键。布莱克则坦言，他觉得甚至连预测未来五天都很难。他说，能够成功的初创企业，将会非常清楚自己所解决的问题，并始终倾听客户所关切的事物。
Asked what will give a startup its edge in five years, Varza said the tech stack matters. So will how fast founders build relationships, she said. Blake said he finds it hard to predict even five days ahead. The startups that succeed, he said, will be clear about the problem they solve and keep listening to what customers care about.