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A guide to freelancing in Finland

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Re: A guide to freelancing in Finland

#81

Post by enra »

fsloth wrote: post #48
krageon wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Finnish is an absolutely atrocious language to learn for most people (unless you are already familiar with learning a language with a completely different root, and even then). That part will be hard. I can't comment on the practicality of surviving with only English (or even Swedish, which most of them speak due to historical factors that I will politely gloss over), because I haven't tried.

I have lots of non-finns at my work who speak very little finnish. They seem to do fine. On the other hand integration to finnish society might be bit of a challenge unless you happen to find a sweetheart here. "or even Swedish, which most of them speak due to historical factors that I will politely gloss over" Most finns _don't_ speak Swedish, or it's very limited. It's a second language in law only because Finland…

As a Finn, this is great. I would just like to downgrade "strong support from Nazi Germany" just to support, and later a nuisance.

Initially Germany and Soviets made the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact to divide the Europe. Nazis would get Poland and Soviets would get Finland etc. They were agreement at first, so Nazis stayed away for the Winter War (1939-1940) and Finland had to block attack on their own since most of the Europe was allied with Soviets or Nazis.

Later in the following Continuation War (1941-1944), Finland asked for Germany's support when they tried to reclaim some of the areas Soviets had previously taken, including the city of Vyborg. German sent some arsenal and troops from Norway. I think the number was 40,000 compared to 500,000 Finnish troops.

So I think it wasn't that much of a "strong support". Also the German troops didn't have the tactical skills or right equipment for long lasting forest/winter warfare, so they weren't that effective either. They were used to Blitzkrieging everything.

Most of the German troops were stationed in the Northern Finland and once the peace was found with Soviets, Finland had to fight the Germans to get them out of the country. Along the way, the German troops scorched everything they came across on their retreat to Norway.

Re: A guide to freelancing in Finland

#82

Post by lawlorino »

euro_expat wrote: post #73
growlist wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It is also why you really don't see any actual innovation come out of Europe. ...as opposed to I suppose the amazing 'innovations' coming out of the US, such as shiny overpriced phones with overpriced proprietary cables, a taxi service with an app, some media-streaming services grown large based on their media content rather than innovation per se, and a plethora of disguised surveillance programmes? Wow thanks Ame…

Can you name a single thing that you would consider innovative from Europe? I'm serious, I just can't think of anything. These are good people for making a slightly better Mercedes than last year's model, but they won't be cooking up the next iPhone anytime soon. The system there does not reward risk takers, the smart move is incremental updates to well established existing products.

> but they won't be cooking up the next iPhone anytime soon.

It's funny you say this since Nokia, who are a Finnish company, were the globally dominant mobile phone company for years before the iPhone due to their innovations e.g. doing camera phones well. The 3310 is one of the best selling mobile phones ever. Yes they ultimately fell from that position, but to suggest Europe is some desert of mediocrity seems foolish.

Re: A guide to freelancing in Finland

#83

Post by pkaye »

euro_expat wrote: post #73
growlist wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It is also why you really don't see any actual innovation come out of Europe. ...as opposed to I suppose the amazing 'innovations' coming out of the US, such as shiny overpriced phones with overpriced proprietary cables, a taxi service with an app, some media-streaming services grown large based on their media content rather than innovation per se, and a plethora of disguised surveillance programmes? Wow thanks Ame…

Can you name a single thing that you would consider innovative from Europe? I'm serious, I just can't think of anything. These are good people for making a slightly better Mercedes than last year's model, but they won't be cooking up the next iPhone anytime soon. The system there does not reward risk takers, the smart move is incremental updates to well established existing products.

The web and browsers were invented at CERN.

Re: A guide to freelancing in Finland

#84

Post by jolmg »

bernawil wrote: post #78
skrebbel wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even better, because Spanish has a few letters that change pronunciation depending on context, eg the g in guerra vs Girona.

doesn't depend on any "context" in that example. Both written and spoken follow strict rules.

The context they mean is probably the adjacent "u", which is true and is involved in the strict rules you speak of.

There is ambiguity with "x", though. I don't know if there are strict rules surrounding it. I know of 3 different sounds for it:

* Like Spanish "j", English "h" as in México, Xavier, Oaxaca

* Like Spanish "ch", English "sh" as in Xoloitzcuintle, Xela

* Like English "x" as in excepción, exacto

Re: A guide to freelancing in Finland

#85

Post by inapis »

throwaway13337 wrote: post #45
climate_realist wrote: post #36

I think people here who look at Finland and Europe in general and see these social programs to help you get ahead are rather blinded by the reality that they only exist for Europeans. As a US citizen who lived in Europe for 5 years, I can assure you that it's a 100% closed game. If you are not from the EU, you can only work for a European. It makes no difference if you have a great idea, or even your own funding, you…

I am also an American who lived in Finland, Austria, and Denmark for, cumulatively, over 5 years. I now own and run a small but successful bootstrapped American SaaS. What bothered me is that in all the above countries, they try to encourage entrepreneurship through rigged government programs. These programs offer grants and other benefits to 'the right kind of startups' - usually ones that are fashionable because th…

> These programs offer grants and other benefits to 'the right kind of startups' - usually ones that are fashionable because the subject is currently hyped - ai, climate change, etc.

> I imagine there's a lot of 'who you know' going on, too.

Isn't this pretty much everywhere? US/India/China? And it's probably not limited to just government programs but even Angels/VCs/press are prone to hype?

