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Europe never had a proper startup capital, or more accurately never did well at startups in general. It's not unlikely that there will just be less investment,

by auganov 10y ago

Europe never had a proper startup capital, or more accurately never did well at startups in general. It's not unlikely that there will just be less investment, nobody has to win. Given the very small numbers, every European country [1] has a lot of potential to multiply their startup output. I doubt any trade deals or policy changes are going to bring it about. Not happening without major cultural change IMO. One might as well say that UK just 'bought' itself the ticket to make some major changes (tho I'm not betting my money on it either). Just look at Israel, that tiny 8 million country consistently tops most European countries in terms of absolute funding. [0] [0] http://www.slideshare.net/gdibner/europe-israel-4-q14-deals-done-review http://www.slideshare.net/gdibner/europe-israel-4-q14-deals-... [1] maybe with exception of Sweden, it seems to pull of good numbers sometimes (given the small population), but doesn't seem consistent

huac 10y ago
I kinda agree with a 'cultural' factor - Europeans are often more risk-averse than Americans or Israeli's, and starting a startup is definitely risky! I'm not sure how the Nordic countries get around that though. A stronger social safety net is probably negatively correlated with risk-aversion.
- cyphunk 10y ago
  I'll second that. I lived in both the US and Israel, eventually settling in the EU precisely because the culture here is much less risk-friendly. People value security more than potential in much of middle EU.
- nikanj 10y ago
  Traditionally, in Europe the state saves for your retirement, and in the US you save for your retirement. This leads to the US general population having much more savings in their disposal, enabling both bootstrapping via founder savings, and seed funding from friends, family and fools.
- bllguo 10y ago
  I think you mean more risk-averse?
  - huac 10y ago
    fixed :)

by auganov 10y ago

huac 10y ago

I kinda agree with a 'cultural' factor - Europeans are often more risk-averse than Americans or Israeli's, and starting a startup is definitely risky! I'm not sure how the Nordic countries get around that though. A stronger social safety net is probably negatively correlated with risk-aversion.

cyphunk 10y ago
I'll second that. I lived in both the US and Israel, eventually settling in the EU precisely because the culture here is much less risk-friendly. People value security more than potential in much of middle EU.
nikanj 10y ago
Traditionally, in Europe the state saves for your retirement, and in the US you save for your retirement. This leads to the US general population having much more savings in their disposal, enabling both bootstrapping via founder savings, and seed funding from friends, family and fools.
bllguo 10y ago
I think you mean more risk-averse?
- huac 10y ago
  fixed :)