And VCs, but as much as I'd like it to not be the case, the US and the bay area in particular play at another level. The french ecosystem is getting really good at some forms of deep tech, but developer tools is not one of them, yet. The current government and station F have done wonders, we were 8 french startups at YC this year, the most populous of any other EU countries. Things are starting to change in the right direction and french engineers don't lack the drive and talent.
On the other hand, French people/VCs will wonder what can go wrong whereas in the US they look at what can go right. There are enough hurdles to face when trying to build a global tech companies as a solo founder and it can definitely make a difference.