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Alibaba acquires Berlin-based data Artisans for $103M

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Re: Alibaba acquires Berlin-based data Artisans for $103M

#41

Post by ionised »

nraynaud wrote: post #26
lawrenceyan wrote: post #7

I wonder what it would take to create the set of conditions for another "Silicon Valley / SF Bay Area" to appear in Europe. It seems like inevitably, any tech companies that are successful always end up getting bought out and leave to the U.S. instead of staying. What are the primary issues? Lack of VC funding, culture, government policy? On the surface, it doesn't seem like there's anything particularly lacking, at…

I think that ship has sailed, Europeans see what SV has become and are thankful that they failed in replicating the model.

I certainly am. I don't want a European Google or Facebook popping up. I want the existing Google and Facebook to go away.

Re: Alibaba acquires Berlin-based data Artisans for $103M

#42

Post by devdimi »

jamesblonde wrote: post #3

What is it about European Enterprise Data software companies that they never make it past this stage without either being bought up or moving to the States? MySQL, JBoss, Elastic. The list is much longer.

There are lot of reasons:

-Europe is fragmented market. It is not given that German software will be gladly accepted and used in France, Italy or UK and vice versa. There are barriers there that does not exist in the US.

-The capital market and the stock market are not as developed as in USA in terms of market participants and available funds. Going public is unlikely event. If it happens, it would not get a lot of publicity and it would not raise as much money. Some European companies prefer to go public in the US.

-There is public mistrust about big software companies. Many people are afraid that big software companies will steal and abuse their personal data.

-There is also mistrust about venture capital and generally big finance institutions that they somehow "control" the economy, exploit small family businesses, and just make money on mistreating normal people.

I know that some of this sounds ridiculous, but it is true for astonishing number of people in Germany, France, Austria, and Italy. UK is a little better, but they mistrust everything about the rest of Europe.

Re: Alibaba acquires Berlin-based data Artisans for $103M

#43

Post by dependsontheq »

lawrenceyan wrote: post #7

I wonder what it would take to create the set of conditions for another "Silicon Valley / SF Bay Area" to appear in Europe. It seems like inevitably, any tech companies that are successful always end up getting bought out and leave to the U.S. instead of staying. What are the primary issues? Lack of VC funding, culture, government policy? On the surface, it doesn't seem like there's anything particularly lacking, at…

It’s not just funding - valley startups have a big group of experienced talent that knows how to scale in exactly the right moment. Startups and growth can die by small mistakes not making these small mistakes can compound quickly.

The other side is that the Valley is not a US place it’s a global tech place, the amounts of international money are staggering and additionally the number of international talent is staggering.

A third thing is that markets are not rational, if your investors are from the network they will hype you in that network, so your valuation is only partially dependent on product.

Re: Alibaba acquires Berlin-based data Artisans for $103M

#44

Post by thecleaner »

oblio wrote: post #35
rapsey wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The funding options in Europe are abysmal compared to US or even UK. EU response to this is various EU funding programs that are mostly throwing money away for little to no benefit. At least in the tech sector.

> EU response to this is various EU funding programs that are mostly throwing money away for little to no benefit. You're framing this as if it's the EU's job. It isn't. The only way the EU could compete if it would become a federal state, similar to the US. Right now the EU, despite being a single market in many respects is far from being a true digital single market. Individual states are actively fighting against…

How do these things get realized in the EU system ? I mean hypothetically if Germany, France, Netherlands, the Nordic countries pass legislations for greater integration wouldnt others follow suite ? Should it also not pass easily since most big businesses would probably get behind it ?

Re: Alibaba acquires Berlin-based data Artisans for $103M

#45

Post by pplonski86 »

devdimi wrote: post #42
jamesblonde wrote: post #3

What is it about European Enterprise Data software companies that they never make it past this stage without either being bought up or moving to the States? MySQL, JBoss, Elastic. The list is much longer.

There are lot of reasons: -Europe is fragmented market. It is not given that German software will be gladly accepted and used in France, Italy or UK and vice versa. There are barriers there that does not exist in the US. -The capital market and the stock market are not as developed as in USA in terms of market participants and available funds. Going public is unlikely event. If it happens, it would not get a lot of p…

Could you give example of Europe based tech companies that went public in US?

Re: Alibaba acquires Berlin-based data Artisans for $103M

#46

Post by zorked »

thecleaner wrote: post #27
moonhorse wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

there is already another Silicon Valley. And that is China. Alibaba is a Chinese company...

China is definitely quite a competitive economy in the technology space. I wouldnt say its the next SV. Rather would group it as its own class. Most of the businesses grew out of protectionism offered by thr Chinese govt but noe they seem to have made it.

The protectionism was/is there in the US too. I unfortunately can't remember the details but there is a video in the Computer History Museum that tells a story about how computers from Germany were blocked in the US and the impact it had on both countries.

And just last year the US blocked Qualcomm being sold to a Chinese company: https://qz.com/1227509/trump-just-blocked-broadcoms-attempt-...

Of course, as the US now has a extraordinarily strong advantage in the sector it doesn't have to flex that muscle as often. But it does flex it when needed.

Re: Alibaba acquires Berlin-based data Artisans for $103M

#47

Post by rapsey »

oblio wrote: post #35
rapsey wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The funding options in Europe are abysmal compared to US or even UK. EU response to this is various EU funding programs that are mostly throwing money away for little to no benefit. At least in the tech sector.

> EU response to this is various EU funding programs that are mostly throwing money away for little to no benefit. You're framing this as if it's the EU's job. It isn't. The only way the EU could compete if it would become a federal state, similar to the US. Right now the EU, despite being a single market in many respects is far from being a true digital single market. Individual states are actively fighting against…

> You're framing this as if it's the EU's job. It isn't.

Then what is EU Horizon 2020 for?

https://ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizon2020/what-horizon-202...

Re: Alibaba acquires Berlin-based data Artisans for $103M

#48

Post by ChuckNorris89 »

shinryuu wrote: post #19
eastendguy wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nobody in IT earns only 2K a month in Berlin...

It's after tax. I earn 2.5k after tax.

That seems pretty low to me. Can you buy a house in Berlin with that income? It's almost what a dev makes in Romania and there you can buy a decent house with that income.

Re: Alibaba acquires Berlin-based data Artisans for $103M

#49

Post by devdimi »

pplonski86 wrote: post #45
devdimi wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are lot of reasons: -Europe is fragmented market. It is not given that German software will be gladly accepted and used in France, Italy or UK and vice versa. There are barriers there that does not exist in the US. -The capital market and the stock market are not as developed as in USA in terms of market participants and available funds. Going public is unlikely event. If it happens, it would not get a lot of p…

Could you give example of Europe based tech companies that went public in US?

For instance Sequans Communications is a french company listed on NYSE as SQNS. It is not listed in France or anywhere else in Europe.

Re: Alibaba acquires Berlin-based data Artisans for $103M

#50

Post by lolftw »

pplonski86 wrote: post #45
devdimi wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are lot of reasons: -Europe is fragmented market. It is not given that German software will be gladly accepted and used in France, Italy or UK and vice versa. There are barriers there that does not exist in the US. -The capital market and the stock market are not as developed as in USA in terms of market participants and available funds. Going public is unlikely event. If it happens, it would not get a lot of p…

Could you give example of Europe based tech companies that went public in US?

Farfetch comes to mind:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/20/business/dealbook/farfetc...

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