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I’m leaving London for NYC and taking my tech startup

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Re: I’m leaving London for NYC and taking my tech startup

#241

Post by hogFeast »

JProthero wrote: post #136
hogFeast wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is everything. Customers too risk-averse, class boundaries still endemic (it is amazing the US tech companies went into this, Google/Facebook/etc. seem to have hired the Notting Hill set as soon as they came to London), companies too conservative about investing margin in sales, very relationship-driven sales culture (as opposed to product-driven) that is closed to "outsiders", reluctance to cold-call, etc. It is…

' I think if you look at politics in the UK, it is self-evident that the culture of the UK is not exactly entrepreneurial...unless you believe that a group of probably 30-50 people who went to the same school, went to the same university and largely studied the same course should rule the country...it is very weird. ' My impression is that the UK and US are fairly similar in this respect. The leadership of the politi…

That is because no-one in the US could possibly conceive of a system in which college wasn't the thing that separates people. But if you are a Brit, you understand that almost all of the people you name went to the same high school and have the same background culturally...it is like all the Presidents you name not only going to the same colleges but also going to Philips-Exeter or Groton and having grown up in the North-East with parents who largely did the same jobs...that kind of thing is basically inconceivable to people from the US (the reason for this is a subtlety in how politicians are selected that, again, people unfamiliar with the detail of UK politics don't understand...to become an MP in some parts of the UK, particularly in the past, you only needed to win over at most 50 to 100 people...that is it, I am not talking about hundreds of years ago, I am talking about a decade ago...this changed slightly as both parties brought in changes to selection processes, but it is still hugely undemocratic in a way that would make no sense to anyone from the US).

Also, as I was careful to mention, the issue isn't necessarily that PMs went to the same university (although they did, your reasoning is backwards about Oxbridge...the UK has a large number of other very good universities that are better than Oxbridge in some subjects, the perception that it is a cut above is because all the PMs went there not because it actually is). It is cultural, and it is throughout govt...so in the US, you still see the same elite representation in the civil service...but it is nothing like the UK where there is close to 100% representation (the FCO is notorious for this, you need the right university, right high school, right primary education, and right parents...I know a guy who went to a £30k/year private school, parents went to Oxbridge, he got a first in IR from St. Andrew's a top university for IR, then got a distinction at KCL for IR again a top university globally for the subject, 4 high A grades at A-level...didn't even get an interview with the FCO). This is often very subtle because you have private schools teaching subjects like Classics...these subjects aren't really taught at all outside private schools, so if you go to a private school you can get into Oxbridge even if you are a relatively mediocre student if you apply to this subject (Theology is another, Land Economy is another...most students in the UK have no idea these routes into Oxbridge exist).

Re: I’m leaving London for NYC and taking my tech startup

#242

Post by hogFeast »

heurisko wrote: post #180
hogFeast wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is everything. Customers too risk-averse, class boundaries still endemic (it is amazing the US tech companies went into this, Google/Facebook/etc. seem to have hired the Notting Hill set as soon as they came to London), companies too conservative about investing margin in sales, very relationship-driven sales culture (as opposed to product-driven) that is closed to "outsiders", reluctance to cold-call, etc. It is…

> class boundaries still endemic (it is amazing the US tech companies went into this, Google/Facebook/etc. seem to have hired the Notting Hill set as soon as they came to London) In the UK, the working class used to be propelled upwards by grammar schools, [1] which selected children based on academic ability. Of course, there are problems around not wanting children who didn't get into grammar schools to be written-…

Yes, despite what I said, I don't think comps have been the answer. Bullying is rife, the stats on sexual abuse of girls in UK schools is unbelievable (one of the highest in the world, bullying is only as high in Europe in Finland another comp education system), it isn't possible to succeed in a comp because you are stuck with a load of people who don't want to be there.

The playing field can never be level. Where I am the grammar schools are as good as the private schools, but they are only in places where property prices are prohibitively high (ofc)...but they are the only effective way out (Sajid Javid went to a comp, it is possible but it is very rare and requires support from family that isn't available in most of the UK). The way to move forward is to aggressively stream students (not necessarily by ability, I went to a school with a guy who was thick as pig shit but went into St. Andrews because he worked hard, took his A-levels three times iirc), improve teaching, and offer more opportunities in poor areas (maybe even through positive discrimination, i.e. offer kids from poor areas a chance in a decent school...the UK used to have state-funded places in private schools).

You are right though, it isn't only cultural. Part of the reason why this group is so far ahead is their education system is far better.

Re: I’m leaving London for NYC and taking my tech startup

#243

Post by exdsq »

busterarm wrote: post #236
nnoitra wrote: post #230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean it's O-1 how easy can it be. Most likely requirements are publishing papers or making some insane startup.

One Javascript developer famously got one just from speaking engagements and writing a semi-popular framework.

Opens vscode to write left-pad2...

Re: I’m leaving London for NYC and taking my tech startup

#244

Post by f6v »

gpderetta wrote: post #209
f6v wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many come straight to Germany or other more rich EU countries.

