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Y Combinator’s European founder intake continues to grow

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Re: Y Combinator’s European founder intake continues to grow

#41

Post by qwerty456127 »

oblio wrote: post #17
qwerty456127 wrote: post #6

Do they mostly move to the United States then?

I wouldn't be surprised. Daniel Dines started UiPath in Romania but for it to become truly global, he had to move to NY and even incorporate the company there.

I don't want to insult Romania (and I actually am looking forward to an opportunity to visit it, there apparently are many spectacular places, nice people and delicious cuisine), but AFAIK it's rather far from the best places in the EU from the economic/social points of view, no surprise many people prefer to emigrate on a good opportunity. I would be more curious if founders still move to the US from Spain, Germany, Switzerland, Netherlands, Ireland etc.

Re: Y Combinator’s European founder intake continues to grow

#42

Post by mathverse »

The term "european" is meaningless.It's all just bunch of countries working under some framework. As a european there's no shared success if one european company succeeds.And because of that there's no synergic effects that would help "european" companies to grow and improve.

Re: Y Combinator’s European founder intake continues to grow

#43

Post by rapsey »

cblconfederate wrote: post #34
dmitriid wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No. European "companies" look to the US and see that you can lose billions of unlimited investor money for years with no repercussions and no negative consequences for the founders. Now "successful" European startups want in on the money. YC's "most successful startups" routinely lose hundreds of millions of dollars every year: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27485360

there is also a lot of money thrown in businesses in the form of EU subsidies. YC gives a miniscule amount of money ($125K), i believe european entrepreneurs can (and do) milk naive US VCs for a lot more than what YC offers. The YC data is clear about one thing: if you remove the need to travel to the US , a lot more europeans flock to YC. We 've become a terribly sclerotic continent and it's very visible now. I beli…

> there is also a lot of money thrown in businesses in the form of EU subsidies.

And that money is mostly a complete waste. EU money comes with so many strings and baggage that you are either big enough and have the resources to deal with it (and thus you don't actually need it), or you are small and make it your entire business model to live off EU funds and not produce anything of value ever.

Re: Y Combinator’s European founder intake continues to grow

#44

Post by meheleventyone »

Semaphor wrote: post #27
pjc50 wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cashflow, the same as for busineses. If you don't have one months' spare cash as a "float", then you may have to resort to lending at the end of the month.

But again, this reduces next month’s income. So you’ll end up having the same problem every month. Unlike with companies, employed people’s income doesn’t vary between months (or maybe it does for some?).

Yes it’s a trap which is why a lot of people see it as predatory particularly as the interest rates are (used to be?) obscene. Payday lending companies can become a leech on poor people.

This looks a little different to the usual structure of payday lending but still has the issue you point out.

Re: Y Combinator’s European founder intake continues to grow

#45

Post by [deleted] »

qwerty456127 wrote: post #8
lrem wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not "European startup ecosystem", it's basically "European societies". Imagine how well would SV work if being involved in a bankrupt company (co-founder, major investor, C-suite) made banks refuse to talk to you again for 10-20 years. I believe that was the case in France. You wouldn't even be able to open a checking account, never mention any credit again.

AFAIK banks are legally required to open checking accounts on demand of any resident in Germany, no matter their background. But I am not sure, just a rumor.

[deleted]

Re: Y Combinator’s European founder intake continues to grow

#46

Post by pjc50 »

Semaphor wrote: post #27
pjc50 wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cashflow, the same as for busineses. If you don't have one months' spare cash as a "float", then you may have to resort to lending at the end of the month.

But again, this reduces next month’s income. So you’ll end up having the same problem every month. Unlike with companies, employed people’s income doesn’t vary between months (or maybe it does for some?).

> So you’ll end up having the same problem every month

Yes. This led to the UK FCA trying to ban rollover loans: https://www.fca.org.uk/news/news-stories/tougher-rules-payda...

> employed people’s income doesn’t vary between months (or maybe it does for some?).

Exactly: gig economy, variable shift patterns, tipping, benefit payments, delayed cheques, freelancers of all sorts, delayed payment of debts by customers, seasonal employment, sudden unemployment, seasonal expenses, etc.

(That said, this app only works for payments from one employer, but I can see it working well for the service industry)

Re: Y Combinator’s European founder intake continues to grow

#47

Post by dfee »

A_non_e-moose wrote: post #38
StreamBright wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly. If you live in a safe and secured society why would you want to do something risky like creating a startup. One of the biggest success for the EU startup scene was just copying what is done in California, avoiding the risk of trying out new ideas. On the top of that, regulation in the EU is much worse than in the US. This does not help either.

Yep that same scary regulation that is intended to hinder businesses from selling me food with hydrogenated fats, overloaded with sugar or salt, that same regulation that forces auto manufacturers to not create exclusive overpriced repair consortiums for basic parts, and that generally makes life a bit less corporately tyrannical. Shareholder value is only nice if you're a significant shareholder, and it is dispropor…

> that same regulation that forces auto manufacturers to not create exclusive overpriced repair consortiums for basic parts

My diesel jetta would like a word with you and your picky-choosy.

Just kidding, America cracked down and forced VW to buy it back with a penalty kicker.

Point is - these sorts of arguments are silly.

Re: Y Combinator’s European founder intake continues to grow

#48

Post by Grustaf »

lrem wrote: post #5
antupis wrote: post #4

This is basically failure in European startup ecosystem that companies needs to go SF, but good for Y Combinator and SF that they can attract best talent.

It's not "European startup ecosystem", it's basically "European societies". Imagine how well would SV work if being involved in a bankrupt company (co-founder, major investor, C-suite) made banks refuse to talk to you again for 10-20 years. I believe that was the case in France. You wouldn't even be able to open a checking account, never mention any credit again.

I don't think this is the case, in France or anywhere.

And I'm certain it's not the reason SV creates more startups. The real reason is that this is where startups were invented, so for historical reasons the concentration of capital and talent is extremely high.

Re: Y Combinator’s European founder intake continues to grow

#49

Post by dagw »

Semaphor wrote: post #27
pjc50 wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cashflow, the same as for busineses. If you don't have one months' spare cash as a "float", then you may have to resort to lending at the end of the month.

But again, this reduces next month’s income. So you’ll end up having the same problem every month. Unlike with companies, employed people’s income doesn’t vary between months (or maybe it does for some?).

employed people’s income doesn’t vary between months.

As you mentioned for some it does (overtime etc.), but even if 'gross' income doesn't vary month to month, expenses can vary massively and so your total 'net' income can be very different month to month.

Re: Y Combinator’s European founder intake continues to grow

#50

Post by Grustaf »

StreamBright wrote: post #16
lrem wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not "European startup ecosystem", it's basically "European societies". Imagine how well would SV work if being involved in a bankrupt company (co-founder, major investor, C-suite) made banks refuse to talk to you again for 10-20 years. I believe that was the case in France. You wouldn't even be able to open a checking account, never mention any credit again.

Exactly. If you live in a safe and secured society why would you want to do something risky like creating a startup. One of the biggest success for the EU startup scene was just copying what is done in California, avoiding the risk of trying out new ideas. On the top of that, regulation in the EU is much worse than in the US. This does not help either.

> On the top of that, regulation in the EU is much worse than in the US

Worse as in better for consumers and citizens, but more costly for companies that can't do exactly what they want?

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