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Why Is Europe Failing to Create More $1B Startups?

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Re: Why Is Europe Failing to Create More $1B Startups?

#131

Post by dang »

bnkd wrote: post #23
Asbostos wrote: post #16

He mentions the multiple languages. I don't understand why Europeans stick to their local languages when they all know English anyway. Are they trying to keep foreigners out? Surely they realize there's a huge social cost of having your own minority language. This problem exists in China too but most people recognize the need to learn the standard Mandarin so they're largely bilingual. Dialect at home and Mandarin ta…

"I don't understand why Europeans stick to their local languages when they all know English anyway. Are they trying to keep foreigners out?" So many things wrong with this sentence.

I agree with you, but your comment doesn't add information. It would be better to reply with one or more of the things that are wrong with that sentence. Then we all learn something.

For a splendid example, see https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10220679.

Re: Why Is Europe Failing to Create More $1B Startups?

#132

Post by ThomPete »

OJFord wrote: post #105

> The third reason I hear is that the US market is bigger and therefore it’s easier to get traction. > Yet there are 503 million Europeans living inside the EU vs. 319 million US living in the US. That's a really dodgy reason to discount the "third reason". Britons are not to Belgians what New Yorkers are to Californians!

And if you read on you will realize that I am adressing it :)

Re: Why Is Europe Failing to Create More $1B Startups?

#133

Post by briandear »

adaml_623 wrote: post #78
hodwik wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is that the more interesting question? Is there anything you can add to the discussion of substance? Or, perhaps, is this drive-by FUD all you have in the content holster?

Ok you have a valid point but since the article is full of kind of wishy washy questions I didn't feel guilty about adding some more into the mix. The title 'Why is Europe Failing to Create More Unicorns?' has an implicit bias in it. The question is saying that Europeans should create more of these massive new companies. 10 smaller companies might be better than 1 big company. 100 companies worth $10 million dollars…

Little companies are rarely disruptive and disruption is what creates value and drives society forward.

Re: Why Is Europe Failing to Create More $1B Startups?

#134

Post by ThomPete »

robwilliams wrote: post #82
adaml_623 wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ok you have a valid point but since the article is full of kind of wishy washy questions I didn't feel guilty about adding some more into the mix. The title 'Why is Europe Failing to Create More Unicorns?' has an implicit bias in it. The question is saying that Europeans should create more of these massive new companies. 10 smaller companies might be better than 1 big company. 100 companies worth $10 million dollars…

>10 smaller companies might be better than 1 big company. 100 companies worth $10 million dollars each might provide the same number of jobs and the same services to the economy. I'm not sure what point you're trying to make. It's beneficial that Airbnb is so big because I can plan a cross-continent vacation using one website instead of searching for each city's/country's version of it (which may have poor customer s…

Thank you very much for actually trying to understand what I was getting at.

It's a thorny subject because it very quickly can turn into a political or ideological discussion. I was trying to avoid as much as possible because I think it needs some debate no matter what the conclusion might be.

Re: Why Is Europe Failing to Create More $1B Startups?

#135

Post by rodgerd »

robwilliams wrote: post #82
adaml_623 wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ok you have a valid point but since the article is full of kind of wishy washy questions I didn't feel guilty about adding some more into the mix. The title 'Why is Europe Failing to Create More Unicorns?' has an implicit bias in it. The question is saying that Europeans should create more of these massive new companies. 10 smaller companies might be better than 1 big company. 100 companies worth $10 million dollars…

>10 smaller companies might be better than 1 big company. 100 companies worth $10 million dollars each might provide the same number of jobs and the same services to the economy. I'm not sure what point you're trying to make. It's beneficial that Airbnb is so big because I can plan a cross-continent vacation using one website instead of searching for each city's/country's version of it (which may have poor customer s…

So, essentially, you're arguing monopolies are the most desireable outcome of capitalism?

Re: Why Is Europe Failing to Create More $1B Startups?

#136

Post by notahacker »

Vexs wrote: post #35
ThomPete wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hate the word unicorn too, but it's shorter than private market companies with a valuation of more than $1 billion :) With regards to lack of investors I don't think it's as simple as that. If it was only a matter of investments then surely US investors or Asian investors could just come in with the money. There is something that makes European VCs risk averse and keep american investors out of Europe IMO.

