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Germany plans €3B in AI investments

reuters.com

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Re: Germany plans €3B in AI investments

#141

Post by maa5444 »

reacharavindh wrote: post #59
bitL wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A typical Berlin startup: - hires devs with extremely low salaries - gives 0.004% equity at best - is run by people that are "better than anybody else" - expects constant overtime and 24/7 employee reachability - has managers with issues saying "thank you" - hires friends/family to higher echelons of company Does this sound like a recipe for success?

Don't know about the rest of the points, but I looked into several job opportunities at Berlin, and was shocked by how low their offered salaries were. That was the end of my interest in looking for jobs at Berlin... I live in Denmark currently, and can attest that to some extent, salaries cannot be compared because of different social structures & expenses. Getting paid 50% of what I used to make in the US did not m…

man DK has another level of social welfare ... I are comparing apples with bananas

Re: Germany plans €3B in AI investments

#142

Post by shemtovo »

woodpanel wrote: post #131
chimeracoder wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The companies in my network (anecdotal evidence) are full with international people. In our office we have nationals from 13 countries. This is the most diverse environment that I have ever seen (including San Francisco) I'll probably get downvoted for saying this, but it's important enough that I need to: country of origin is a completely meaningless way to measure diversity. Especially in Europe, where most count…

> Bavaria as a whole, it is incredibly racist Do you mind stating some sources for that (and no, the conservative party ruling there for the last 70 years doesn't count)?

Personal experiences. Trust this middle eastern right here.

Re: Germany plans €3B in AI investments

#143

Post by maa5444 »

bitL wrote: post #32
rsp1984 wrote: post #25

The problem is not a lack of funds. The problem is bureaucracy and a lack of startup infrastructure. My feeling is that the people in charge have absolutely no effing clue about how to most efficiently deploy this money so they will do what sounds good on paper but will have 0 effect in reality. If it goes how it usually goes the largest part of this money will likely to to universities and other research institution…

A typical Berlin startup: - hires devs with extremely low salaries - gives 0.004% equity at best - is run by people that are "better than anybody else" - expects constant overtime and 24/7 employee reachability - has managers with issues saying "thank you" - hires friends/family to higher echelons of company Does this sound like a recipe for success?

I would wait next spring European election before deciding to move to Germany .... my friends

Re: Germany plans €3B in AI investments

#144

Post by poulsbohemian »

chimeracoder wrote: post #139
poulsbohemian wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Especially in Europe, where most countries are comparable to the size of individual states in the US I understand what you are saying, but having travelled around the US, mostly for business but some for pleasure, there are remarkable and under-appreciated differences among the states. I would go so far as to say that my state, Washington, and its neighboring Canadian province of British Columbia, have more in commo…

> Silly case in point - it's been a few years, but you go to Frankfurt and ask for an alt beer, you get served. You ask for an alt beer in Munich, you get funny looks. If this is what you think is remotely relevant in a conversation about a "diverse environment", I'm not sure what more can be said.

My point was that diversity is more than race - it can be language, religion, politics, gender, and yes even cuisine.

Case in point the old joke about the biggest divide between Israelis and Palestinians being the way they pronounce “hummus.”

Re: Germany plans €3B in AI investments

#145

Post by Plastikdusche »

baxtr wrote: post #105
bitL wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Munich is generally not as open to foreigners as Berlin. Even more foreigners are in Frankfurt, but most hate living there, despite getting a funding is much easier than in Berlin/Munich - it's fun to see ICOs popping up there 1 year after they were relevant, so if you follow US trends, you can apply them without much effort over there a year later and be celebrated for copying some already well-known idea.

