It might be. For comparison SV startups get to play with ~$7 billion quarterly, but even if Berlin startups are getting 2.4 billion in a year (other sources say

It might be. For comparison SV startups get to play with ~$7 billion quarterly, but even if Berlin startups are getting 2.4 billion in a year (other sources say 113 million), companies like Uber and Soundcloud are still considered startups and are roundly advertised as promises of success in Berlin. I feel like some of the money is there. Probably a lot of the money goes into startups which provide services to other startups, as they are the most successful. I haven't seen this money. N26 is a very very promising startup and I believe they recently got a load of money. My primary issue is that people are being lied to about Berlin being a lush place to launch just any startup. Rents are cheap and the vibe is good for artists, but it's expensive to your mental health as a tech entrepreneur. There are one or two large companies which open "startups" of their own and then fund them, based on ideas they've seen in the wild around the city. Their concept is to build something rapidly at low cost and then sell it. This poses an additional challenge to those who want to assemble something that is perhaps a new idea. As capital isn't coming your way without paying customers first, which is a bit of a chicken and egg situation and where these large companies have a strong advantage. The reason I brought up Wifi in cafes isn't because it's a huge issue, but it gives you a sense. It's a symptom of something which is more widespread. Tech is misunderstood more generally and engineers/entrepreneurs aren't really very highly valued, I feel they're being exploited where possible. If you manage to get something off the ground more than likely you have one or two large hooks in you by the time you've gotten there. Unless you show up with a great deal of capital of your own to start, which I believe is what everyone is hoping for.