Campanja is another rapidly growing startup in Stockholm.
Why tiny Stockholm has the most stunning startup ecosystem since Tel Aviv
21–30 of 99 posts
Re: Why tiny Stockholm has the most stunning startup ecosystem since Tel Aviv
#22I think the article forgets one reason why Scandinavian countries do well in IT start ups: Allmost all Scandinavians speak English quite well. Given that most new technology and research is communicated in English, a decent level of English is necessary to adapt new technology. This gives Scandinavians and Dutch entrepreneurs an edge compared to most other European entrepreneurs, except obviously the Irish and British entrepreneurs.
Re: Why tiny Stockholm has the most stunning startup ecosystem since Tel Aviv
#23I love Stockholm. It's an awesome city and despite the high taxes, it's very progressive in terms of trends. In other words, there are many early adopters there, which is something that is very unique to SV. Also, much of Swedish design is built on simplicity. You can see this everywhere from web design, to store design and of course furniture. The only downside, as others have pointed out, is that its extremely expe…
How high are the taxes in Sweden? Highest bracket in Tel-Aviv is, as far as I know, ~60% (50% income tax + 10% health/social taxes) + 17% VAT (=~sales tax equivalent, essentially applicable to individuals but less so to companies) Highest bracket in NYC as of 2013 (unless the "fiscal cliff" is averted) is a few % short of 60% (40% federal, 13% state, 2% fica, 2% social security, and a few more). If the fiscal cliff i…
Hm; might be unreasonable - but I'd worry about the security situation in Israel. In the US, not much of a safety net; I'd guess in stockholm things are alright for the taxes you pay.
Re: Why tiny Stockholm has the most stunning startup ecosystem since Tel Aviv
#24The article missed Tobii, which this year got a $20 million investment by Intel, and has raised over $50 million in total. They're making a very cool eye tracking product that you (among other use cases) can use to control a computer with your eyes.
But Tobii has been around since 2001, and has 340 employees (both facts from Wikipedia). That's hardly a "startup".
Re: Why tiny Stockholm has the most stunning startup ecosystem since Tel Aviv
#25An opposing view, where Stockholm is not in the top 20 startup cities:
http://techcrunch.com/2012/11/20/startup-genome-ranks-the-wo...
Re: Why tiny Stockholm has the most stunning startup ecosystem since Tel Aviv
#261.4 million in the urban area and 2.1 million in the metropolitan area is not exactly tiny. Tel Aviv is for example smaller, but I guess that the comparison is to the bay area/silicon valley or something like that.
Also, the Stockholm startup scene mainly attracts talent among the 9.5 million Swedes, whereas Tel Aviv benefits from immigration from Russia (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15797257).
San Francisco attracts talent from all over the US, or rather from all over the world.
Re: Why tiny Stockholm has the most stunning startup ecosystem since Tel Aviv
#27Earlier quoted context omitted.
How high are the taxes in Sweden? Highest bracket in Tel-Aviv is, as far as I know, ~60% (50% income tax + 10% health/social taxes) + 17% VAT (=~sales tax equivalent, essentially applicable to individuals but less so to companies) Highest bracket in NYC as of 2013 (unless the "fiscal cliff" is averted) is a few % short of 60% (40% federal, 13% state, 2% fica, 2% social security, and a few more). If the fiscal cliff i…
Hm; might be unreasonable - but I'd worry about the security situation in Israel. In the US, not much of a safety net; I'd guess in stockholm things are alright for the taxes you pay.
It's a matter of perspective.
I live in one of the safest neighborhoods in NYC, and yet, there's an essentially random killing within 1 mile radius of my house every couple of months. If you're in a neighborhood that's not as nice, like some parts of the bronx, it's even scarier. And I'm not just talking about homicide statistics: The police has a scary track record, most recent example is in the Empire State shooting (where with one exception, all dead were shot by the police).
When I was in Tel-Aviv, I used to go for an hour long jog at 3am every day, feeling completely safe. In NYC, it's not safe enough to do that.
I know of a prominent hacker establishment in Brooklyn, 3 members of which were mugged within a 3 month period (one of them snatching, one of them more violent, and one I don't remember). These things happen in Tel-Aviv, but at maybe a 1:10 or 1:100 lower rate.
Also, look at the real numbers. The headlines look scary - 1400 rockets fired on Israel. 1000 air raids on Gaza. But the number of casualties (both Israeli and Palestinian) is lower than Hurricane Sandy's death toll.
By all means, I estimate Israel is more likely to become a much more dangerous battlezone than NYC is to become unsafe due to natural disasters (or terrorist attacks - don't forget the '90s WTC attack and 9/11). But if you do the math, rather than the emotion, Tel-Aviv is as safe as New York.
Re: Why tiny Stockholm has the most stunning startup ecosystem since Tel Aviv
#28Every single experience I've had with a swede, (technical, entrepreneur, or otherwise) has been extremely pleasant. It might be selection bias - most of those that I've met were outside sweden at the time I met them - but from spending some time in Lund, I got the impression that it's a national trait, to the point that I have considered moving to sweden for a few years if the stars align properly.
Perhaps we can have a sweded version of NYC in the US? :) That would be ideal.
Re: Why tiny Stockholm has the most stunning startup ecosystem since Tel Aviv
#29I love Stockholm. It's an awesome city and despite the high taxes, it's very progressive in terms of trends. In other words, there are many early adopters there, which is something that is very unique to SV. Also, much of Swedish design is built on simplicity. You can see this everywhere from web design, to store design and of course furniture. The only downside, as others have pointed out, is that its extremely expe…
How high are the taxes in Sweden? Highest bracket in Tel-Aviv is, as far as I know, ~60% (50% income tax + 10% health/social taxes) + 17% VAT (=~sales tax equivalent, essentially applicable to individuals but less so to companies) Highest bracket in NYC as of 2013 (unless the "fiscal cliff" is averted) is a few % short of 60% (40% federal, 13% state, 2% fica, 2% social security, and a few more). If the fiscal cliff i…
When social security will pay out more than comes in, the difference will come out of general tax revenue. There are no books to balance. The retirement age may go up, but reducing or eliminating social security is electoral suicide.
Re: Why tiny Stockholm has the most stunning startup ecosystem since Tel Aviv
#30Every single experience I've had with a swede, (technical, entrepreneur, or otherwise) has been extremely pleasant. It might be selection bias - most of those that I've met were outside sweden at the time I met them - but from spending some time in Lund, I got the impression that it's a national trait, to the point that I have considered moving to sweden for a few years if the stars align properly. Perhaps we can hav…
Lund native here. If you ever visit again - feel free to hit me up :)