I think Berlin and Stockholm are two of the front runners of being "Startup Capital" (whatever that is suppose to mean), having lived in both I can offer some r

I think Berlin and Stockholm are two of the front runners of being "Startup Capital" (whatever that is suppose to mean), having lived in both I can offer some reflections, IMHO of course. Stockholm is pretty great when it comes to technical and investment maturity. We blew through and did all the stupid dotcom stuff in late 90's, while some have been repeated many successful entrepreneurs learned from that time. Internet access has been really good leading to a lot of good technical talent. It's a beautiful city that want's to be "international" and overall things are very polished. Sweden's also has a track record of producing a few gigantic hits such as Spotify, Soundcloud, Klarna, Skype, Minecraft etc etc. On the downside the housing situation is insane and everyone has borrowed to the hilt trying to keep up with the ever increasing prices. You can't get hold of an apartment without buying. It's also a pretty expensive place to live. It get's pretty dark & pissy in the winters but summer's are great. I used say that living in Stockholm is 9 months of wondering why the hell you live here and three months where you get the answer. Berlin in contrast feels like something very unique in Europe and Germany. It's like melting pot of different countries and not quite grown up mentality. Housing is still relatively accessible and affordable, there's even rental contracts to be had. Food and drink is overall cheaper. The startup spirit in Berlin still felt a bit naive when I was there, like a first wave city, but it's big and enthusiastic. However they seem to struggle to product big hits outside of their own country. Maybe the difference between Sweden and Germany is that Sweden is so little we have to go international, and also we're more anglofied. Big companies generally haven't been so big on Berlin since they don't have an international airport, leaving the city wide open for everyone else. On the downside Berlin is a bit meh when it comes to scenery and nature. Outside the tech scene the English in Berlin is pretty bad and some look down at any not speaking German. Swedes grow up with English and most love every opportunity to use it. I think there's a good bet Berlin will start to dominate as a "Silicon Valley of Europe", if nothing else because there's a vacuum there that can be filled, and it will become even more international than german. Even Swedes look at Berlin simply because it's cheaper and more accessible. It also has a bit bigger scene when it comes to small "startuppy" kinda ventures while Stockholm dominates on the more serious ones. Working as an employee seems to suck in Berlin because everyone is looking for a job and job's pay poorly. But if you work for yourself and/or with investment money that doesn't matter and you're in a good position to leverage that money.