A portuguese passport would allow just that. So would an Italian passport (many South Americans, especially from Brazil and Argentina would qualify).

My point is that as a Brazilian, you don’t need a Portuguese passport before you go to a rich EU country. It’s trivial to get a German working visa in tech.

Re: I’m leaving London for NYC and taking my tech startup

#245

Post by nnoitra »

busterarm wrote: post #236
nnoitra wrote: post #230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean it's O-1 how easy can it be. Most likely requirements are publishing papers or making some insane startup.

One Javascript developer famously got one just from speaking engagements and writing a semi-popular framework.

There has to be more to it than that, what's their name?

Re: I’m leaving London for NYC and taking my tech startup

#246

Post by uzakov »

ddek wrote: post #224
carnitine wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Higher education in England is definitely not free. I imagine most well-funded startup employees have good healthcare plans in the US too.

It's relatively low cost, though. Tuition maxes at Most employees in well-funded organisations in the UK will have private healthcare too. My plan costs me ~£14pm, which is actually tax rather than a premium, with no deductible/copay/excesses.

Your numbers are not quite correct, which changes the dynamic of the argument.

> Tuition maxes at For the majority of courses offered at the BSc level they are more or less fixed accross the board. For example, it doesnt matter from the cost perspective if you do BSc CS at Kings uni in London, Manchester uni or Aston university, since the fee is exactly the same £9250. https://www.kcl.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/courses/computer-s... https://www.manchester.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/courses/202... https://www.aston.ac.uk/study/courses/computer-science-bsc/s...

Additionally, by saying "Tuition maxes at > Most employees in well-funded organisations in the UK will have private healthcare too

While this might create debate I think it's worth pointing out that there is a BIG difference between UK and US private healthcare.

Re: I’m leaving London for NYC and taking my tech startup

#247

Post by laurencerowe »

JProthero wrote: post #160
laurencerowe wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> For example, if the UK wanted to have more funding for science, but the EU frowned upon that regarding it as unfair competition, or something along those lines. The UK wasn't practically constrained by EU rules on state aid or industrial policy. Most other EU countries had substantially higher levels of state aid. Rather it was the policy of successive British governments to leave it to the market. The EU was a use…

> The current Prime Minister even promised to stay in the single market while campaigning for Brexit, professing himself a 'Fan'. Could you provide a source for the promise to stay in the single market? > The single market was after all in large part the creation of Margaret Thatcher. In the context of the European Union, the 'Single Market' is a legal construct; it was created by the international treaties that unde…

> Could you provide a source for the promise to stay in the single market?

https://www.businessinsider.com/boris-johnson-single-market-...

Re: I’m leaving London for NYC and taking my tech startup

#248

Post by roomey »

rndgermandude wrote: post #199
heurisko wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Along with that Brexit has cost the UK a ton of money.. this net contributer stuff was literal propaganda. The fact that the UK was a net contributor to the EU is uncontroversial [1]. Please cite sources if you're making a drastic claim otherwise. [1] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-48256318

I didn't read what roomey said as claiming the UK wasn't technically a net contributor. Just that it this fact is just a sliver of the entire picture, but was used heavily in pro-Brexit propaganda. Indeed, the UK can now spend what they net contributed to the EU before. But I think it's doubtful that this makes up for everything else the UK lost in the process that isn't just some monetary number (in some government…

Yes thank you. You explained much better than I did what I meant.

Re: I’m leaving London for NYC and taking my tech startup

#249

Post by 908B64B197 »

habosa wrote: post #179

Clearly America is the place to be if you want to make billions in tech. The bigger question is why every single company needs to target billions of dollars. You can still build a very successful company in London and get quite wealthy, you just might not get your own private space program. Meanwhile in London your workers will have free healthcare, their kids will have free higher education, etc. He's totally right…

> Meanwhile in London your workers will have free healthcare, their kids will have free higher education, etc.

Oh it's free for engineers? Who pays for it? The Queen pays for it?

Re: I’m leaving London for NYC and taking my tech startup

#250

Post by 908B64B197 »

ageitgey wrote: post #9

I run a US-based start-up with a distributed team, but I personally live in London. I'd say a lot of this is true. I don't personally know how Brexit has or hasn't affected talent availability yet, but everything else lines up with my experience. US investors throw money around and European investors are much more traditional. But I'd like to offer a different perspective on this quote from the article: > I am not al…

> The US VC market right now is very "frothy", as the VCs say. It's so frothy, you might as well say the froth has churned into butter. The article says that European investors lack "boldness", but one might instead say that US investors are lacking outlets for their ample capital and will throw money at nearly anything right now. I guess it depends on your point of view.

I wonder how many US investors are actually (partially) Europeans.

It's really not that hard to meet many Europeans in the valley who decided to move there to innovate and build without the restrictive environment of their homelands. I wonder how many Europeans investors are diverting parts of their funds to more ambitious and risky investments here in the US.

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