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Europe’s Plan to Compete with Silicon Valley

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Re: Europe’s Plan to Compete with Silicon Valley

#41

Post by Gys »

The digital single market strategy “in no way” aims to limit the progress of U.S. tech firms in Europe, Mr. Ansip told The Wall Street Journal.

No worries there !

The European strategy is always to have more and complicated rules (VAT got far more complex by Jan 1st 2015, net-neutrality is discussed, data roaming is under attack, etc).

European politicians do not understand that all the big companies once started as very small companies.

By complicating things (again: VAT, data roaming, etc) the entry levels are raised.

By the time successful US companies (soon to be Chinese companies ?!) reach Europe they have enough muscle to adapt to the rules.

Small local companies hardly ever grow that big. And it will only get more difficult.

Re: Europe’s Plan to Compete with Silicon Valley

#42

Post by adaml_623 »

amelius wrote: post #40

There's one important thing Europe has got, that the US hasn't, and that is ASML; and the whole world seems to depend on it. I'd say the EU is in a pretty strong starting position.

ASML? "ASML is a Dutch company and currently the largest supplier in the world of photolithography systems for the semiconductor industry." Did autocorrect ruin your comment?

Re: Europe’s Plan to Compete with Silicon Valley

#44

Post by scrollaway »

Jacqued wrote: post #35
scrollaway wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Question: What places in Europe would someone recommend an ambitious EU techie with no ties to move to (and possibly settle)? I figure the country needs to have fairly good internet and a decent political climate at the very least.

In the next few years I think Paris might become quite an interesting place. (disclaimer: I live there) It's already booming compared to a few years ago, it is seeing some significant successful startups (Criteo, Blaclacar...), and the ecosystem is clearly growing at an accelerated pace, with new companies, new spaces, new schools, new events appearing all over the place. In 2016-2017 a few really large incubators ar…

I'm french, lived in Paris for a while. Paris is absurdly expensive, and the French govt is fairly bad at understanding worldwide collaboration and the needs of their businesses. I'm not sure France is a good country to be in right now.

Re: Europe’s Plan to Compete with Silicon Valley

#45

Post by yc1010 »

As a European the title of the article pretty much sums up why there is no Silicon Valley here in Europe. Politicians and bureaucrats think they can somehow create and run such an environment from "the top down", when what is needed is a culture change and more venture funds to dangle carrots for entrepreneurs. Here often you have to deal with state bodies for funding for startups populated by beuracrats and controlled/directed by politicians.

p.s: the IT industry here in Ireland is basically a giant money laundering / tax avoidance operation for multinationals... definitely does not have the same spirit as Silicon Valley (or the weather for that matter)

Re: Europe’s Plan to Compete with Silicon Valley

#46

Post by sirkneeland »

wobbleblob wrote: post #11

> A single digital market could bring in €340 billion to European GDP, create 3.8 million jobs, Automation was never about creating jobs. In my experience it's mainly about two things: - Doing the same or more work with fewer people - Doing things a person cannot safely or accurate or affordably (or at all) do in person Compare the number of people employed by a major software company compared to a major oil company…

Not to mention the underlying different cultures in the case of entertainment seservicek like Netflix. Even if the language could be translated on the fly (which will certainly happen inevitably) would Germans find an Italian comedy funny, and vice versa?

Re: Europe’s Plan to Compete with Silicon Valley

#47

Post by sschueller »

nakedrobot2 wrote: post #2

"Europe" competing with a small neighborhood on the west coast where the vast majority of the world's tech capital lives? Sorry I don't see it. Combined with the gloomy pessimism and fear of failure even in Europe's brightest areas (London and Berlin) and the absolute, spineless pathetic nature of European VC's (no not bitter at all ;) Europe will NEVER compete on any meaningful level with Silicon Valley. edit: spell…

I think that is a good thing that Europe may never have a Silicon Valley.

Some things in the US corporate world are extremely reckless and pray on the many to profit the few.

Re: Europe’s Plan to Compete with Silicon Valley

#48

Post by comrade1 »

I'm a former s.f. resident that has been living in Switzerland the last 7 years. My observation is that the engineering talent in Europe is very good. My opinion is that it is significantly better than in the u.s. With the developers more often formally trained as engineers and a more serious attitude overall (of course there are exceptions in both directions).

What Europe is missing is a strong vc industry and a better startup culture. Here in Switzerland there are of course vcs but most funding for startups comes from angel investors. And there is no incentive for working in a startup as they almost never offer options/ownership in the company. And so you get people developers in startups that are doing it for the experience and so at the low tier of programmers here.

If there was a stronger and more experienced vc culture I would think that they would improve startups by making them more like in the u.s. with options, stock grants, etc.

Re: Europe’s Plan to Compete with Silicon Valley

#49

Post by michaelochurch »

nakedrobot2 wrote: post #2

"Europe" competing with a small neighborhood on the west coast where the vast majority of the world's tech capital lives? Sorry I don't see it. Combined with the gloomy pessimism and fear of failure even in Europe's brightest areas (London and Berlin) and the absolute, spineless pathetic nature of European VC's (no not bitter at all ;) Europe will NEVER compete on any meaningful level with Silicon Valley. edit: spell…

Silicon Valley VCs can be spineless as well. There's a lot of herd mentality: plenty of VCs who check others' opinions before deciding whether they like you.

Perhaps the difference is that 10% who aren't spineless. We may have a critical mass that Europe doesn't: a small percentage of non-spineless VCs that is just enough to get a few things off the ground. Unfortunately, the not-spineless VCs who actually show leadership and think for themselves are also inaccessible without a social advantage: you have to get that introduction first. You can't just call up Sequoia and get an afternoon with a senior partner.

"Europe" (speaking broadly, because it's a huge (sub)continent) has advantages on the ground. It's not a horrible place to live. Europe has a lot of problems, but they have universal healthcare, a culture of substance, and attractive architecture. Silicon Valley, on the other hand, is soulless, ugly, expensive, and detached from reality. I'd live in Budapest or London before Palo Alto or Mountain View and it's not even close. (This isn't an America vs. Europe comparison. I like New York and Chicago quite a lot.)

All of that said, Europe does need, if it wants to be significant in the technology game, to overcome the McKinsey/Rocket mentality that seems to exist in the upper reaches. SV's upper tier (investors) is bad but theirs is even more stifling, elitist, and detrimental (although probably less immature and obnoxious).

Re: Europe’s Plan to Compete with Silicon Valley

#50

Post by BjoernKW »

kriro wrote: post #18
dagw wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Berlin seems to be the most 'happening' place at the moment

I've always wondered why the Ruhr Valley isn't marketed/established as a techhub of sorts. Well connected infrastructure means it's essentially one big city and there are a few universities with decent tech departments. Berlin makes sense but come on...Valley in the title already ;P

Because while it technically is one big city, politically and administratively it's rather 10 or so distinct cities, all competing with one another with no overarching strategy.

Besides, politics in the area is very much still living in the past (to the extent it's largely driven by nostalgia rather than by what's reasonable), when mining, steel and big state-run companies dominated the economic landscape. Politics being run by largely anti-business socialists for decades now doesn't help exactly either.

Corruption is rampant, there's no vision and in general people there don't seem to care as long as their favourite football club's still playing. It's a shame really. There's a lot of potential there that simply goes unused.

[edit: grammar]

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