5 ms·

Sweden Is a Tech Superstar from the North

46 points by henrik_w 11y ago

fapjacks 11y ago
A similar article (though not specifically about technology companies and more about the economic landscape in Sweden in general) got the cover of The Economist a year or more ago.
- sandstrom 11y ago
  One of their special reports. Below are three direct links. LEADER http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21571136-politicians-both-right-and-left-could-learn-nordic-countries-next-supermodel http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21571136-politicians-b... BUSINESS http://www.economist.com/news/special-report/21570837-nordic-companies-have-coped-well-globalisation-need-new-blood-global-niche http://www.economist.com/news/special-report/21570837-nordic... ENTREPRENEURSHIP http://www.economist.com/news/special-report/21570834-nordic-region-becoming-hothouse-entrepreneurship-if-doubt-innovate http://www.economist.com/news/special-report/21570834-nordic... --- In this overview (right column; top) all articles from the report are listed, with links: http://www.economist.com/printedition/2013-02-02 http://www.economist.com/printedition/2013-02-02
acchow 11y ago
Glanced at their deck - Unity? Zendesk? How do they define a Nordic company?
- jernfrost 11y ago
  A company from a Nordic country? Unity and Zendesk are from Denmark another Nordic country. The Nordics are Scandinavia + Finland and Iceland.
  - smcl 11y ago
    I tapped the downvote button here accidentally when scrolling - sorry
  - acchow 11y ago
    So Facebook is a Massachusetts company? My point is, when a company moves locations and then becomes wildly successful, one should wonder why its birthplace can't create that success instead of patting it on its back.
- sandstrom 11y ago
  Zendesk was founded by three Danes. As far as I know initially based in Copenhagen, though at some point they opened offices in the US (don't know if they have presence in Denmark anymore, but it's not unlikely).
  - jernfrost 11y ago
    Having worked for many Norwegian startups, I can tell you that is the norm. You always open an office in the US. That is where the bulk of your sales will be. The US is like 200 times bigger than a Nordic country, so the home market will always be small for any Nordic country. You got to think exports right away. Usually there will be a large sales organization in the US, and often later there might be R&D there as well since that offers access to particular talent etc. But I actually find that quite a lot of American seem willing to move to Norway to work, so it is not always needed. I guess many nordic companies might look American to outsiders because a lot of nordics have gone to business schools in the US, lived or worked there for a few years before etc. When people here are used to other business cultures I think it is usually American business culture they are used to.
    - BuckRogers 11y ago
      Most of us would be willing to move anywhere in the EU, at least for a while. I lived and worked in France for some time. My family came from Germany and Switzerland 150 years ago, and my wife's great grandmother came from Spain only 100 years ago (she's Mexican and now also American). It's a really neat thing to be over there and feel that connection to an ancestral homeland that we still have family stories about. Close to where I grew up was a town called Swedesburg, they fly the Swedish flag there to this day. Lots of Germans and Swedes. One would think Europe would change immigration law to encourage people who would naturally have some affinity or ties to the region. But that doesn't seem to be a popular idea. I think my wife and I would be able to integrate anywhere over there, northern or southern Europe, with zeal. I've always gotten the vibe Europe prefers its former African and mideast colonies to immigrate north, rather than American hordes with their money and talents (which may be more offputting to the natives than a more desperate immigrant). Add in the novelty and fun of being in Europe and I'm sure you have no problem with getting people to come over.
- sandstrom 11y ago
  A good (and bad) thing about the nordics is that the countries are small. So, any successful nordic company will have a significant international presence. As such, one might perceive them as non-nordic (which is partly correct, of course). This is the case with Unit and Zendesk, as well as many others.
- blibble 11y ago
  Same with Spotify and KING, both are/were technically UK companies
jernfrost 11y ago
As a Norwegian I know I am supposed to say something nasty about Sweden, but hey Go Sweden! Good job! They earned it, they have gone through a long difficult time of some tough changes. Almost a generation of young Swedes have ended up working in Norway due to the difficult times in the past. But now with the oil price crash and Swedish tech sector so hot, it might look like things are going to go in reverse. Anyway it is great to be able to show the world that high tax welfare states, like the Nordic ones can be just as innovative if not more than the free wheeling capitalist ones. I think there is positive message here that says you can be nice to your people and still have a strong, innovative and growing economy.
- adventured 11y ago
  Sweden's recent good years are courtesy of substantial pro-market reforms they made after several lost decades in which their over-sized welfare state had caused stagnation. Don't take my word for it, here's their recent finance minister explaining what they did and why: "Like many societies, we went too far in our welfare-state ambitions" ... "If you’re working yourselves upwards in taxes and deficits, we’re working ourselves downwards" http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2009/0803/international-invest-guide-obama-sweden-public-downsizing.html http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2009/0803/international-invest-... [2001] "By 1991 the voters had had enough. They threw out the Social Democrats for the first time since the war and installed Carl Bildt’s Conservative government. Bildt set about liberalizing important state-monopolized or dominated markets, notably telecommunications and banking. As competition in telecoms cut telephone and internet access charges, Sweden became a hotbed of technology experimentation, with some of the highest penetration rates for mobile phones and internet access." "Bildt cut back Sweden’s confiscatory taxes. His 1991 tax reform package capped national taxes on personal income at about 50%; before 1991, rates could go above 90%. Bildt’s tax reform also established capital gains, dividend and net interest income as special income categories, taxable at 30%. Corporate income tax: 28%." http://www.forbes.com/global/2001/0319/034.html http://www.forbes.com/global/2001/0319/034.html That said, I'm not aware of any free-wheeling Capitalist nations except perhaps Singapore. The US for example is a highly regulated welfare state with upper-mid tier taxation among nations. Meanwhile, Finland is in a depression [1][2][3], with their economy shrinking year after year, while they refuse to cut their own stagnation-causing over-bearing welfare state. [1] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/12001895/Finlands-depression-is-the-final-indictment-of-Europes-monetary-union.html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/12001895/Finlands-depress... [2] http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/35c8560c-c62f-11e4-add0-00144feab7de.html http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/35c8560c-c62f-11e4-add0-00144... [3] http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-01-26/the-new-sick-man-of-europe-has-an-aaa-credit-rating http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-01-26/the-new-si...
maxdemarzi 11y ago
Neo4j is out of Malmö Sweden, but we also have offices in Stockholm, London, San Mateo and about a third of us work from home. We're always hiring.
dosshell 11y ago
If it gets dark outside at 6pm and you have nothing todo, you learn how to use the computer the government gave your parents a discount on. Almost everyone, even really poor people, bought a computer and internet because of this. I think that's the most brilliant thing our leaders did in the last 20 years.
shalmanese 11y ago
"Stockholm has produced more unicorns per capita than any other city in the world" I don't know where this fact was sourced from and why it keeps on getting repeated but it's obviously not true. According to http://fortune.com/unicorns/ http://fortune.com/unicorns/, Sweden currently has 2 unicorns, Spotify and Klarna. Add in Skype, Minecraft and Candy Crush Saga as unicorns that have exited and you're up to 5. In contrast, San Francisco alone has 34 with more in the greater Bay Area.
- sandstrom 11y ago
  The per capita part is key. Sweden's population is 1/35 of the US. (I haven't checked the numbers, you may still be right, but I the claim doesn't sound unreasonable)
  - shalmanese 11y ago
    The metric is per city.
chrisper 11y ago
This is probably why I will work in Europe instead of the US.

