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How London became the rest of the world’s startup capital

economist.com

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Re: How London became the rest of the world’s startup capital

#201

Post by nialv7 »

pjc50 wrote: post #158
TuringNYC wrote: post #114

I cant speak to all this, but as an American doing a lot of work in London, wow transportation is incredibly great. Shockingly impressive. Traveling to London, and getting around London, and doing a lot of meetings in a small trip, is easier than anywhere in the US now because of how beautifully their transit system works (despite occasional delays which can be expected.) The rollout of the Elizabeth Line from Heathr…

The Elizabeth Line, formerly known as Crossrail, is a lot more similar to the hundred year plan: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossrail My dad was a tunnels engineer and worked on Crossrail feasibility studies at several points in his career across decades. London is is many ways one of the less impressive subway systems simply because much of it is so old, with small trains running in Victorian era tunnels. Not as…

Very true. If you really want to see rail lines materialise out of thin air, go to any major cities in China.

Re: How London became the rest of the world’s startup capital

#202

Post by flurdy »

philipallstar wrote: post #141
TuringNYC wrote: post #114

I cant speak to all this, but as an American doing a lot of work in London, wow transportation is incredibly great. Shockingly impressive. Traveling to London, and getting around London, and doing a lot of meetings in a small trip, is easier than anywhere in the US now because of how beautifully their transit system works (despite occasional delays which can be expected.) The rollout of the Elizabeth Line from Heathr…

The Elizabeth Line was unbelievably expensive to build; that's how the UK did it.

But it is also really good. I love the completely enclosed platforms, ie shielded from the track and train by a glass wall/doors, like the Jubilee line, but all the way to the ceiling. This makes it both safe and very quiet.

Though the platforms are huge, as the trains are long, you have to really make a conscious decision on which exit to use as they come up very far from each other. Unlike other tube stations, where if you don't pick the most optimal exit, you just have to cross the road.

Re: How London became the rest of the world’s startup capital

#203

Post by eloisant »

johnisgood wrote: post #139
TuringNYC wrote: post #114

I cant speak to all this, but as an American doing a lot of work in London, wow transportation is incredibly great. Shockingly impressive. Traveling to London, and getting around London, and doing a lot of meetings in a small trip, is easier than anywhere in the US now because of how beautifully their transit system works (despite occasional delays which can be expected.) The rollout of the Elizabeth Line from Heathr…

I think it is widely known that public transport in the US is god awful. Public transportation is lovely in most European countries, IMO.

It's pretty good in NYC. I heard it's nice in Boston too.

Re: How London became the rest of the world’s startup capital

#204

Post by eloisant »

altacc wrote: post #97
fhennig wrote: post #65

I live in a big continental European city that also has a start-up hub. The companies here are also small, creative, solving problems, but don't necessarily aim for an exit and growth at all costs, many of them want to create a sustainable business solving a need that people have. I think, to the economist, these are just SMEs and a start-up is about making money, an IPO, an exit, the unicorns. And of course London a…

I think you're right that the ambitions in Europe are smaller and I'd say more likely healthier for those involved and maybe the world in general. I have spent some time working in a start up hub in Scandinavia and there was the usual talk of innovation, disruption, work hard, etc... but by 4:30 the offices were empty and people had gone home to their families. Work life balance still came first.

It's not that the founders have smaller ambitions, it's that they can't find fundings to really grow the size of US tech companies.

And when they do find fundings, it's in US so they move their company there.

Re: How London became the rest of the world’s startup capital

#205

Post by eloisant »

walthamstow wrote: post #26

I am completely biased but I think London is one of the best places to live in the world, everything considered. There's a guy on Instagram who spins a wheel for a random country and goes to eat that cuisine somewhere in London. There are maybe 1 or 2 places in the world you can do that. It's an incredible feat of human diversity to pack hundreds of global cuisines into a 10 mile radius.

You can do that in any big international city. NYC, LA, SF, Tokyo, Paris, Berlin, and I'm probably missing a lot of them. Way more than "1 or 2".

Re: How London became the rest of the world’s startup capital

#206

Post by gpderetta »

rowanajmarshall wrote: post #188
johnisgood wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am getting DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN.