This is complete BS. I live in Munich and work for a company with a high share of internationals. None of them wants to move to Berlin

I guess that would be survivorship bias? There are at least twice as many people living and "everyone here hates Munich and doesn't want to live there". I even know someone who works in Munich, but lives in Berlin. Jedem das seine ;)

Re: Germany plans €3B in AI investments

#146

Post by iagooar »

tomp wrote: post #132
iagooar wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OK, so let's talk about what we, a Berlin startup that I co-founded, do offer: - fair salaries for the experience and attitude - no equity, because we believe that a fair salary is better than a lottery equity - we don't expect people to work overtime and value work-life balance a lot - we say thank you A LOT - we hire people who are the best fit for the job And since we're talking about this: we're hiring a software…

Thanks for including the actual salary. It annoys me when companies say “extremely competitive compensation” but then you realize it’s like 50k (in London).

In my experience, not including the salary is a sign of weakness of a company. Why would you not include it, if it wasn't that you're afraid your salary is not fair? Or is it that people at your company would want to get a raise (they probably deserve) if they saw what you're willing to pay?

In any case: I'm huge fan of transparent job postings and believe that they are a net positive for both sides.

Re: Germany plans €3B in AI investments

#147

Post by baxtr »

Plastikdusche wrote: post #145
baxtr wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is complete BS. I live in Munich and work for a company with a high share of internationals. None of them wants to move to Berlin

I guess that would be survivorship bias? There are at least twice as many people living and "everyone here hates Munich and doesn't want to live there". I even know someone who works in Munich, but lives in Berlin. Jedem das seine ;)

Or, maybe, just maybe, Berlin is twice as big as Munich?

Re: Germany plans €3B in AI investments

#148

Post by StreamBright »

chimeracoder wrote: post #123
StreamBright wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree. The companies in my network (anecdotal evidence) are full with international people. In our office we have nationals from 13 countries. This is the most diverse environment that I have ever seen (including San Francisco). There are some companies however who are hiring strictly Germans, just like with anything else the market will correct these mistakes. This is not the norm but the exception though. I am…

> The companies in my network (anecdotal evidence) are full with international people. In our office we have nationals from 13 countries. This is the most diverse environment that I have ever seen (including San Francisco) I'll probably get downvoted for saying this, but it's important enough that I need to: country of origin is a completely meaningless way to measure diversity. Especially in Europe, where most count…

Totally, people from Romania are the same that people from Netherlands. Only minor differences like history, culture, language, life expectancy, religion, etc. are different. :)

Btw. I did not say that all 13 nationals are from Europe, in fact they are from: India, Pakistan, Algeria, South Africa, Australia and United States. They did not have a rough time to come to Munich and they love it here, have kids, speak German and integrated into the society more than I am (I am from Europe). I am not sure how they managed to dodge the racist Bavarians.

Re: Germany plans €3B in AI investments

#149

Post by anoncake »

blattimwind wrote: post #22
5_minutes wrote: post #13

Germany is still not allowed to have an offensive army, so it makes a lot of sense to at least stay first class in tech, and in AI, in order to stay relevant as a world leader for the future.

The Kellog-Briand pact prohibits signatories (including the US) from offensive wars anyway. Article 2 of the United Nations Charter states that members shouldn't even use threats of offensive actions. And the Grundgesetz obviously bans offensive wars as well. Not sure what you're thinking, but you're waaaaaay out there.

Technically, the GG only bans preparing an offensive war. But what kind of German would improvise that kind of thing?

Re: Germany plans €3B in AI investments

#150

Post by usrusr »

mrdodge wrote: post #52
outside1234 wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

German firms (like Deutsche Telekom) have a ton of redundant jobs because of their inability to make needed structural changes because of the work councils and labor laws. This is why firms like Google are hiring in Switzerland and the United Kingdom instead of France and Germany.

> have a ton of redundant jobs because of their inability to make needed structural changes because of the work councils and labor laws. How will they able to adapt to truly focus on electric cars then? Especially when that means many of their suppliers become redundant.

Labor protection laws limit options with direct employees, they do not interfere at all with a company's relation to suppliers. That's why subcontracting exists, it's employer-side redundancy insurance.
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