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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

#71

Post by aigo »

c7DJTLrn wrote: post #43

Sounds like the author is upset that Brexit has closed the valve on the pipeline of cheap labour from EU workers. There's no shortage of talent in London trust me, it's just that you're going to have to start paying more than a pittance to get it. Brexit so far has been a positive thing for tech workers' salaries.

Tech workers salaries are going up everywhere, though, and it's happening in other industries too. It can't be because of Brexit that a bartender in NYC is getting paid more, but they are.

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

#72

Post by [deleted] »

SassyThrowaway wrote: post #70
aigo wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The quote in my post about funding can no longer happen. The EU only funds research at EU universities, and UK universities aren't that any more.

Historically, Israeli computer scientists have been able to apply and win ERC grants. That said, I have not checked if anything has changed for the UK in this regard, hence why I am curious.

[deleted]

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

#73

Post by mg »

dukeyukey wrote: post #51
mg wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What hinders Europeans to address big markets?

More limited home markets, in both a regulatory and cultural way.

Since we are talking about internet companies - why is the home market important?

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

#74

Post by dukeyukey »

mg wrote: post #73
dukeyukey wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

More limited home markets, in both a regulatory and cultural way.

Since we are talking about internet companies - why is the home market important?

Language, culture, regulation - it's not just a matter of reach.

Like, imagine a successful-at-home French startup wanting to expand internationally. First, unless you're happy staying in the confines of the old French Empire, you're gonna need to translate everything, definitely to English, maybe to German or Spanish. Second, your app is built with French attitudes in mind. Chances are you're gonna have to change that to adapt to American, British, German tastes, and that's a lot of redesign. Third, for every country you expand to, you have to comply with local rules and regs. The EU has helped here, but definitely not solved the issue.

Whereas in the US, not only have you got 330 million wealth consumers under broadly the same legal/cultural regime, but they practically all speak English too! That gives US startups a much more solid base to expand from. Hell, in Europe the UK is by far the biggest tech hub on the continent, and Ireland punches far above it's weight. Don't discount the advantages of language or culture even in a globalised world.

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

#75

Post by Zababa »

dukeyukey wrote: post #74
mg wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since we are talking about internet companies - why is the home market important?

Language, culture, regulation - it's not just a matter of reach. Like, imagine a successful-at-home French startup wanting to expand internationally. First, unless you're happy staying in the confines of the old French Empire, you're gonna need to translate everything, definitely to English, maybe to German or Spanish. Second, your app is built with French attitudes in mind. Chances are you're gonna have to change th…

I know someone that work in a startup that does exactly that. Opening a new country takes 3/6 months, as you need to open an office in the country and recruit people here. And that's now that they have a good process for it. Translation and localisation add processes and takes time. You need a new sales team for each country. Sometimes support too. Launching something in the USA would be equivalent to have France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK at the same time. That's a lot.

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

#76

Post by drumhead »

I dont understand, does he want the technical staff to sell because he doesnt have a sales team or is it that the staff were not creating a commercial project? If thats was the case then why didnt he or other management step in and do something about it? If Brexit was a problem why didnt they just relocate to Berlin, Paris or Stockholm?

Or is this all to do with the much higher ratings tech companies receive in the US?

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

#77

Post by deadbunny »

an9n wrote: post #64
agent008t wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I still think the whole divide over Brexit was less about the principle of it, but more about whether you are more aligned with the current EU political leanings or with those of the current UK ones (reflected in its Tory leadership). If you are more aligned with the EU political leanings, you would want them to be able to force the UK government to do what you believe is the right thing. If you are more aligned with…

Regardless of the left/right false dichotomy, if either the EU, national governments thereof, or the UK were to start looking after their electorates' interests rather than doing the bidding of faceless globalist puppet-masters, it would be a start.

That's the thing, they're not faceless to the establishment. They are their friend and donors.

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

#78

Post by simsla »

jstx1 wrote: post #19
aaa_aaa wrote: post #10

Summary: He received free money from EU. Now that he could not get enough from UK government, he is leaving.

This is misleading. Their staff having EU-funded PhDs is very different from receiving free money from the EU.

In the EU industry PhDs are fairly common. In this case, the PhD student does R&D work for a company, and gets paid through an EU PhD grant.

For some companies, it's an indirect way to get funding, because it provides for cheaper highly skilled labour.

(Anecdote incoming) For example, many years ago at the end of my industry internship, the company offered to continue the project as a PhD, pursuant grant funding. When I declined, they offered a well paid full-time job to do the same.

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

#79

Post by raverbashing »

matthewmorgan wrote: post #29

It's pretty common in Europe for people to get a socially-funded education then go off to the USA. It's called brain drain and has been happening for a while, not sure why this guy needs to write an article pretending that's not what's happening here.

It's not too trivial to go from an European country to the US. An H1-B is a hassle, as are the other types of visa available.

Can't imagine what is the process of "taking your startup" (with you) entails.

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

#80

Post by Dracophoenix »

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…

How do you manage a company from across the Atlantic? What does your tax situation look like? Do you personally enjoy living in London or are you there in spite of your interests?
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