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European commissioners should read a couple of Paul Graham's essays. No wonder the EU doesn't have the equivalent of a Silicon Valley. "How to Be Silicon Valle
by pdog 9y ago
European commissioners should read a couple of Paul Graham's essays. No wonder the EU doesn't have the equivalent of a Silicon Valley.
"How to Be Silicon Valley": http://www.paulgraham.com/siliconvalley.html http://www.paulgraham.com/siliconvalley.html
"Why Startups Condense In America": http://www.paulgraham.com/america.html http://www.paulgraham.com/america.html
- ko27 9y agoDid you consider that maybe EU really doesn't want to have a "Silicon Valley" if the cost is infringement of consumer rights and exploitation of the free market?
- VMG 9y agoCan the EU legitimately complain that tech companies prefer to operate outside then?
- sgift 9y agoOutside the law? Yes, they can and should.
- rini17 9y ago> tech companies prefer to operate outside Any examples please?
- VMG 9y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_largest_information_technology_companies https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_largest_informatio... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_Internet_companies https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_Internet_compa... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_largest_software_companies https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_largest_software_c...
- 8draco8 9y agoI'm not economist but I suspect that such concentration of tech companies in US is due to the fact that it was their home market from where they started. I think that the question was more along the lines: Is there any example of a company that started in EU and moved they main operations to US? Most companies that are on those lists have also strong EU presence.
- nemo44x 9y agoThe company that powers search for this very Website: http://www.impact-north-america.com/french-search-api-startup-algolia-raises-18-3m/#sthash.Hy0auMG5.dpbs http://www.impact-north-america.com/french-search-api-startu...
- Radle 9y agohttp://tech.eu/features/186/ignorance-is-remiss/ http://tech.eu/features/186/ignorance-is-remiss/
- celticninja 9y agoThey can operate outside of the EU all they want but if they want to do business here then they have to follow the rules. Its funny to see how the EU protectionism case is being played here and people jump on it being a USA vs EU thing, when really it is google abusing a monopoly position regardless of geographic location.
- TeMPOraL 9y agoProbably not - they should however complain about how things are run elsewhere, because it's hurting them and everyone else. It's natural for companies to be drawn towards places that have less restrictions on businesses. It's to be expected, but that doesn't mean less restrictions is good for the society.
- 8draco8 9y agoIn return EU have healthy job market with ~40hr work week and proper healthcare. Most of EU companies are not trying to keep me as developer in a golden cage, offering me everything so I wouldn't have to go home anymore. There are many healthy business hubs here in Europe (London, Cardiff-Bristol-Bath, Berlin and many others), maybe they do not have that superstar status as SV but they are still good places to be. Sometimes I wonder if people living in SV bubble thinks that there is no serious tech companies outside SV.
- pgtan 9y agothe only "healthy" in the EU is the EU-Socialism
- vixen99 9y agoAnd the fact that laws are proposed and made by unelected officials in private. Is that the future?
- omginternets 9y ago<presumption alert> Does the U.S., with its Electoral College, really want to go there? This strikes me as throwing stones from a glass McMansion. </presumption alert> More to the point: unhindered, direct-democracy is rarely a good system as it tends to devolve into "majority rule". The case for appointed officials is neither new nor in and of itself undemocratic.
- GrantSolar 9y agoUnless something changed very recently, EU laws are reviewed and adopted by the European Council (Heads of State for each member state) and the European Parliament which consists of elected MEPs
- Jyaif 9y ago> have healthy job market Reminder: the EU's unemployment rate is twice as high as the US'.
- _fizz_buzz_ 9y agoI think these articles make really good points. But they seem completely off-topic. Nothing in there makes the connection between antitrust laws and a Silicon Valley economy.
- JorgeGT 9y agoNot from the US so correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't the US had (and exercised) solid antitrust laws way before Silicon Valley developed? The case of Standard Oil in the early 20th century comes to mind.
- CaptainZapp 9y agoNeither an historian nor an economist. But yes, they certainly did. Appart from Standard Oil AT&T and - in theory - Microsoft come to mind. Now US antitrust efforts seem to be pretty much non-existent, even though they may be needed more than ever. I don't see that happening anytime soon in the current climate. So, the EU hiting companies, which behave badly regardless where such companies are located is a very good thing in my book.
- ionised 9y agoWhat good are those laws when concerted lobbying and corruption means they never get enforced?
- euyyn 9y agoAre you trying to argue that Standard Oil didn't have much lobbying power? Or that politicians/courts were less corrupt back then?