I worked 3 years in a Berlin startup. Here's some things I observed over that time. First the city itself. Berlin changed drastically and is still changing. Co

I worked 3 years in a Berlin startup. Here's some things I observed over that time. First the city itself. Berlin changed drastically and is still changing. Cost of living, especially housing sky-rocketed over that time (1). The city has become hipster central with many ghettos forming (Neuköln) (2), which isn't necessarily a new problem but I saw it expand over those 3 years. If you love hipster culture its great, if not there's little escaping it unless you can get into a calm Viertel of which there are increasingly fewer. Also Berlin is increasingly poorer (3) and crime is steadily on the rise (4), and this is a palpable increase in comparison to just 4 years ago when I moved to Berlin. But to qualify my statements, Berlin is a multicultural city like just about every other major city in Europe - you can find and do whatever you want or imagine. But the above are generally the things neglected by those trying to sell Berlin as an amazing place to live your life. Secondly, the funding and general startup environment. Here Berlin is number one in Europe and was so even before the Brexit as the article mentions. There is definitely a huge startup network and hub of activity, so in terms of numbers and access to investors, cofounders, talent, there is a lot going on, but what I think is still lacking, and this article does a good job of mentioning it, are break-out homegrown successes - at least in terms of notoriety, i.e. Spotify. There are indeed moderate successes, companies that get bought out by US expanders or develop a moderately profitable business which are homegrown. I think there are many reasons for this, one could be we haven't had enough time in Berlin, another one of the biggest factors I think, is that the European market is very hard to penetrate at such a high level, there are so many different cultures/languages, EU laws and country specific laws that expanding is more difficult than homogenous markets like the US or China (obviously), especially when you are a small team. Anyways, the experience was amazing and if I could go back I wouldn't change anything. Still Berlin is not all a bed of roses, just as its not all work and no ecstatic elation and amazing exitement when you're building a new company. 1. http://www.tagesspiegel.de/berlin/studie-zum-wohnungsmarkt-in-berlin-mieten-steigen-auf-rekordwert/12885670.html http://www.tagesspiegel.de/berlin/studie-zum-wohnungsmarkt-i... 2. http://www.news.de/politik/855636121/problemviertel-in-deutschland-duisburg-marxloh-hamburg-eidelstedt-koeln-chorweiler-und-co-das-sind-die-schlimmsten-ghettos/1/ http://www.news.de/politik/855636121/problemviertel-in-deuts... 3. http://www.tagesspiegel.de/politik/arbeit-und-armut-in-berlin-wie-sozial-ist-berlin/13669758.html http://www.tagesspiegel.de/politik/arbeit-und-armut-in-berli... 4. http://www.tagesspiegel.de/berlin/polizei-justiz/statistik-der-polizei-stadt-der-diebe-kriminalitaet-in-berlin-drastisch-gestiegen/11409420.html http://www.tagesspiegel.de/berlin/polizei-justiz/statistik-d...