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Lack of Entrepreneurial Culture Seen as Europe’s Biggest Obstacle

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Re: Lack of Entrepreneurial Culture Seen as Europe’s Biggest Obstacle

#41

Post by swah »

diego_moita wrote: post #26
ovi256 wrote: post #5

This is a classic example of "if only more people would be like us, the world would be better!". Sure enough, the experts are all entrepreneurs and investors. Well, in this particular case, they may very well be right. But things like this really bother me: "traditional engineering-driven approach to business, with its emphasis on perfection, longevity, pride in ingenuity and culture of deep-thinking put the country…

> Also, the last piece of candy: 'The so called “poor countries,” such as Brazil, have this hunger. They are going to catch up on us.' Disclosure: I am Brazilian. They might, but it will take much longer than anyone expects. The truth is that Europe has a lot of advantages when compared to countries like Brazil, India, etc. 1) Working institutions, including the rule of the law. Don't get me started about the ineptit…

But we have the jeitinho brasileiro.

Re: Lack of Entrepreneurial Culture Seen as Europe’s Biggest Obstacle

#42

Post by WiseWeasel »

coliveira wrote: post #12
ovi256 wrote: post #5

This is a classic example of "if only more people would be like us, the world would be better!". Sure enough, the experts are all entrepreneurs and investors. Well, in this particular case, they may very well be right. But things like this really bother me: "traditional engineering-driven approach to business, with its emphasis on perfection, longevity, pride in ingenuity and culture of deep-thinking put the country…

Americans don't like to talk about it, but they should better learn how emulate Europe rather than the opposite. The USA is nowadays more similar to Europe than to new developing economies. While Europe hasn't the high growth it once had, they know how to maintain an economy that retains prosperity for most of its people.

When I visit family and friends in the old country, I always find people's attitude depressing. There is a universal sense of dependence on the state, stemming largely from the fact that over 20% of the population is employed directly by the government, but also from a widespread sense of entitlement to welfare and other support.

The state is the source of and solution to all of their problems, and this interferes with their willingness to depend on each-other for support. People will much more readily look to the state for the answers to their problems than to themselves or their peers.

I can only take such an attitude in small doses before I have to leave and breathe some fresh air of freedom and self-determination back stateside. I appreciate the sense of community and interdependence that comes from the state taking a back seat in people's lives. If we have a problem, then the answer is often to address it ourselves rather than petition the state for a solution. Chances are we're not the only ones to feel that way, and help from our peers will materialize from the bottom up.

Re: Lack of Entrepreneurial Culture Seen as Europe’s Biggest Obstacle

#44

Post by marknutter »

zenspunk wrote: post #24
franze wrote: post #19

ok, as i'm currently starting my business in austria (that's in europe) i want to add my 2c. the biggest obstacle is that the government won't go out of your way. 1. i could start my company now 2. but it would be stupid, as i would miss out on the "unternehmensgründerförderung" (start up support) 3. for getting "unternehmensgründerförderung" you have to attend a sh#tload of courses (for about 2 months) which tell yo…

So, Europe needs less regulation on the low-end of town (small businesses) to increase international competitiveness, and the US needs more regulation on the high-end of town (big business) to decrease corruption and prevent anti-competitive practices. Would it be fair to say that?

Small businesses decrease corruption and anti-competitive practices in large businesses.

Re: Lack of Entrepreneurial Culture Seen as Europe’s Biggest Obstacle

#45

Post by anamax »

jbooth wrote: post #35
jerf wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the global race to have the worst economy, Europe (as a whole) currently has a significant edge over the US, although the US is certainly running the race with gusto. There's serious talk of having to break the EU up over the economic crisis it is having. The traditional "US should be more like Europe" rhetoric should be packed away in storage for a while, conditions are not ripe for it.

Most of the European problems right now are problems that the US just plain cannot have -- Greece, Spain and Italy running up huge debts because they have the credibility of the eurozone without any of the responsibility. America's different, we're one country. Those problems aside, we could do a lot worse than modeling europe, way less gas usage, higher health insurance coverage, 2 months of vacation a year. Sounds…

> Those problems aside, we could do a lot worse than modeling europe, way less gas usage, higher health insurance coverage, 2 months of vacation a year. Sounds a lot more stable to me.

And roughly half the gdp/person of the US.

