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Ask HN: UK Entrepreneurs, how does a brexit/remain vote affect your start up?

12 points by harel 10y ago

As someone who has been undecided until I stood in front of the ballot form, I would love to hear your views as to how a vote in or out will affect your tech company in the UK, directly or indirectly.

icu 10y ago
I too have felt conflicted about voting one way or the other. It has taken months of research and discussion for me to come to the conclusion that what is best for me in the short run is not what is best for my son and the country in the long term. The thing that tipped the scales in my decision to vote leave was coming to the conclusion that democracy is the exercise of sovereignty. The nature Sovereignty is binary, you either have it or you don't, and I felt it is too valuable a thing to give up as it had been paid for by the ultimate sacrifices of previous generations. I also realised that leaving the EU doesn't preclude trade or special immigration or visa arrangements to be negotiated between the UK and the EU. So while there is the threat that the EU members would want to punish the UK for leaving but they would also be hurting their own economies and since EU economic growth has been low I don't think they would want to do that. As a Fintech entrepreneur in London a Brexit might hurt new venture prospects in the short run. It will be harder to raise money, possibly harder to recruit and might be harder to grow into Europe. Having said that, there is nothing to say that it isn't possible to overcome these challenges, for example hiring devs to work remotely from Europe or from anywhere in the world for that matter.
thenomad 10y ago
If we end up with worse trade deals and mobility in the event of a Leave - which some rather extensive reading has convinced me is pretty likely (see https://medium.com/im-trying-to-fact-check-brexit https://medium.com/im-trying-to-fact-check-brexit , which has been my hobby over the past few weeks) - then that could directly affect me as most of my business is international. Some of my clients are domestic, so that business will almost certainly be affected as the UK's economy slows down or falls into recession. The international stuff depends on the fine details, of course. Given the pound's likely to take a kicking in both the short and the long term being largely paid in dollars may have its upsides. But overall I'm not going to be at all thrilled if we end up voting Leave.
NetStrikeForce 10y ago
In case of Brexit I might move my company outside the country (I'm an EU national, not British) and me and my family probably follow suit shortly after. It depends on whether there's visa drama (if there is, then I'll eff off) or the UK remains as part of the free movement of people agreements (like Switzerland or Norway). It is a shame that fear, lies and racism (which is, again, fear) make people consider leaving the EU, which is the single good thing that happened to Europe since the end of WW2. It is not just about what's the EU (several discussions including some in HN have shown once and again how the EU is completely democratic), but about what the EU could be. I do respect their sovereignty to choose kicking out EU citizens and requiring them to go through the visa crap, but I can't help but feeling unwanted. All the reasons to leave the EU seem naïve, as almost none of them will change (immigration, adherence to EU regulations, trade agreements, free movement of people) or, even worse, will be forced fed into Britain's mouth without the chance to vote against them. If I finally have to leave, I wish them all the best as I consider them my friends, but I sincerely prefer to spend my time with friends that appreciate me as much as I appreciate them.
- UK-AL 10y ago
  Most people on leave campaign have said most EU nationals already here are not going to be kicked out? I think immigration levels won't be effected.
  - NetStrikeForce 10y ago
    In all fairness, they'll probably just let everyone in as they've been doing until now, mainly because of two facts: 1) UK has never been part of Schengen, hence it has border controls (regain control of our borders!). That won't change outside the EU. 2) As shown with English hooligans in France, you can kick out any EU citizen that's a problem or burden for your country. That won't change outside the EU. So, leaving the EU won't give superpowers to UK's border control that didn't have before. Hence why I'm pretty sure the UK will very quickly sign the same treaties Switzerland and Norway have, thus pretty much leaving untouched the immigration topic. After the referendum, UKIP will have no meaning as their goals would be fulfilled hence the Tories would have no reason to lie to you anymore about immigration control, they'll just leave the doors open. The only that would change and has actually changed already is all the xenophobia created towards EU nationals and that, my friends, is a two-way street. Hatred only brings hatred. I'm reading too many EU nationals saying things along the lines of "I hope they leave and sink", which is not fair to British people IMHO. You've normalised racism and brought it into national debates and even have public figures with racist campaigns (e.g. Farage's famous latest stunt). How the public has found this acceptable is beyond my comprehension. Anyway, it is a shame what this welcoming country has become in the last few years. I hope that, whatever the result, we can keep working together on building a great UK and a great Europe.
deleted 10y ago
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glenndebacker 10y ago
I'm no Entrepreneur but speaking as a European consumer it would me effect me in the sense that I would think twice of where to spend my money. I think it would have the reflex of spending it rather within the EU than further weakening it.
ig1 10y ago
Spotify. Just-Eat. King. Skype. Transferwise. Everyone of them was founded in the EU but became a billion dollar startup while headquartered in London. Developers, product managers, founders - it's hard to find any startup of size in London which doesn't draw 20-30%+ of it's staff from Europe (and beyond) - London has hugely benefitted from the talent pool of Europe. It's hard to imagine the startup scene existing without it. (we also sponsor work visas for international staff, it's a nightmare compared to hiring someone from the EU)
- zxcvvcxz 10y ago
  Do you really think skilled labor that is qualified to work at any of "Spotify. Just-Eat. King. Skype. Transferwise." will no longer be able to make the pilgrimage to London, now that Brexit has occurred? I doubt it. I think the real immigration issue is to control unchecked migration from MENA countries. A lot of these migrants come from cultures and religions that are incompatible with Western values, and so it's important to be able to screen who comes into your country more carefully.
  - tonyedgecombe 10y ago
    The problem is there is an expectation from a lot of voters that immigration is going to fall dramatically in the UK.
    - J_Darnley 10y ago
      Isn't the thinking behind that is that unskilled labour will be discouraged/prohibited? Unskilled Brits being displaced by cheaper labour from eastern Europe is usually cited as a reason for dissatisfaction with the EU.
      - tonyedgecombe 10y ago
        I don't think there was much thinking behind it at all, people saw headlines that there were 350,000 people coming to the UK and didn't like it.

