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>> "This is a critical reason why most tech startups in the UK go absolutely nowhere. You can’t legislate against it. It’s built straight into the culture." [C

by axod 17y ago

>> "This is a critical reason why most tech startups in the UK go absolutely nowhere. You can’t legislate against it. It’s built straight into the culture." [Citation needed] This piece is fairly short on evidence+numbers, and overloaded with sweeping generalizations. >> " If you’re starting a new tech business, the only place — the ONLY place — you should be is Silicon Valley." If you need to schmooze VC/need to work for a big company for a while so you can schmooze their M&A department/etc, then probably Silicon Valley is the best bet. But if you just want to build a tech company that makes money, it doesn't much matter where you are. >> "That is a traffic warden putting a parking ticket on the Bugatti. That is also a crowd cheering on the traffic warden. Why? Well it’s because each of the people watching will never, ever, ever have the capacity to even think about buying an £800,000 Bugatti. They know it. They know their place. Why should someone else be allowed to be successful enough to blow almost a million quid on a car? Yeah. Fluck’em! Rich B’stards!" They're cheering because the car is probably in the way. Jeez what a stupid 'article'. The author just comes across as someone who has failed and is blaming it all squarely on the 'culture' rather than any fault of his own. And FWIW, flying out for a couple of days every 3 months is hardly a big deal. If the US had universal healthcare I think it'd be more appealing. (Caveat): I don't really care about 'the scene'. I just sit in my office, do my own thing. I don't really need a 'tech scene', I've got one online :/

goatforce5 17y ago
> > "And FWIW, flying out for a couple of days every 3 months is hardly a big deal. If the US had universal healthcare I think it'd be more appealing." Immigration will get very suspicious of you if you're spending almost all of your time in the States. The business visitor visas are supposed to be for you to conduct meetings and sales pitches, etc - not for you to actually do your day-to-day work. Ultimately they'll just refuse entry to you. I used to have a valid US work visa, and then I moved to Canada and let the US visa expire. Few weeks ago when I was transiting through the US I was sent to secondary screening because they assumed I was going to just stay in the States when I landed there. US immigration has a really really hard time believing that you _wouldn't_ want to live the US, and assume that you'll do anything to stay there.
- axod 17y ago
  I flew back and forth from UK->US between 2004 and 2008. Probably 40 or so times. Never had an issue with immigration :/ I think they're fairly fine with it as long as you look confident and know what they want to hear.
EwanMacLeod 17y ago
You're absolutely right Axod, it was never meant to be a pinpoint piece that you'd read in The Economist with everything sourced. It's just my opinion complete with sweeping generalisations. I've failed many times but I've also been very successful too.
petercooper 17y ago
They're cheering because the car is probably in the way. In the UK, ~30-50 people do not get into a crowd and "cheer" a traffic warden doing their job unless the car belongs to someone they hate a lot more than traffic wardens.. and traffic wardens are vilified in the UK to ridiculous levels (there was a recent documentary about this - http://youtu.be/4TxxiXZHXD0 http://youtu.be/4TxxiXZHXD0). If the US had universal healthcare I think it'd be more appealing. Annual travel insurance is so cheap in the UK - even that covering the US - that using the US healthcare system isn't really an issue to most travellers.
- axod 17y ago
  Yeah maybe the traffic ticket is more about class differences. One cultural difference is that in the UK, a lot of sitcoms are about lower/middle class people. In the US many sitcoms seem to be about insanely rich people. So perhaps that comes into play. But in any event, the result would have been similar anywhere where supercars are a rarity. * Crowd gather to see supercar * Parking attendent give car a ticket * Crowd cheer/laugh/etc because it's something you don't see often. Also there's probably a large element of people cheering, glad to see that laws are equally applied to both rich and poor. I don't think you can just cite this as evidence that people in the UK are jealous of wealth.
abstractbill 17y ago
Yes, the piece is definitely short on evidence and high on anecdotes, but you know there's a grain of truth to it. In the UK if I told a random person I was starting a company, I'd be met with a blank stare or maybe I'd be told "wow, you're brave" or just "you're crazy". Actually I don't think it's much different in most of the US. But in the Bay Area, there's barely anyone I can talk to (in the 'scene' or not) who won't have a word of encouragement or a useful contact. I'm not kidding - I've talked to people who, from their lifestyles and interests, I would assume would have no connection whatsoever with startups - but almost invariably that's nearly impossible in the Bay Area. If the US had universal healthcare I think it'd be more appealing. I couldn't agree more. The US healthcare system is cruel, unfair, arbitrary, random, and very wasteful. If Grayson's bill passed, I would buy into Medicare in a heartbeat. I could talk all day about how shitty the current situation is ;)
- axod 17y ago
  I disagree. People start companies here all the time. No one thinks 'wow+brave' / 'crazy'. After all, it costs £20 to set up a Ltd company and get trading. We're probably slightly more grounded and have a slightly lower stomach for high risk stuff, but I don't see that as necessarily a bad thing at all. I guess one of the questions is 'can you succeed if you don't buy into the "scene" schmooze contacts culture etc'. I think you can, depending on your business model of course, but there are some fairly big success stories out there. Also really, these days you can get a ton of contacts online. You don't have to be in any particular place.