The US govt already collects about as much (per person) in taxes as European govts. (It collects significantly more than Canada and, iirc, slightly less than France.) Yet, no one would seriously argue that we get anywhere near the same level of benefit for that spending.

As long as the US govt is that inefficient, it's absurd to suggest giving it more money.

Re: Lack of Entrepreneurial Culture Seen as Europe’s Biggest Obstacle

#46

Post by leyfa »

fbnt wrote: post #10

Absolutely spot on. It's not lack of funds or the absence of a proper ecosystem, it's a huge cultural gap. The whole school system is fundamentally broken. Since elementary school to the very last stages of university education I've been told to study, work hard and eventually, with time, gain access to some big and famous corporate in a responsability position, get a lifelong contract, settle down and enjoy life. Th…

Fortunately, there are sparks of cultural changes lately, especially with the younger folks, but it's a change that won't happen overnight for sure.

I would like to contribute my personal data point on this. I'm a student in a smallish Dutch town at a university that's mostly focused on economics/business and medicine.

It feels like there's a considerate entrepreneurial spirit among the students here. Many seem to wish to found a startup and there are some there doesn't seem to be the mentioned aversion against success and making it big. From what I can tell, most of this is (still) just hot air, meaning that people have big ideas but don't dare start working on them. On the other hand, this might also be due to the lack of a bigger engineering or CS department with more people that can actually build something.

Maybe this is the beginning of a change of culture. I wonder if students in bigger tech-universities have similar experiences.

Re: Lack of Entrepreneurial Culture Seen as Europe’s Biggest Obstacle

#47

Post by keiferski »

patrickk wrote: post #28
keiferski wrote: post #6

. Making money, he said, was not seen as a good thing to do. “The culture is changing, but it will take time.” There's your marketing problem. If being an entrepreneur was only about making money, I wouldn't want my culture to encourage it either. They should focus less on materialism and more on making a difference and creating jobs.

"They should focus less on materialism and more on making a difference and creating jobs." Making a difference? Creating jobs? If I was a business owner (I hope to be someday), the last thing I would be concerned with is job creation. As the old adage goes, "overhead walks on two legs" i.e. wages are a major cost for a business. My first concern would be positive cash flow, then ramen profitability. Then perhaps gett…

I am talking about the marketing (or culture) of entrepreneurship. I.E. what the article is about. Not actual business principles. Spreadsheets and bottom lines aren't going to convince anyone to make the jump.

Re: Lack of Entrepreneurial Culture Seen as Europe’s Biggest Obstacle

#48

Post by marknutter »

forkandwait wrote: post #33

Note the rhetoric " ... seen as Europe's Biggest Obstacle": by using the passive and an authoritative tone, the WSJ tries to make it seem that there this idea comes from nowhere, and is a universal truth without being attached to real people politicking to make the world the world into what they want (umm, low taxes and regulation for us, thank you). Making seemingly universal statements is one of the best tricks to…

Without a healthy economy, social services, safety, free education, and excellent vacations will eventually go away. I think it's a universal truth that everyone wants a good economy, regardless of whether you're a socialist or a capitalist.

Re: Lack of Entrepreneurial Culture Seen as Europe’s Biggest Obstacle

#49

Post by marknutter »

mhd wrote: post #9

Why does everything need to be just like Silicon Valley? Everything being like Wall Street certainly didn't help either. I especially laughed at the line that perfectionism and proper engineering are bad for startups. This explains a lot. (Yes, when it comes to selling stuff that doesn't work and you don't need in the first place, Europe has a lot to learn. Every service-based industry does better in the US.) Meanwhi…

A lack of perfectionism does not mean a lack of quality. There's such a thing as trying to be too perfect and missing out on a market opportunity.

Re: Lack of Entrepreneurial Culture Seen as Europe’s Biggest Obstacle

#50

Post by pnathan »

jdietrich wrote: post #37

My favourite company in the world is a German engineering firm called Rohloff. Their motto is "No slogans, just facts" and their business is really just a single product - a beautifully engineered internal gearbox for bicycles called the Speedhub, that costs €1000 and lasts 100,000km. Rohloff make a product as finely engineered as any swiss watch, but in doing so create an anti-consumerist product. Their product is b…

That's wonderful.

One of the neat things about where I currently work is we warrant our most of products for ten years and yes, we do have software. Doing the job right, and doing it durably, is so good. (And takes so much work).

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