I think this is a fantastic suggestion. Having an EU-wide “Inc” will indeed allow standardized investment vehicles such as SAFEs which in turn makes a lot of very-early-stage investment much cheaper = much more attractive. The EU doesn't need to standardize the SAFEs or stuff like that - the market will take care of that once all startuppy businesses are the same kind of legal entity.
Dear Europe, please wake up
61–70 of 323 posts
Re: Dear Europe, please wake up
#62Im an American currently living in Europe (Germany). I’ve founded a few companies in the US. I have a project that’s going well, could easily turn into a startup, but I’m not sure I’d found it here—genuinely struggling with it.
The way companies fundraise here is a bit weird to me. Much smaller rounds. Also typically thinking smaller in general. Obviously, everything is very commercially focused. In Germany, the worker protections make operating really quite difficult and it changes the culture of the company, too. Don’t even get me started about on-call culture.
I can’t really think of a distinct advantage to starting a company in EU vs US if you have a US passport outside some minor niceties. My current thinking is operating on both continents is likely best, with GTM in US and engineering in EU. But not sure…
Re: Dear Europe, please wake up
#63I have no idea whether Europeans work harder than Americans, but I do want to say that you can't extrapolate the overall work ethic of America by looking at the SF tech world. It's a very, very small (and very privileged) microcosm of the country.
I have to admit I raised an eyebrow at Greece being near the top of the list. That's going against stereotype hard.
Thats because they refactored their economy during the debt crises.
Re: Dear Europe, please wake up
#64European here. It normal that EU become the #4 economy in the world. There is nothing wrong with that. What wasn't normal was to see billions of people in poverty. I am happy to see India and China catch up. The best way to be #1 economy is to destroy others. We don't want to do that. Indian entrepreneurs are as ambitious as the growth of their economy. EU wants to focus on ecology and democracy and this impacts it's economy. There is nothing wrong with that.
Re: Dear Europe, please wake up
#65This misses the big one: California bans non-competes, bans anti-moonlighting clauses and lets you quit with no notice. If you’re at an EU company and need to give 3+ months notice to quit that will discourage starting your own company on the side.
3 months notice tends to apply to people who have been there a hell of a long time. At least in the UK.
My notice period is 3 months. I've also got 2 months of long service leave built up so in effect it's 1 month (as I can just take the 2 months notice)
On the flip side if they make me redundant I get the best part of 18 months salary after paying taxes, and at least 5 months pay after they say its happening where I can look for another job.
But OK, UK shot itself in the head with Brexit. Ireland speaks english natively, has low taxes (especially corporate ones), is easy to incorporate there, so how does notice apply?
https://www.workplacerelations.ie/en/what_you_should_know/en...
> Employees who have been in continuous employment for at least 13 weeks are obliged to provide their employer with one week’s notice of termination of employment. If a greater amount of notice is specified in the employee’s contract of employment, then this notice must be given.
Oh no, a whole week!
> Ten to fifteen years: Six weeks
Of course your contract may be different, but there's no real legal impediment here.
Re: Dear Europe, please wake up
#66This misses the big one: California bans non-competes, bans anti-moonlighting clauses and lets you quit with no notice. If you’re at an EU company and need to give 3+ months notice to quit that will discourage starting your own company on the side.
> If you’re at an EU company and need to give 3+ months notice to quit that will discourage starting your own company on the side. India has similar non-competes to Western Europe, but is able to maintain an innovation ecosystem.
India’s where offshoring from the us is. That maintains demand. India is also still industrializing. Expect India to look more like China - with similar economic pitfalls - in the next few decades. Some companies have already begun pulling from India because of costs and poor performance negating the labor savings. Some companies have figured this out and the non competes create a captive workforce but others are just wasting money trying to emulate.
Re: Dear Europe, please wake up
#67This misses the big one: California bans non-competes, bans anti-moonlighting clauses and lets you quit with no notice. If you’re at an EU company and need to give 3+ months notice to quit that will discourage starting your own company on the side.
I have never seen a 3+ month notice to quit in the country I live, curious which country this happens in? Sounds extremely ridiculous if true
Germany. I once had a 3 month notice to the end of the quarter. It's not like everyone gets these but they're also not super-exotic.
Re: Dear Europe, please wake up
#68This misses the big one: California bans non-competes, bans anti-moonlighting clauses and lets you quit with no notice. If you’re at an EU company and need to give 3+ months notice to quit that will discourage starting your own company on the side.
> If you’re at an EU company and need to give 3+ months notice to quit that will discourage starting your own company on the side.
Notice to quit given by the employee is often the same time period as notice for termination given by the employer: what's good for the goose is good for the gander.
* https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/what%27s_good_for_the_goose_i...
Re: Dear Europe, please wake up
#69A lot of the "Europe is bleh" rhetoric is about Western Europe - specifically France, Germany, and the UK (if they make it harder for European and Asian immigrants to come). The Eastern and Central European countries have always felt much more dynamic and open to work hard. There's a reason why the countries on the lefthand side of the graph provided are also the ones with some of the better innovation industries in…
> The Eastern and Central European countries have always felt much more dynamic and open to work hard. Yet as soon as they try to take advantage of their position (via e.g. tax breaks) they'll get punished (eg 15% corporate tax rate, what happened to Ireland, Cyprus). Not being a single economy truly prevents competition for capital. So old money stays put where it is , new money is not allowed.
Well, Cyprus absolutely needed to be cracked down (lots of shady shit going on there), but Ireland's absolutely gotten the short end of the stick, and I won't be surprised if something similar happens to Poland or Romania in a couple years.
Re: Dear Europe, please wake up
#70A lot of the "Europe is bleh" rhetoric is about Western Europe - specifically France, Germany, and the UK (if they make it harder for European and Asian immigrants to come). The Eastern and Central European countries have always felt much more dynamic and open to work hard. There's a reason why the countries on the lefthand side of the graph provided are also the ones with some of the better innovation industries in…
I am in the US, but I work with a lot of people out places like Romania, Moldova, Serbia, etc. and I agree those folks as a rule work hard, and also have a very high capacity for technical work.
Their salaries are no where near those of Western Europe or the US, and not because of lack of ability but rather more macroeconomic issues in the regions. But a lot of technology solutions utilized by the world quietly get built out of there.