51–60 of 97 posts
and likely less attractive as a place for to non-Europeans to work, since they can't get access to Europe via London.
Finding workers for your unicorn startup in the UK will be much more challenging.
Too early to tell. If you’re coming from a less well-off country and have the flexibility to take advantage of any post-Brexit easier immigration flux, I’d definitely take the risk and go for it. If you’re coming from a country that’s roughly as prosperous and have some luxury of time, I’d delay any decision by at least a year. There will most likely still be more opportunity in London than anywhere else in Europe, b…
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That is a given for every resident in most European countries. Edit: it seems I am wrong. I commented a bit too fast.
That's not true. For example in Germany there is an explicit difference between statutory healthcare and private healthcare. Private healthcare will get you to the front of the line and will give you easy access to all services. With statutory healthcare you will have to go around searching for specialists who have time for you, as most will refuse you on account of them being "fully booked".
The UK government has recently turned the economy to dust through forced lockdowns. Thinking about moving to the UK any time soon is not a good idea. Also, taxes will go up soon to pay for the current economic depression.
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I get the impression US salaries usually come out way ahead for software people (in other fields, not so much). The only point where it starts to get questionable is when you consider stuff like, how much would you pay to live in a city that doesn't have needles all over the sidewalks, or, what is the value of living in a society that isn't brutally unfair and visibly dystopian? Personally, I put a pretty high value…
US is a nation of immigrants where you can basically fully integrate in a matter of months. In non-English speaking countries this is impossible. If you put a lot of weight on fraternity and equality you have to consider that if you move to France or Germany you will always be "that foreigner who moved here". Just something more to consider. Although I do agree also with your post.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
That is a given for every resident in most European countries. Edit: it seems I am wrong. I commented a bit too fast.
That's not true. For example in Germany there is an explicit difference between statutory healthcare and private healthcare. Private healthcare will get you to the front of the line and will give you easy access to all services. With statutory healthcare you will have to go around searching for specialists who have time for you, as most will refuse you on account of them being "fully booked".
Why London as opposed to Cambridge or some of the other areas with a lot of tech?
I'm an American that lived in London for 2 years in the 90s - the high tide for an American abroad - so that's the POV I bring to your question. The following decades have seen mostly retrograde changes. I cannot imagine it becoming -easier- for a non-native in Britain in the 2020s... can you? Germany and even France now bring a genuine interest in cultivating technology economies by welcoming global investors AND workers. I would put Berlin or even Paris ahead of London for the next decade if you're looking for an exciting soup of technology culture, opportunity, reasonable costs, and relative freedom to operate. I'm not being arbitrary in saying this - the company I co-founded, Spoonflower, runs its European operations out of Berlin.
That said, I loved London and still do - such a civilized place to visit. I was there just before Covid times, and was absolutely amazed by the changes to LHR immigration and Crossrail that allowed me to go from deplaning my transatlantic flight to my hotel in central London in 55 minutes. I can't wait for the city to re-open and Crossrail to be complete. There are few pleasures to equal a walk by the Thames on a long sunny day - perhaps summer 2021?
I saw a list of European unicorns (on HN in fact I think) and probably about 2/3 were UK/London based. That’s right now. The other ones are scattered around, so this might be your best bet in this part of the world. As another comment says, you’ll mostly get political comments, so here goes: UK universities, while still very good, are dropping quite significantly in various league tables since Brexit. This is for a r…
I think you have the right idea there > I saw a list of European unicorns (on HN in fact I think) and probably about 2/3 were UK/London based While unicorns are an interesting measure (even though it favours the biggest startups - are 2x 500Mi startups "worse than" 1x 1Bi startup?), I always wonder how much of it is some form "language blindness". How much value is on startups or companies that don't get on HN or "do…
This is probably quite good for VC funded companies, as there is some transparency in this. But, apart from the arbitrary 1bn cutoff, what is a startup? What about more established, but still innovative companies? What about ones that are not VC funded?
Both this question and the question that OP is asking have been on my mind a lot lately. But I don't really have much choice in the matter, because of my situation. I was living in the US for 7 years but I had to leave because I did not get the H1B visa. I could have gone to Canada, but right now they are apparently taking upwards of 9 months to process work permits so I got turned down by a lot of FAANG companies. I ended up deciding to move to Europe.
This decision has been really hard on me for a number of reasons. Other than the fact that all my friends are there and so are all my professional connections, being a first language English speaker, I think that I would also feel more at home in the US or Canada. Then there is the matter on compensation and opportunity. El the only things I've heard about jobs in the EU is that there are few opportunities and the pay is less. I feel like I've been forced to take a step backwards in my career.