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Why tiny Stockholm has the most stunning startup ecosystem since Tel Aviv
61–70 of 99 posts
Re: Why tiny Stockholm has the most stunning startup ecosystem since Tel Aviv
#62Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm sorry to burst your bubble, but that's not how math and economy works. The US is borrowing half of what it is spending right now. That can only go so long (maybe 10 more years, maybe 20 more years, but definitely not for 50 more years). "General tax revenue" right now covers approximately half of government expenses, without having to cater to social security. social security + medicare spending grow at 8%/year f…
> The US is borrowing half of what it is spending right now. Are you talking about government expenditure and tax take? Or about the general economy?
Just federal government.
Federal US budget is ~$4T$/year, taxes are ~$2.4T, loans taken ("government bonds") are ~$1.6T/year.
Highly recommended: reading Karl Deninnger on "the market ticker" on a daily basis. His style of writing is not for everyone, but the facts are, and it's hard to find them so coherently laid out in other places.
Re: Why tiny Stockholm has the most stunning startup ecosystem since Tel Aviv
#63Every 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…
Individuals from all nationalities are nice. Especially the ones you meet out of their national cocoon. They're just nice in different ways. It's when you deal with them as groups that the cultural differences start to grate you. And when the group becomes a crowd, they all turn into monstrous beasts with no brains.
Re: Why tiny Stockholm has the most stunning startup ecosystem since Tel Aviv
#64Earlier quoted context omitted.
> This gives Scandinavians and Dutch entrepreneurs an edge compared to most other European entrepreneurs how? the world's ranking of english proficiency is dominated by Europeans https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EF_English_Proficiency_Index#2... I am pretty sure among the IT branch the scores are much higher although you don't need perfect language skills to understand technical concepts.
You do notice that all of the countries listed as "Very High Proficiency" are Scandinavian or Dutch, just like he said, right? And many of the continental European countries, like France, Italy, and Spain are listed at only "Moderate Proficiency." While you don't need perfect language skills to understand technical concepts, not being at full proficiency can be a barrier. I know that when I help people out on StackOv…
> You do notice that all of the countries listed as "Very High Proficiency" are Scandinavian or Dutch, just like he said, right?
You do notice they aren't recently startup-famous in any way, right?
Re: Why tiny Stockholm has the most stunning startup ecosystem since Tel Aviv
#65Some downsides with Stockholm: (1) It is difficult to make friends in Stockholm, because Swedish people are generally very reserved; (2) It is very dark and cold most of the year; and (3) Summer is short.
It sounds just like Seattle, then: perfection.
Re: Why tiny Stockholm has the most stunning startup ecosystem since Tel Aviv
#66Yay Stockholm! Another Stockholm start-up that looks interesting is Gavagai http://gavagai.se/
Are Swedish startups (or EU startups in general) interested in talented American programmers?
Re: Why tiny Stockholm has the most stunning startup ecosystem since Tel Aviv
#671.4 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.
Tel Aviv is probarbly larger than Stockholm though. The Swedish definition of "metropolitan" area is skewed, it consists of several cities and according to wikipedia its 6,519 km2 that is compared to Tel Avivs metropolian area of 1,516 km2. Still Tel Avivs has a metropolitan population of 3.4 million people compared to Stockholm's 2.1 million.
Just for others' reference, the metropolitan area of Stockholm[0] is the whole of the Stockholm county.
Just looking at the map, a slightly better/more conventional measure of Stockholm might be Stockholm municipality[1] + Huddinge, Sundbyberg and Solna, which gives an area of 350 km2 and a population of about 1.1 million.
[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_metropolitan_areas_in_... [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockholm_Municipality
Re: Why tiny Stockholm has the most stunning startup ecosystem since Tel Aviv
#68Earlier quoted context omitted.
> The US is borrowing half of what it is spending right now. Are you talking about government expenditure and tax take? Or about the general economy?
Just federal government. Federal US budget is ~$4T$/year, taxes are ~$2.4T, loans taken ("government bonds") are ~$1.6T/year. Highly recommended: reading Karl Deninnger on "the market ticker" on a daily basis. His style of writing is not for everyone, but the facts are, and it's hard to find them so coherently laid out in other places.
Thanks. I'll check it out, if I find time to care about the American economy.
Re: Why tiny Stockholm has the most stunning startup ecosystem since Tel Aviv
#69Earlier quoted context omitted.
Well the state tax isn't as i said it, bjourne is correct about that part. I see that extra tax as money that if not for the tax would be part of my salary (at least some of it) because it's based on how much I earn, not how much I work or when I work. Thus making it of 100% of my salary, not 131%. I never said it's bad. It's OK. I'd just rather pay for something great/world class than having someone else take some o…
Were you ever an employer? If your salary is 10,000SEK/month (to make numbers simple), then you cost your employer 13,100SEK/month. You pay 3,000 SEK in taxes, so your take home is 7,000/13,1000 = ~55%, and the tax rate is 45%. If the employer didn't have to pay those 31% to the government, he would have paid them to you, and you would have been taxed on them. It doesn't matter how the line items are listed from the…
Yes.
That looks right.
It's a completely different tax, if the employer didn't have to pay that to the government you'd have to renegotiate your salary to get any of it (because it's not part of your salary).
But in Sweden you do negotiate the 10,000 SEK. You generally don't talk about the 13,100 unless you are an employer and have to think about it. That is my point and that is what I think is stupid.
Re: Why tiny Stockholm has the most stunning startup ecosystem since Tel Aviv
#70Earlier quoted context omitted.
Well the state tax isn't as i said it, bjourne is correct about that part. I see that extra tax as money that if not for the tax would be part of my salary (at least some of it) because it's based on how much I earn, not how much I work or when I work. Thus making it of 100% of my salary, not 131%. I never said it's bad. It's OK. I'd just rather pay for something great/world class than having someone else take some o…
Were you ever an employer? If your salary is 10,000SEK/month (to make numbers simple), then you cost your employer 13,100SEK/month. You pay 3,000 SEK in taxes, so your take home is 7,000/13,1000 = ~55%, and the tax rate is 45%. If the employer didn't have to pay those 31% to the government, he would have paid them to you, and you would have been taxed on them. It doesn't matter how the line items are listed from the…
> If the employer didn't have to pay those 31% to the government, he would have paid them to you, and you would have been taxed on them.
It's unlikely the employer would pay you more. You negotiated and expect 10,000 SEK. Yes, the employer knows it'll cost 13,000, but you only get 10,000. So if there's no employer tax, you'll still likely get 10,000, but now the employer can hire another person using the money that's freed up, or invest in some other ways.