91–99 of 99 posts
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My thoughts exactly. A difference between US and Europe is that in EU countries a degree is cheaper (or completely free if you meet some financial and grades requirements), since it is subsidized by the state in many cases. But I agree with the parent that it shouldn't be a discrimination, especially if you can demonstrate relevant experience in the field.
Not free of opportunity costs, and even if the degree is free, you still have to eat and pay rent.
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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.
Scandinavia. Slightly less functional than Singapore, but they're actual democracies. Stockholm, perhaps?
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I can relate, EU VAT would be a prime example of needless bureaucracy and paperwork. All that time wasted collecting, calculating, paper shuffling around in order to get VAT right, is time not spent on actually running your startup Yes one can pay accountants but that means increasing your costs and complicating your business from day 1 If they want more startups, they could for example exempt companies lets say with…
The idiotic VAT proposals were actually the fault of individual govs, not of the EU as a whole. The EU plan was to exempt small businesses. But for god-only-knows what reason - I'm not ruling out petulance because they'd be losing tax breaks - some of the member states vetoed this.
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We can and possibly have, it's just banal. We have comfortable lives with nationalised healthcare and cheap or free education. We aren't striving to earn money for our own health, or to prove ourselves because we can't afford a degree. Without that there's just making something because you want it made. Governments and private organisations in Europe are decent at finding those people and giving reasonable funding.
FYI - to highly ambitious people, just "living a comfortable life" sounds like hell. They wish to strive for far more, even if doing so is uncomfortable. Decent, reasonable, comfortable - hardly the sales pitch you'll want to use if you want to attract or retain highly ambitious people. Do you? Not trying to offend anyone, just consider that some people have much different desires than others.
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Scandinavia. Slightly less functional than Singapore, but they're actual democracies. Stockholm, perhaps?
Also my recommendation, especially for the language ease. If you speak English to at least a "working professional" level, it's very easy to live and work in the big cities. At least in Copenhagen, the tech-sector work culture is very English-centric, and most official things can be done bilingually (civil servants all speak English, most forms and websites are translated, etc.). Of course there is nothing wrong with…
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Also my recommendation, especially for the language ease. If you speak English to at least a "working professional" level, it's very easy to live and work in the big cities. At least in Copenhagen, the tech-sector work culture is very English-centric, and most official things can be done bilingually (civil servants all speak English, most forms and websites are translated, etc.). Of course there is nothing wrong with…
I actually live in Stockholm right now and I like it a lot, but I'm not sure I'll stay here. Can you tell me more about your experience in Copenhagen?
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The idiotic VAT proposals were actually the fault of individual govs, not of the EU as a whole. The EU plan was to exempt small businesses. But for god-only-knows what reason - I'm not ruling out petulance because they'd be losing tax breaks - some of the member states vetoed this.
Is who vetoed that proposal public information?
Of course, the details should be public, and it's no one's credit that they're either hidden or hard to find.
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The closest thing Europe has to a major tech hub is Tel Aviv.
So the best tech hub in Europe is - not in Europe? Figures. :) True though, serious stuff seems to be happening with Israel. I even know of a growing number of US-based startups who've been raising parts of their rounds from Israel-based investors in the past few years. Correct me if I'm wrong, my impression is that they don't have the anti-American nationalism and not invented here syndrome mentalities that countrie…
Israeli philo-Americanism is its own can of worms. But in general: Israel is a very young country, often only a couple of steps up from the developing world, and is thus lacking in an "establishment" to "disrupt". This makes it a very good place to experiment, simply because, what the hell, nobody's going to try to stop you, and the masses and government feel more bolstered by your experimentation than threatened.
But this comes with a distinct downside for the country: that big, serious stuff is assumed to either be "kmo ba'hul" (like [it is] abroad), or to eventually necessitate a move abroad. Successful Israeli entrepreneurs and engineers hope to move to Silicon Valley or New York, with the unfortunate result that Israel stays a very young country with comparatively less-developed infrastructure.
Click-bait alert! This is just an US article about Europe, which falls in the same spectrum of English telling History or Silvia Saint praising virginity. much of Europe lags behind, with countries in the south and east in particular struggling with slower, less reliable 3G and even 2G Oh the 'lagging-primitive-corrupt and who knows what else' southern European countries again. Here's some info. Portugal has 3G since…