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The Surprising Startup Hub That's Second Only to Silicon Valley

12 points by henrik_w 11y ago

strictnein 11y ago
> "The Nordic countries, particularly Sweden, have the highest percentage of unicorns per capita in the world" And yet no mention of Mojang. A unicorn among unicorns. No funding. $2.5 billion exit.
- bunnymancer 11y ago
  Speaks well for a country when it doesn't even need to mention Mojang.
- tyre 11y ago
  This speaks to our assumption of how great companies are built: large venture capital investment. From my experience, most people think they can build the next Uber for X, if only someone would give them that level of capital. Few think they could be the next Mojang, building a real business the hard way. Mojang did what every startup should be doing: 1) Build a phenomenal product 2) Once the business starts taking off, keep building a phenomenal product 3) As your user-base grows and diversifies, focus on building a phenomenal product Venture capital can be wonderful if you're already entrenched in that ethos. Otherwise, it will only paper over your mistakes.
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
nabla9 11y ago
In US many high-tech companies provide perks for their workers: free daycare, paid maternity leave, free tuition for employees' kids, good health care, etc. Nordic countries provide similar perks for all their citizens. High taxes pay for safety, infrastructure and welfare. Ramen-eating startups work for young single people. Getting older and having children reduces the risk taking ability dramatically without good welfare.
bulb 11y ago
Lies! Look at the actual source data of this supposed study. "Silicon Valley" has far more billion+ companies per capita than the nordic countries: (75 / 3.75 million) vs (9 / 26.6 million) = 20 vs 0.34 billion dollar companies per million people = Silicon Valley has 5882% more. Likewise when just looking at Sweden: (75 / 3.75 million) vs (5 / 9.6 million) = 20 vs 0.52 billion dollar companies per million people = Silicon Valley has 3846% more. http://www.atomico.com/explore-d3 http://www.atomico.com/explore-d3 I don't know why the author chose to compare Silicon Valley to the country of Sweden, but those are the actual numbers.
Kale_Rogers 11y ago
It's a headline for a reason. Obviously would argue on it... check: https://teleport.org https://teleport.org or if you just want to compare the cost side of building a company in Stockholm to Berlin see the link below: https://my.teleport.org/runway/?currentLocation=u6sc7&compareLocation=u33db&employees%5B0%5D%5Bcount%5D=2&employees%5B0%5D%5Bsalary%5D=&employees%5B0%5D%5Bposition%5D=Software+Engineer&employees%5B1%5D%5Bcount%5D=1&employees%5B1%5D%5Bsalary%5D=&employees%5B1%5D%5Bposition%5D=Web+Designer&employees%5B2%5D%5Bcount%5D=1&employees%5B2%5D%5Bsalary%5D=&employees%5B2%5D%5Bposition%5D=Data+Scientist&employees%5B3%5D%5Bcount%5D=1&employees%5B3%5D%5Bsalary%5D=&employees%5B3%5D%5Bposition%5D=Mobile+Developer&employees%5B4%5D%5Bcount%5D=1&employees%5B4%5D%5Bsalary%5D=&employees%5B4%5D%5Bposition%5D=Marketing+Manager&employerTaxes=&officeRent=&buffer=&cashAtHand=750000 https://my.teleport.org/runway/?currentLocation=u6sc7&compar...
dang 11y ago
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10693764 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10693764

12 points by henrik_w 11y ago

> "The Nordic countries, particularly Sweden, have the highest percentage of unicorns per capita in the world" And yet no mention of Mojang. A unicorn among unicorns. No funding. $2.5 billion exit.

bunnymancer 11y ago
Speaks well for a country when it doesn't even need to mention Mojang.
tyre 11y ago
This speaks to our assumption of how great companies are built: large venture capital investment. From my experience, most people think they can build the next Uber for X, if only someone would give them that level of capital. Few think they could be the next Mojang, building a real business the hard way. Mojang did what every startup should be doing: 1) Build a phenomenal product 2) Once the business starts taking off, keep building a phenomenal product 3) As your user-base grows and diversifies, focus on building a phenomenal product Venture capital can be wonderful if you're already entrenched in that ethos. Otherwise, it will only paper over your mistakes.

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

nabla9 11y ago

In US many high-tech companies provide perks for their workers: free daycare, paid maternity leave, free tuition for employees' kids, good health care, etc. Nordic countries provide similar perks for all their citizens. High taxes pay for safety, infrastructure and welfare. Ramen-eating startups work for young single people. Getting older and having children reduces the risk taking ability dramatically without good welfare.

bulb 11y ago

Lies! Look at the actual source data of this supposed study. "Silicon Valley" has far more billion+ companies per capita than the nordic countries: (75 / 3.75 million) vs (9 / 26.6 million) = 20 vs 0.34 billion dollar companies per million people = Silicon Valley has 5882% more. Likewise when just looking at Sweden: (75 / 3.75 million) vs (5 / 9.6 million) = 20 vs 0.52 billion dollar companies per million people = Silicon Valley has 3846% more. http://www.atomico.com/explore-d3 http://www.atomico.com/explore-d3 I don't know why the author chose to compare Silicon Valley to the country of Sweden, but those are the actual numbers.

Kale_Rogers 11y ago

It's a headline for a reason. Obviously would argue on it... check: https://teleport.org https://teleport.org or if you just want to compare the cost side of building a company in Stockholm to Berlin see the link below: https://my.teleport.org/runway/?currentLocation=u6sc7&compareLocation=u33db&employees%5B0%5D%5Bcount%5D=2&employees%5B0%5D%5Bsalary%5D=&employees%5B0%5D%5Bposition%5D=Software+Engineer&employees%5B1%5D%5Bcount%5D=1&employees%5B1%5D%5Bsalary%5D=&employees%5B1%5D%5Bposition%5D=Web+Designer&employees%5B2%5D%5Bcount%5D=1&employees%5B2%5D%5Bsalary%5D=&employees%5B2%5D%5Bposition%5D=Data+Scientist&employees%5B3%5D%5Bcount%5D=1&employees%5B3%5D%5Bsalary%5D=&employees%5B3%5D%5Bposition%5D=Mobile+Developer&employees%5B4%5D%5Bcount%5D=1&employees%5B4%5D%5Bsalary%5D=&employees%5B4%5D%5Bposition%5D=Marketing+Manager&employerTaxes=&officeRent=&buffer=&cashAtHand=750000 https://my.teleport.org/runway/?currentLocation=u6sc7&compar...

dang 11y ago

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10693764 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10693764