Why Does Sweden Have So Many Startups?

American engineers who are tired of Trump; Feel free to come work with us in Sweden! ;-) Swedish startups are hiring and there's definitely a shortage of engineers at the moment.

Lots more game companies too, from AAA companies like DICE and Paradox to indie games.

I've considered launching a start-up of my own here in Sweden so I've given the pros and cons some thought, and it is virtually risk free. To summarise, compared with other countries, we may have even more of the upside but the downside is capped at a very anxiety free level.

These are a few of the reasons:

- highly skilled labour is cheap in absolute terms and the cost to performance ratio for such workers is probably amongst the absolute best in the world. Good for a start-up!

- For the individual worker a job as a highly competent senior developer on average in my 20 years of experience is pretty much just double that of a garbage collector. Salaried men don't get ahead much but start-up workers do to a similar extent as they do in other start-up hubs in the world. Good for the early employees getting shares or stock options.

- Social security systems would still leave me able to stay in my nice home in my nice suburb even without a job. It would not affect the healthcare or education for me and my family at all. I would have to cut down on my intercontinental vacations with my family though. It feels like bet I could make without too much anxiety.

-Sweden has had, and still have to some extent, lots and lots of world leading large tech companies in pretty much every industry like automotive, telecom, different types of processing industries etc. Lots of skills, knowledge and ideas has spun off these large companies or started as suppliers to these. I think this ecosystem is one of the more critical factors which the other Scandinavian countries lack. I cannot come to think of even one Scandinavian unicorn-ish type of company from another Scandinavian country than Sweden. Finnish Rovio is close though, but I cannot come to think of any other non-Swedish company. Sorry but please fill me in here Norwegians, Danes and Finns!

- Stockholm specifically, where all the companies mentioned in the article are from, is a tech hub with lots of skilled and nice people living and working here and lots of good tech companies which makes it start-up friendly for the same reasons it would anywhere else in the world.

- The Swedish society, compared with most other I've experienced, is pretty well oiled and modern (not saying there isn't room for lots of improvement) where infrastructure like transportation, administration of personal and company affairs etc work quite well. More time and energy to focus on stuff that matters like your business and your family.

- The weather sucks for at least 6 months of the year. No I'm serious here. Having pretty much nothing else to do than to work and watch Netflix frees up lots of time and energy for work.

My five cents…

High cost of living? Where’d you get that idea? It’s true that some things are certainly more expensive – gas, alcohol, dinners in mid to high end restaurants – but other things, notably the big ticket items like rent, are typically cheaper than in many other places I’ve been and especially big cities. No need to pay health insurance or other not-really-optional fees is also relevant. Sweden isn’t perhaps cheap per se, but I wouldn’t say it’s much more expensive than anywhere else.

I live in Sweden, and I’ve lived abroad in both the UK and US, and I’d say living in Stockholm is a lot cheaper than London, and certainly a lot cheaper (and much easier, if you can find an apartment that is) than NYC or SF. But of course it depends on your way of life I guess.

FWIW I’ve bootstrapped my business, and as someone else suggested in this context the social safety net takes away a lot of the anxiety in doing this. It’s not easy, but I also know if shit hits the fan I won’t be out on the streets the next morning.

I have visited Denmark and Sweden, and the most obvious change when you cross the border is that Danes rarely smile walking down the street (or talking to you), whereas Swedes look generally happy.

It is likely a cultural thing, as young (4-6 year old) Danes on the street do some happy, unlike their older siblings and parents;

I am aware that this contradicts surveys that conclude Danes are the happiest people and Swedes aren’t - just recounting my personal impression

These kind of things matter and are very rarely captured in statistics