Unicorn just pokes my brain the wrong way, like bad kerning. On the other hand, it does describe how rare these things are, which I feel does make it an accurate term- it also explains how companies like this are essentially legends. It's an annoying term, but it works (unfortunately)

I like the term because it implies some of the valuations might be mythical...

One of the differences is European investors tend to think on the basis that if it walks like a horse, neighs like a horse and only actually does the same job as a horse ....

Re: Why Is Europe Failing to Create More $1B Startups?

#137

Post by briandear »

robk wrote: post #102
bitL wrote: post #99

There is no Delaware. Taxes are paid regardless of whether the company hits $1M revenue or not, salary taxes are high, health/social insurance is mandatory and paid for the most part by the employer, there is a minimal salary, extensive bureaucracy and you can't sign away most of your rights if necessary for company survival. Moreover, some countries impose rules which make starting up with little to no money impossi…

Plenty of companies can incorporate offshore though. That's probably easier than in the US.

You could incorporate offshore but good luck getting a local bank account or even an offshore one. To do anything in France you have to be incorporated in France and pay French taxes.

Re: Why Is Europe Failing to Create More $1B Startups?

#138

Post by robwilliams »

candu wrote: post #117
robwilliams wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>10 smaller companies might be better than 1 big company. 100 companies worth $10 million dollars each might provide the same number of jobs and the same services to the economy. I'm not sure what point you're trying to make. It's beneficial that Airbnb is so big because I can plan a cross-continent vacation using one website instead of searching for each city's/country's version of it (which may have poor customer s…

While it is true that scale brings certain advantages, larger companies are not an unalloyed good. For instance: - larger companies can leverage near-monopoly status to prevent meaningful competition, increase rates, etc. (e.g. Verizon/AT&T/Comcast) - larger companies can collude to drive the price of labor down. (e.g. tech anti-poaching pact.) - one large company, by being "more efficient", may in fact employ fewer…

A large company doesn't equate to a monopoly. Multiple giant companies can duke it out (and they do). I'm arguing against the idea that small companies are objectively better.

I would certainly prefer a large mobile provider with service around the world (of which there are many) than a small provider operating out of my city. I would prefer a large ride-sharing app (of which there are at least two) with coverage in most major cities instead of installing 10 different local apps for the same purpose.

I'm not arguing that big companies are better, but I am arguing there are certain benefits to large companies that operate around the world (as long as there's competition).

Re: Why Is Europe Failing to Create More $1B Startups?

#139

Post by ThomPete »

OJFord wrote: post #107

I certainly agree that "Europe has no Silicon Valley", but I'm not so sure about "or New York". What part of "the full stack entrepreneurial ecosystem and access to funding" does London lack that New York has? (Genuine question - I don't know NY well)

I was trying to explain that.

New York and SV have been accumulating talent, knowledge about the US in general, lobbyism, transfer of knowledge and so on. London have a lot of that but it's doesn't have enough to counter the power of the political system of the EU.

Re: Why Is Europe Failing to Create More $1B Startups?

#140

Post by mamon »

cronjobber wrote: post #79
cronjobber wrote: post #41

Europe had a crippling diversity deficit and so the US easily took the lead in tech, but under the guise of the so-called "refugee crisis" Europe is now executing a cunning Blitzkrieg assault on America's former advantage. D is for diversity, E is for EUgle!

Addendum: Note that I honestly think that it is basically true: Europe's capitalists will not only profit from the refugee crisis, but they will do so for precisely the same reasons US capitalists profited from diversity. I'm deeply sorry I can't discuss mechanism on this forum; it takes too much hard boiled cynicism to fully grok. Yet I'm serious: The refugee immigration will ultimately boost Europe's tech competiti…

"The refugee immigration will ultimately boost Europe's tech competitiveness"

I don't think so. Most of the immigrants are uneducated people, with no willingnes of finding a job. They want to go to Germany because that's the country with highest benefits for unemployed. How would we benefit from THAT ?

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