The European Startup Map

There's a few near the Belgian border -- but yes, France is, in general, not the startup-friendliest country in the world. Comparing with the UK, it might just be network effects, but I'm not convinced that's all of it.

Additionally (disclaimer, I'm Belgian), I would not start in France because of the fear of future laws. They seem to be pulling a lot of crap -- I don't really know if it's because they're clueless or malicious, but either way I'm not putting up with it.

Re: The European Startup Map

#6

Post by namdnay » Tue, May 10, 2011, 9:50 AM UTC

vixen99 wrote: post #4

Is there a law against them in France?

Hardly. Here in Sophia-Antipolis, there are at least two dozen.

Re: The European Startup Map

#7

Post by ugh » Tue, May 10, 2011, 9:53 AM UTC

lvh wrote: post #5

vixen99 wrote: post #4

Is there a law against them in France?

There's a few near the Belgian border -- but yes, France is, in general, not the startup-friendliest country in the world. Comparing with the UK, it might just be network effects, but I'm not convinced that's all of it. Additionally (disclaimer, I'm Belgian), I would not start in France because of the fear of future laws. They seem to be pulling a lot of crap -- I don't really know if it's because they're clueless or…

Could also be a self-selection effect. It is far from certain that non-Anglophone startups are just as likely as Anglophone startups to enter themselves on an English website.

Don't get me wrong, this is evidence, but it is fragile and problematic.

Re: The European Startup Map

#8

Post by tomh- » Tue, May 10, 2011, 10:07 AM UTC

Many companies on the list are not startups, to name a few: skype, mysql, spil games, unity and rovio.

Re: The European Startup Map

#9

Post by nametoremember » Tue, May 10, 2011, 10:12 AM UTC

Polldaddy came from Ireland? Cool, I didn't know that. Surely there are loads more to be added though, right?

Re: The European Startup Map

#10

Post by cdavid » Tue, May 10, 2011, 10:18 AM UTC

vixen99 wrote: post #4

Is there a law against them in France?

No, but there is some bureaucracy. Not so much taxes as much as being able to make sure not to pay things you don't have to. I have done internships in some companies where they did not realize they could recover a lot of taxes, etc... if they had filled the forms.

But I actually think the most significant issue is the culture, especially the whole higher education system, the so called "grandes ecoles", which could be somewhat compared to the Ivy league in the US. The incentive to go into big companies is huge, and there is also relatively poor consideration for IT jobs. I also think failure has more impact in your career than in the US/UK. Not so much failure itself as much as unusual careers.

I should note that I am highly biased against this system. I went through it like most students "who are good at math", and I hated it. The engineering education you receive compared to what you can expect in good engineering universities in the US is terrible.