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Europe is now a corporate also-ran. Can it recover its footing?

economist.com

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Re: Europe is now a corporate also-ran. Can it recover its footing?

#61

Post by rkk3 »

ferdowsi wrote: post #19

Is it really so grim? This report has London, Stockholm, Amsterdam, Paris and Berlin in the top 20 startup global ecosystems. https://cdn.startupgenome.com/sites/5c98cab2fb6681000470c58c...

It's a power law driven game.

Also I'm skeptical of the Methodology... SLC has a performance ranking of 8 (which only the top 10 cities & 2 others have) yet is ranked 31st. It's better performance than Amsterdam, Paris and Berlin & Tied with Stockholm. Yet despite the performance SLC rates as a 1 for each; Funding, Connectedness, Knowledge and Talent. So I guess those other cities have 'very talented' 'low performers'?

Re: Europe is now a corporate also-ran. Can it recover its footing?

#62

Post by smaug7 »

wrnr wrote: post #55
passerby1 wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What country is it, mind sharing the name?

Belgium, Flanders

Curious - what's your profession? Depending on your skills, you could, ironically given the nature of this article, apply to come to the US and it would be valued.

Re: Europe is now a corporate also-ran. Can it recover its footing?

#63

Post by dv_dt »

alanbernstein wrote: post #56
_s wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you’re a “professional” (engineers, lawyers, doctors etc) in any capacity; you will be given more - but for the majority of the workforce in retail, hospitality, services - you are much worse off; the European social support is geared towards a more even society.

That aligns with the Steve jobs unicorn story; a more even society sacrifices the extreme high outliers like him. Interesting to think about it as trading social welfare for the chance at more successful moonshots. If you believe in always-increasing returns on technological progress, it probably sounds like a fair trade...

While it’s an easy concept, if you look at billionaires per capita, Norway and Sweden edge out the us.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_number_of...

Re: Europe is now a corporate also-ran. Can it recover its footing?

#64

Post by analog31 »

238475235243 wrote: post #43

I've lived in a few different parts of the EU, and couldn't imagine a worse idea than starting a company there (which I did, once). Starting is hard enough without the general negative attitudes, the government insanities, the insane taxes, the low work ethic, the 8 weeks of vacation every month (I exaggerate, slightly). And I was in one of the two best EU countries, God only knows how bad it is in Spain or Italy or…

Oddly enough I've struggled to find any data showing that the US is actually better for entrepreneurs. It's all anecdotal. I have a small business but it will stay small because I need my day job for health care.

Granted, this is but one article:

https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/10/think-w...

Re: Europe is now a corporate also-ran. Can it recover its footing?

#65

Post by oneplane »

238475235243 wrote: post #43

I've lived in a few different parts of the EU, and couldn't imagine a worse idea than starting a company there (which I did, once). Starting is hard enough without the general negative attitudes, the government insanities, the insane taxes, the low work ethic, the 8 weeks of vacation every month (I exaggerate, slightly). And I was in one of the two best EU countries, God only knows how bad it is in Spain or Italy or…

On the other hand, people here don't tend to go bankrupt and lose their house, healthcare (ironically) and life (from a social aspect) in general when they don't have a perfect health. They don't have to hide their state of wellbeing from their employer in the hope of not getting fired, and they don't have to worry about living on the street because they don't have a job for a bit.

Businesses are fun and all, but in practical terms, they are just sociopaths when compared to what people actually need.

Don't misinterpret this as "and therefore it should be hard to have a business", but the American way is one I'd run away from if it ever tried to apply over here. I run a business and it's fine. Not amazing, not a hockeystick and I'm also not interested in either. It's fine, and that's all it needs to be.

Re: Europe is now a corporate also-ran. Can it recover its footing?

#67

Post by everyone »

nxc18 wrote: post #59
chrisseaton wrote: post #8

Why are European companies so unambitious ? My whole civilian career I've had to work for North American companies because the European alternatives aren't even attempting to be competitive.

I have wondered this. I work at an American company with many European employees and it is just really hard to see a complete lack of ambition/competitiveness. At some point being on vacation so much must hurt, I know projects are delayed when folks just can’t be expected to be there and will randomly disappear for 4+ weeks at a time. But that really doesn’t explain the extreme cultural conservatism towards effort/am…

Your crud app is 'advancing society'? Really?

Re: Europe is now a corporate also-ran. Can it recover its footing?

#68

Post by chrisseaton »

everyone wrote: post #67
nxc18 wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have wondered this. I work at an American company with many European employees and it is just really hard to see a complete lack of ambition/competitiveness. At some point being on vacation so much must hurt, I know projects are delayed when folks just can’t be expected to be there and will randomly disappear for 4+ weeks at a time. But that really doesn’t explain the extreme cultural conservatism towards effort/am…

Your crud app is 'advancing society'? Really?

US companies are far more ambitious than that. I see large corporates in the US genuinely trying to solve real-world problems like car electrification, self-driving, space-exploration, etc.

Re: Europe is now a corporate also-ran. Can it recover its footing?

#69

Post by BeFlatXIII »

238475235243 wrote: post #43

I've lived in a few different parts of the EU, and couldn't imagine a worse idea than starting a company there (which I did, once). Starting is hard enough without the general negative attitudes, the government insanities, the insane taxes, the low work ethic, the 8 weeks of vacation every month (I exaggerate, slightly). And I was in one of the two best EU countries, God only knows how bad it is in Spain or Italy or…

> general negative attitudes, poor work ethic

Citations needed as to how they’re significantly worse in Europe than the US. Perhaps they’re simply smart enough not to work hard for someone else’s benefit.

> freedom of movement

The only negative (at least in a strictly US context between the states) is that it forces issues that the Constitution says are the domain of the states into problems that only the Federal government can solve. No city can unilaterally decided to end homelessness with its borders if the homeless from the next state over are free to move in.

Re: Europe is now a corporate also-ran. Can it recover its footing?

#70

Post by oneplane »

dv_dt wrote: post #63
alanbernstein wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That aligns with the Steve jobs unicorn story; a more even society sacrifices the extreme high outliers like him. Interesting to think about it as trading social welfare for the chance at more successful moonshots. If you believe in always-increasing returns on technological progress, it probably sounds like a fair trade...

While it’s an easy concept, if you look at billionaires per capita, Norway and Sweden edge out the us. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_number_of...

On the other hand, billionaires are just concentrations of wealth and power which hardly helps the masses.

That is a general pattern in the USA anyhow, a few concentrations here and there but everyone else seems to be screwed in various ways (be it basics like healthcare, education, safety).

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