icu 10y ago

I'm sympathetic because I think both sided have gone to extremes and quite frankly lied at times to gain votes which is why I did my own research and came to my own conclusions after dwelling on it for a long time. I think if the UK does leave it would be absolutely stupid to push out people who have made the UK their home and contributed thus far. Most likely it would be business as usual until the UK negotiates it's way out of the EU. I sincerely hope that if a leave vote happens that your family and business life doesn't get disrupted and please don't think that all the people who voted to leave did so for xenophobic racist reasons.

glenndebacker 10y ago
"please don't think that all the people who voted to leave did so for xenophobic racist reasons." But the whole premise of leaving is universally build on xenophobic racist reasons or started with xenophobic arguments. The line between Euroscepticism and Anti-Europeanism is very thin, there is a market for "Breaking point" ads. The fact that 9/10 of most anti-European parties (even on the mainland or those a Nigel Farage is dweeping with) is xenophobic/racist from nature is extremely telling.
- dawson 10y ago
  No, it's really not.
  - Myrmornis 10y ago
    Leave won due to the votes from non university-educated people in towns & villages and white working class, and both groups are more xenophobic than the university-educated generation under 40, who are furious. People were not voting about economics or trade agreements or the ideals of multi-national unions. It's not pretty to have this divide along socio-economic lines, and it's not pretty for liberals to realize that they wish that the xenophobic white working class didn't have such an influence in a vote, but that's how it is.
NetStrikeForce 10y ago
If you* make me go through a visa application that's the same as kicking me out, because I don't want to go through a visa application to keep living in my own home (been here for many years), hence you'll kick me out. *As you would have regained sovereignty (sic), I guess you can't blame The Government or the politicians. It's something you have decided, hence you take the blame for any bad consequence (and praise for the good ones).
kspaans 10y ago
Thanks for sharing your thoughts and vote here on HN! I'm curious if you have any thoughts on what would happen to Northern Ireland and its huge, unpatrolled land border with the EU in the event of vote Leave? Disclosure: I'm a Canadian who worked in London for the past two years but recently left the UK (not related to Brexit :P).
- icu 10y ago
  There is a fair possibility of the breakup of the UK which is a country of countries (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland). However it is worth pointing out that although there is both a strong national identity in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and a somewhat disparaging view of England and the English; Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland all have their own devolved Parliaments except England. Furthermore, people from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland can vote on English laws dispite the reverse not being true. I think it's likely that more power will be devolved to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in exchange for keeping within the UK. One of the main reasons for Scotland to remain was that it would not be allowed to use the pound if it broke away. Another key issue around a possible Scottish breakaway is Trident, the UK's ongoing independently-controlled nuclear deterrent. Trident is actually four submarines armed with ballistic missiles operated by the Royal Navy based at Clyde Naval Base on the west coast of Scotland. The costs of needing to relocate personnel and the base would be a major sticking point in any Scottish breakaway negotiation. Also the eurozone is extremely weak economically in part to needing to prop up the Euro and dealing with Greece. The point I'm trying to make here is that although a majority of Scots voted to stay in the EU, I'm not certain of their fondness of breaking away from the UK completely and going all in on the EU. What I think is more likely is that Scotland will do a sort of flip on how Greenland is within the Danish Realm and out of the EU but Denmark is part of the EU. Having said that if the EU is looking like it will collapse then Scotland will stay.