Ah shoot, it's not .com, it's .co.uk. So https://housepricedashboard.co.uk .

ERR_CONNECTION_RESET. HN hug of death?

Re: How London became the rest of the world’s startup capital

#207

Post by zipy124 »

cong-or wrote: post #117

Surprised London holds this position given the cost of living. Housing alone eats such a massive chunk of salary that I'd expect talent to gravitate toward cities where their equity/salary goes further. How do early-stage startups compete for engineers when rent is £2k+ for a one-bedroom?

Most live in flat-shares, which honestly I prefer to living alone anyway. You can easily find central London flat shares for £1000 a month which are walking distance to various central locations, and extremely quick by bus/bike/tube.

I've lived in London for 8 years now as a student (undergaduate masters then PhD) and have lived on around £20k a year (post tax) and it's completely fine tbh. I earn more through extra work but save pretty much all of it.

Re: How London became the rest of the world’s startup capital

#208

Post by dijit »

blibble wrote: post #199
dijit wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is demonstrably false. The data shows the exact opposite. Transport spending in London was £1,313 per capita in 2023/24, compared with just £368 per head in the East Midlands[0] - nearly 4x the investment. Over the decade to 2022/23, if the North had received the same per person transport spending as London, it would have received £140 billion more[1]. The East Midlands got just £355 per person, the lowest of ev…

> This is demonstrably false. The data shows the exact opposite. it is not > Yes, London generates a fiscal surplus thank you the only regions of the UK that generate a net return to the treasury are London, the South East and East of England (the East of England certainly has reasons to be upset, they have naff all infrastructure AND are a net payer) > You can't starve regions of infrastructure for decades, watch th…

You're confusing cause and effect.

London's surplus exists because the entire country funded its infrastructure for decades. You've just admitted London got massively more investment - then you point at the returns from that investment as proof London subsidises everyone else. That's absurd.

Where did the £140 billion extra that London received come from? National taxation. Including taxes from the regions that got a fraction of the spending. They funded your infrastructure, then you claim the resulting productivity is you being generous.

You're not subsidising the UK. You're taking credit for returns on investment the entire country paid for, but only London received. That's not generosity, that's just spending other people's money on yourself then acting smug about the results.

The 'net return to the treasury' you're celebrating was built with everyone's taxes concentrated in one place. London isn't the benefactor, it's the beneficiary masquerading as an altruistic donor.

Re: How London became the rest of the world’s startup capital

#209

Post by zipy124 »

rconti wrote: post #41
edogrider wrote: post #7

This checks out. I live in Silicon Valley but now work for a startup in London. Same vibe, less attitude. They are not the same. The energy/resources in SF/SV are 5x at a minimum - but London has it going on.

How's the comp? From HN I had gotten the feeling that the UK was worse than most of western europe in that regard.

Depends on the company, but typical junior salaries are £35-45k a year, mid level around £50-65k year and senior somewhere between £65-85k a year. Obviously you have FAANG who pay significantly more and finance firms, but they are not the majority, and I've hired or have friends being paid in these ranges who are extremely talented and from top unis.

Upper ranges for all levels accross the very highest paying employees are £100-400k when including bonuses usually. Usually these are quant/quant-dev jobs and FAANG.

Re: How London became the rest of the world’s startup capital

#210

Post by blibble »

dijit wrote: post #208
blibble wrote: post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This is demonstrably false. The data shows the exact opposite. it is not > Yes, London generates a fiscal surplus thank you the only regions of the UK that generate a net return to the treasury are London, the South East and East of England (the East of England certainly has reasons to be upset, they have naff all infrastructure AND are a net payer) > You can't starve regions of infrastructure for decades, watch th…

You're confusing cause and effect. London's surplus exists because the entire country funded its infrastructure for decades. You've just admitted London got massively more investment - then you point at the returns from that investment as proof London subsidises everyone else. That's absurd. Where did the £140 billion extra that London received come from? National taxation. Including taxes from the regions that got a…

> You're confusing cause and effect.

you are arguing against a point I never made

(and no, I don't live in London, I live in an underfunded region too)

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