Member since June 2026
Elisabeth Bykoff is a French-American entrepreneur and associate film producer. She's also the author of French Landing, her real-life story of arriving in the United States as a young woman chasing a dream, navigating ambition, culture shock, and building a life from scratch. Over the past 22 years, she has reinvented herself across industries — from aerospace engineering and corporate leadership to the startup ecosystem. In her career, Elisabeth explores what it really takes to start over, and whether the dream looks the same once you’ve lived it.
Travel, cultural discovery, and understanding how people live, think, and connect across different countries and cultures.
While returning from a business trip to France, I found myself helping evacuate a Boeing 777 after an emergency landing in Chicago. What began as an ordinary flight became an unexpected lesson in human behavior under pressure revealing how quickly fear, self-interest, and responsibility emerge when plans suddenly fall apart. The experience ultimately reinforced one of the biggest themes of my life: when the unexpected happens, we are often far more capable than we think.
When I was 12 years old, my mom took me on my first trip to the United States—Kentucky, Washington D.C., and then New York City. New York completely changed me. I remember looking around and thinking, one day, I’m going to come back and live here.
The problem was, my parents couldn’t afford to send me to college in the U.S. My mom basically told me, “You’re going to have to find your own way there.”
When I was 12 years old, my mom took me on my first trip to the United States—Kentucky, Washington D.C., and then New York City. New York completely changed me. I remember looking around and thinking, one day, I’m going to come back and live here.
The problem was, my parents couldn’t afford to send me to college in the U.S. My mom basically told me, “You’re going to have to find your own way there.”
Although I wanted to be a filmmaker, my dad convinced me to pursue a degree that would feed me first. My first plan was actually law school through a French-American dual-degree program, but believe it or not, I failed the English entrance exam. So I ended up in aerospace engineering in Toulouse and discovered a path to the University of Washington through an exchange program, and eventually I landed in Seattle.
That experience taught me sometimes survival builds the path that passion can’t yet afford.
And the second I arrived in the US, I knew I didn’t want to go back. For the first time in my life, it felt like there were no limits on what I could become. Everything seemed possible.
So I found a way to stay. I got into an MBA program, and that decision eventually led me to San Francisco, Silicon Valley, startups, entrepreneurship, and ultimately to writing French Landing.
I came to America chasing a dream and ended up reinventing myself instead.
French Landing is a memoir about immigration, ambition, and reinvention. Through the eyes of a French woman building a life in America, it offers a candid and often humorous look at culture, belonging, and the realities behind the American Dream.
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Learn MoreWhile returning from a business trip to France, I found myself helping evacuate a Boeing 777 after an emergency landing in Chicago. What began as an ordinary flight became an unexpected lesson in human behavior under pressure revealing how quickly fear, self-interest, and responsibility emerge when plans suddenly fall apart. The experience ultimately reinforced one of the biggest themes of my life: when the unexpected happens, we are often far more capable than we think.
When I was 12 years old, my mom took me on my first trip to the United States—Kentucky, Washington D.C., and then New York City. New York completely changed me. I remember looking around and thinking, one day, I’m going to come back and live here.
The problem was, my parents couldn’t afford to send me to college in the U.S. My mom basically told me, “You’re going to have to find your own way there.”
When I was 12 years old, my mom took me on my first trip to the United States—Kentucky, Washington D.C., and then New York City. New York completely changed me. I remember looking around and thinking, one day, I’m going to come back and live here.
The problem was, my parents couldn’t afford to send me to college in the U.S. My mom basically told me, “You’re going to have to find your own way there.”
Although I wanted to be a filmmaker, my dad convinced me to pursue a degree that would feed me first. My first plan was actually law school through a French-American dual-degree program, but believe it or not, I failed the English entrance exam. So I ended up in aerospace engineering in Toulouse and discovered a path to the University of Washington through an exchange program, and eventually I landed in Seattle.
That experience taught me sometimes survival builds the path that passion can’t yet afford.
And the second I arrived in the US, I knew I didn’t want to go back. For the first time in my life, it felt like there were no limits on what I could become. Everything seemed possible.
So I found a way to stay. I got into an MBA program, and that decision eventually led me to San Francisco, Silicon Valley, startups, entrepreneurship, and ultimately to writing French Landing.
I came to America chasing a dream and ended up reinventing myself instead.