46 points by henrik_w 11y ago

A similar article (though not specifically about technology companies and more about the economic landscape in Sweden in general) got the cover of The Economist a year or more ago.

sandstrom 11y ago
One of their special reports. Below are three direct links. LEADER http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21571136-politicians-both-right-and-left-could-learn-nordic-countries-next-supermodel http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21571136-politicians-b... BUSINESS http://www.economist.com/news/special-report/21570837-nordic-companies-have-coped-well-globalisation-need-new-blood-global-niche http://www.economist.com/news/special-report/21570837-nordic... ENTREPRENEURSHIP http://www.economist.com/news/special-report/21570834-nordic-region-becoming-hothouse-entrepreneurship-if-doubt-innovate http://www.economist.com/news/special-report/21570834-nordic... --- In this overview (right column; top) all articles from the report are listed, with links: http://www.economist.com/printedition/2013-02-02 http://www.economist.com/printedition/2013-02-02

acchow 11y ago

Glanced at their deck - Unity? Zendesk? How do they define a Nordic company?

jernfrost 11y ago
A company from a Nordic country? Unity and Zendesk are from Denmark another Nordic country. The Nordics are Scandinavia + Finland and Iceland.
- smcl 11y ago
  I tapped the downvote button here accidentally when scrolling - sorry
- acchow 11y ago
  So Facebook is a Massachusetts company? My point is, when a company moves locations and then becomes wildly successful, one should wonder why its birthplace can't create that success instead of patting it on its back.
sandstrom 11y ago
Zendesk was founded by three Danes. As far as I know initially based in Copenhagen, though at some point they opened offices in the US (don't know if they have presence in Denmark anymore, but it's not unlikely).
- jernfrost 11y ago
  Having worked for many Norwegian startups, I can tell you that is the norm. You always open an office in the US. That is where the bulk of your sales will be. The US is like 200 times bigger than a Nordic country, so the home market will always be small for any Nordic country. You got to think exports right away. Usually there will be a large sales organization in the US, and often later there might be R&D there as well since that offers access to particular talent etc. But I actually find that quite a lot of American seem willing to move to Norway to work, so it is not always needed. I guess many nordic companies might look American to outsiders because a lot of nordics have gone to business schools in the US, lived or worked there for a few years before etc. When people here are used to other business cultures I think it is usually American business culture they are used to.
  - BuckRogers 11y ago
    Most of us would be willing to move anywhere in the EU, at least for a while. I lived and worked in France for some time. My family came from Germany and Switzerland 150 years ago, and my wife's great grandmother came from Spain only 100 years ago (she's Mexican and now also American). It's a really neat thing to be over there and feel that connection to an ancestral homeland that we still have family stories about. Close to where I grew up was a town called Swedesburg, they fly the Swedish flag there to this day. Lots of Germans and Swedes. One would think Europe would change immigration law to encourage people who would naturally have some affinity or ties to the region. But that doesn't seem to be a popular idea. I think my wife and I would be able to integrate anywhere over there, northern or southern Europe, with zeal. I've always gotten the vibe Europe prefers its former African and mideast colonies to immigrate north, rather than American hordes with their money and talents (which may be more offputting to the natives than a more desperate immigrant). Add in the novelty and fun of being in Europe and I'm sure you have no problem with getting people to come over.
sandstrom 11y ago
A good (and bad) thing about the nordics is that the countries are small. So, any successful nordic company will have a significant international presence. As such, one might perceive them as non-nordic (which is partly correct, of course). This is the case with Unit and Zendesk, as well as many others.
blibble 11y ago
Same with Spotify and KING, both are/were technically UK companies