The current product I'm building[1] doesn't excite a lot of people in my immediate vicinity but people thousands of miles away from me are looking forward to the launch. It's a question of positioning and product-market fit at the right place, right time with the right idea.

If the mom-test book and building this saas has taught me anything, you should always be evaluating the intent/point of view of the person you are talking to.

In this case, if it's a bureaucrat or a politician, it is all about optics. They have to justify every decision made, so implicitly their aim is to gain brownie points with the population and an average population does not really evaluate ideas based on pure merit but on what feels good which is, almost always, hype.

[1] https://getliste.com

Re: A guide to freelancing in Finland

#86

Post by beagle3 »

euro_expat wrote: post #73
growlist wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It is also why you really don't see any actual innovation come out of Europe. ...as opposed to I suppose the amazing 'innovations' coming out of the US, such as shiny overpriced phones with overpriced proprietary cables, a taxi service with an app, some media-streaming services grown large based on their media content rather than innovation per se, and a plethora of disguised surveillance programmes? Wow thanks Ame…

Can you name a single thing that you would consider innovative from Europe? I'm serious, I just can't think of anything. These are good people for making a slightly better Mercedes than last year's model, but they won't be cooking up the next iPhone anytime soon. The system there does not reward risk takers, the smart move is incremental updates to well established existing products.

Minecraft was Swedish. Nokia is Finnish. VLC is French. ARM is British. Sinclair was British. The entire demo scene is Nordic.

Israel is technically in Asia, but for most practical purposes (legal system, healthcare system, taxes, sport leagues, broadcast rights, dvd regions) it is considered to be in Europe. And it produced Checkpoint (firewalls...), Teva (largest generic drug manufacturer, but also original drugs like copaxon for MS), CAR-T for cancer treatment, and a couple of other things you’ve heard about.

Re: A guide to freelancing in Finland

#87

Post by beagle3 »

irrationalactor wrote: post #69

Anybody have experience as to whether this applies to an American living in Finland? Due to FATCA and the US's draconian tax laws around ownership of foreign investment assets...I'm wondering if it wouldn't make any sense to try to start a Finnish company while holding American citizenship. Assuming it would be a tax nightmare if you start producing any real income.

The requireMenus start on day one, regardless of producing any income. What follows related to the US tax code in general, the us/Finland tax treaty might make exceptions about some of them:

You will be unable to hold any financial asset other than cash or deposit (no broker will let you do stocks for example - or an ETF)

You will have to report and pay taxes on the fantasy gains on your locally accumulating pension funds, even though you will not have access to them until retirement (if then).

You will have to file your company paperwork locally, but also as if it was American - with requirements that become more onerous with your ownership percentage (starting at 10% or 25%, can’t remember - luckily for me in that respect, I was below the reporting threshold most years - but I did have to translate and file financials at some point)

I had done all of these for many years. If you don’t enjoy the bureaucracy, you might be better off NOT owning a non-US company.

Re: A guide to freelancing in Finland

#88

Post by teddyuk »

climate_realist wrote: post #36

I think people here who look at Finland and Europe in general and see these social programs to help you get ahead are rather blinded by the reality that they only exist for Europeans. As a US citizen who lived in Europe for 5 years, I can assure you that it's a 100% closed game. If you are not from the EU, you can only work for a European. It makes no difference if you have a great idea, or even your own funding, you…

This isn’t the case in the uk, anyone can start a business

Re: A guide to freelancing in Finland

#89

Post by euro_expat »

throwaway13337 wrote: post #45
climate_realist wrote: post #36

I think people here who look at Finland and Europe in general and see these social programs to help you get ahead are rather blinded by the reality that they only exist for Europeans. As a US citizen who lived in Europe for 5 years, I can assure you that it's a 100% closed game. If you are not from the EU, you can only work for a European. It makes no difference if you have a great idea, or even your own funding, you…

I am also an American who lived in Finland, Austria, and Denmark for, cumulatively, over 5 years. I now own and run a small but successful bootstrapped American SaaS. What bothered me is that in all the above countries, they try to encourage entrepreneurship through rigged government programs. These programs offer grants and other benefits to 'the right kind of startups' - usually ones that are fashionable because th…

This is also my experience. In Denmark they have a startup scene of sorts, but they literally only fund startups that are by the "right" people or are trendy. I never saw anything get funded on merit, just if you are Danish and in particular, if you came from the elite socioeconomic strata. I never saw any interest in if the idea was sound, if the kid applying for the money actually knows anything about it, etc. It always seemed like if you were a rich white guy, they had cash to throw your way. And yes, its 100% a case of winners being picked, which is why almost none of these companies actually works. They think that just because the kid is Danish that the market wants his idea. They are usually wrong.

Re: A guide to freelancing in Finland

#90

Post by euro_expat »

iagovar wrote: post #75
euro_expat wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have no idea about Finland, but in Europe in general, you can't open a business cleanly without a permanent residence permit, which takes usually 5+ years to get. In Denmark where I've lived, it's about 9+ years last I checked, but Danes are super xenophobic, so they don't want you there period. The link you sent describes being forced to be approved by some board they have, so it also sounds like Finland has hurdl…

Spain and France have entrepreneur visas.

So if I am rich or can convince the people that I have the right sort of idea, I can try there? I don't think that's quite the same thing as letting a person succeed on their own merit in the free market. It sounds like much the same as what I saw elsewhere in Europe - the state or a group of rich people picking winners, who more often than not don't win.
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