by axod 17y ago

goatforce5 17y ago

> > "And FWIW, flying out for a couple of days every 3 months is hardly a big deal. If the US had universal healthcare I think it'd be more appealing." Immigration will get very suspicious of you if you're spending almost all of your time in the States. The business visitor visas are supposed to be for you to conduct meetings and sales pitches, etc - not for you to actually do your day-to-day work. Ultimately they'll just refuse entry to you. I used to have a valid US work visa, and then I moved to Canada and let the US visa expire. Few weeks ago when I was transiting through the US I was sent to secondary screening because they assumed I was going to just stay in the States when I landed there. US immigration has a really really hard time believing that you _wouldn't_ want to live the US, and assume that you'll do anything to stay there.

axod 17y ago
I flew back and forth from UK->US between 2004 and 2008. Probably 40 or so times. Never had an issue with immigration :/ I think they're fairly fine with it as long as you look confident and know what they want to hear.

EwanMacLeod 17y ago

You're absolutely right Axod, it was never meant to be a pinpoint piece that you'd read in The Economist with everything sourced. It's just my opinion complete with sweeping generalisations. I've failed many times but I've also been very successful too.

petercooper 17y ago

They're cheering because the car is probably in the way. In the UK, ~30-50 people do not get into a crowd and "cheer" a traffic warden doing their job unless the car belongs to someone they hate a lot more than traffic wardens.. and traffic wardens are vilified in the UK to ridiculous levels (there was a recent documentary about this - http://youtu.be/4TxxiXZHXD0 http://youtu.be/4TxxiXZHXD0). If the US had universal healthcare I think it'd be more appealing. Annual travel insurance is so cheap in the UK - even that covering the US - that using the US healthcare system isn't really an issue to most travellers.

axod 17y ago
Yeah maybe the traffic ticket is more about class differences. One cultural difference is that in the UK, a lot of sitcoms are about lower/middle class people. In the US many sitcoms seem to be about insanely rich people. So perhaps that comes into play. But in any event, the result would have been similar anywhere where supercars are a rarity. * Crowd gather to see supercar * Parking attendent give car a ticket * Crowd cheer/laugh/etc because it's something you don't see often. Also there's probably a large element of people cheering, glad to see that laws are equally applied to both rich and poor. I don't think you can just cite this as evidence that people in the UK are jealous of wealth.

abstractbill 17y ago

Yes, the piece is definitely short on evidence and high on anecdotes, but you know there's a grain of truth to it. In the UK if I told a random person I was starting a company, I'd be met with a blank stare or maybe I'd be told "wow, you're brave" or just "you're crazy". Actually I don't think it's much different in most of the US. But in the Bay Area, there's barely anyone I can talk to (in the 'scene' or not) who won't have a word of encouragement or a useful contact. I'm not kidding - I've talked to people who, from their lifestyles and interests, I would assume would have no connection whatsoever with startups - but almost invariably that's nearly impossible in the Bay Area. If the US had universal healthcare I think it'd be more appealing. I couldn't agree more. The US healthcare system is cruel, unfair, arbitrary, random, and very wasteful. If Grayson's bill passed, I would buy into Medicare in a heartbeat. I could talk all day about how shitty the current situation is ;)

axod 17y ago
I disagree. People start companies here all the time. No one thinks 'wow+brave' / 'crazy'. After all, it costs £20 to set up a Ltd company and get trading. We're probably slightly more grounded and have a slightly lower stomach for high risk stuff, but I don't see that as necessarily a bad thing at all. I guess one of the questions is 'can you succeed if you don't buy into the "scene" schmooze contacts culture etc'. I think you can, depending on your business model of course, but there are some fairly big success stories out there. Also really, these days you can get a ton of contacts online. You don't have to be in any particular place.