jernfrost 11y ago

As a Norwegian I know I am supposed to say something nasty about Sweden, but hey Go Sweden! Good job! They earned it, they have gone through a long difficult time of some tough changes. Almost a generation of young Swedes have ended up working in Norway due to the difficult times in the past. But now with the oil price crash and Swedish tech sector so hot, it might look like things are going to go in reverse. Anyway it is great to be able to show the world that high tax welfare states, like the Nordic ones can be just as innovative if not more than the free wheeling capitalist ones. I think there is positive message here that says you can be nice to your people and still have a strong, innovative and growing economy.

adventured 11y ago
Sweden's recent good years are courtesy of substantial pro-market reforms they made after several lost decades in which their over-sized welfare state had caused stagnation. Don't take my word for it, here's their recent finance minister explaining what they did and why: "Like many societies, we went too far in our welfare-state ambitions" ... "If you’re working yourselves upwards in taxes and deficits, we’re working ourselves downwards" http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2009/0803/international-invest-guide-obama-sweden-public-downsizing.html http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2009/0803/international-invest-... [2001] "By 1991 the voters had had enough. They threw out the Social Democrats for the first time since the war and installed Carl Bildt’s Conservative government. Bildt set about liberalizing important state-monopolized or dominated markets, notably telecommunications and banking. As competition in telecoms cut telephone and internet access charges, Sweden became a hotbed of technology experimentation, with some of the highest penetration rates for mobile phones and internet access." "Bildt cut back Sweden’s confiscatory taxes. His 1991 tax reform package capped national taxes on personal income at about 50%; before 1991, rates could go above 90%. Bildt’s tax reform also established capital gains, dividend and net interest income as special income categories, taxable at 30%. Corporate income tax: 28%." http://www.forbes.com/global/2001/0319/034.html http://www.forbes.com/global/2001/0319/034.html That said, I'm not aware of any free-wheeling Capitalist nations except perhaps Singapore. The US for example is a highly regulated welfare state with upper-mid tier taxation among nations. Meanwhile, Finland is in a depression [1][2][3], with their economy shrinking year after year, while they refuse to cut their own stagnation-causing over-bearing welfare state. [1] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/12001895/Finlands-depression-is-the-final-indictment-of-Europes-monetary-union.html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/12001895/Finlands-depress... [2] http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/35c8560c-c62f-11e4-add0-00144feab7de.html http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/35c8560c-c62f-11e4-add0-00144... [3] http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-01-26/the-new-sick-man-of-europe-has-an-aaa-credit-rating http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-01-26/the-new-si...

maxdemarzi 11y ago

Neo4j is out of Malmö Sweden, but we also have offices in Stockholm, London, San Mateo and about a third of us work from home. We're always hiring.

dosshell 11y ago

If it gets dark outside at 6pm and you have nothing todo, you learn how to use the computer the government gave your parents a discount on. Almost everyone, even really poor people, bought a computer and internet because of this. I think that's the most brilliant thing our leaders did in the last 20 years.

shalmanese 11y ago

"Stockholm has produced more unicorns per capita than any other city in the world" I don't know where this fact was sourced from and why it keeps on getting repeated but it's obviously not true. According to http://fortune.com/unicorns/ http://fortune.com/unicorns/, Sweden currently has 2 unicorns, Spotify and Klarna. Add in Skype, Minecraft and Candy Crush Saga as unicorns that have exited and you're up to 5. In contrast, San Francisco alone has 34 with more in the greater Bay Area.

sandstrom 11y ago
The per capita part is key. Sweden's population is 1/35 of the US. (I haven't checked the numbers, you may still be right, but I the claim doesn't sound unreasonable)
- shalmanese 11y ago
  The metric is per city.

chrisper 11y ago

This is probably why I will work in Europe instead of the US.