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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

#351

Post by badc0ffee »

TuringNYC wrote: post #191
philipallstar wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

>> The Elizabeth Line was unbelievably expensive to build; that's how the UK did it. Fair. But what is also expensive is every single citizen taking $100 Uber rides to the airport, like in NYC. In NJ, the transit service has become so volatile and sporadic and opaque that people have reduced NJTransit use for Newark airport in favor of simply driving.

> But what is also expensive is every single citizen taking $100 Uber rides to the airport, like in NYC.

Last time I went to NYC I took the AirTrain to Jamaica station and then an express train to Penn. it took like 35 minutes total.

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

#352

Post by nixass »

short_sells_poo wrote: post #136
TuringNYC wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> 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? thinking about comparisons, in SF the average 1B is $3300 https://www.zillow.com/rental-manager/market-trends/san-fran... In NY…

The issue is that wages in London are much lower for tech than in SF or NY. If you want to make good money in London, you have to work in finance, and preferably in the investment business. London is a very expensive city, and the median income is actually very low compared to it. There is a high concentration of people who are very well off, but everyone else is struggling.

> but everyone else is struggling.

I wonder what's you definition of struggling, especially "everyone else"

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

#353

Post by foldr »

socalgal2 wrote: post #345
walthamstow wrote: post #299

Earlier quoted context omitted.

LA is much less dense than London so maybe you need concentration for those things, but we don't. We don't really have monocultural ghettoes. The beauty of London is how dense and intermixed it is. Cheek by jowl, as Shakespeare wrote.

Restaurant density Tokyo 10/1000 LA 3/1000 London 1/1000

That’s per person, not per unit area, and the figure for London is incorrect as per any information I could find.

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

#354

Post by scoot »

inglor_cz wrote: post #322
matt-p wrote: post #317

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure they'd of gotten the tube at all, unless perhaps to connect to a mainline station for a trip to the country? I still feel it more likely they'd of been driven, either by horse drawn or maybe even car (at least to the station) even in 1906.

I remember some rather old photos with very well-dressed people waiting for the tube... so probably "it depends". Compared to horse-drawn carriages, the tube was fast and not prone to traffic jams.

Most people of that era were "very well-dressed" relative to their wealth compared to today's "pyjamas and slippers to go to the local shop" level of couture, so I'm not to sure how much you can read into that.

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

#355

Post by quotz »

adastra22 wrote: post #289
quotz wrote: post #273

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its good in NYC for american standards. For european standards the NYC subway is abominable. The smells, the grime, the homeless, its honestly like visiting the 6th ring of hell. Source: I am a european living in NYC.

It’s not much different from Paris subway. We should still strive for better - Taipei is a much better model than any European city.

Paris as a city has gone very downhill the past 5-10 years. The subway there is a prime example.

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

#356

Post by walthamstow »

socalgal2 wrote: post #345
walthamstow wrote: post #299

Earlier quoted context omitted.

LA is much less dense than London so maybe you need concentration for those things, but we don't. We don't really have monocultural ghettoes. The beauty of London is how dense and intermixed it is. Cheek by jowl, as Shakespeare wrote.

Restaurant density Tokyo 10/1000 LA 3/1000 London 1/1000

Did you know 82% of stats are made-up? You've not bothered with a source or even any units. Poor effort.

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

#357

Post by inglor_cz »

scoot wrote: post #354
inglor_cz wrote: post #322

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I remember some rather old photos with very well-dressed people waiting for the tube... so probably "it depends". Compared to horse-drawn carriages, the tube was fast and not prone to traffic jams.

Most people of that era were "very well-dressed" relative to their wealth compared to today's "pyjamas and slippers to go to the local shop" level of couture, so I'm not to sure how much you can read into that.

relative to their wealth

But total wealth was a lot lower than today, while clothes were much more expensive relative to the average income than today. Many people wore their best clothes on Sundays only, and street photos from the same period show that an average person was dressed rather simply.

I don't even think that the tube was affordable to average working class public. When I read historic accounts from much later (the 1930s), they mention that fare on public transport was expensive enough that you had to choose between a breakfast and a ride.

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

#358

Post by pastamania »

matt-p wrote: post #317
inglor_cz wrote: post #316

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is interesting how infrastructure silently reflects society of its time. In 1906, people travelling with three suitcases would likely have servants carrying them, and no one cared particularly about comfort of servants.

I'm not sure they'd of gotten the tube at all, unless perhaps to connect to a mainline station for a trip to the country? I still feel it more likely they'd of been driven, either by horse drawn or maybe even car (at least to the station) even in 1906.

Other way round is my understanding. Road based transport was for the poor, especially trams, and the underground was for the fancy folk looking to shortcut past all of that.

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

#359

Post by DrScientist »

yunnpp wrote: post #338
DrScientist wrote: post #307

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As I understand it the US car lobby had a big hand in designing modern America, in such a way that for most cities it really isn't possible to use anything else. On the other hand a lot of European cities were laid out in the time of horse and cart.

A lot of European cities still have Roman centres.

Indeed - and some are even older. I believe romans still had horse and cart.

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

#360

Post by JumpinJack_Cash »

alephnerd wrote: post #21
throwaway7783 wrote: post #20

Funny how San Francisco can't fit the chart they have. League of its own I guess.

It truly is. I've seen multiple pre-seed startups and founders burn significant amounts of personal capital in order to land an O-1A visa because of how much capital and mentorship is available here.

Is the juice worth the squeeze?

Then you'd feel like it's not you/your idea/your company but the ecosytem at large

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