4 ms·

what does "startup nation" even mean?

ttul 8y ago
It means a bunch of tiny firms that mostly fail.
topbanana 8y ago
I would imagine it means a cultural and legal infrastructure lending itself to entrepreneurship. As a US citizen it's easy to take this for granted
agumonkey 8y ago
many fuzzy things wrapped in a taco: - having a French silicon valley (I believe attempts have been done before but failed) - jump on the wave of smart iot app fad - leverage the previous thing for (probably super bad) software education - Macron seems to be in the self-made man (with state support if you're positive minded) so reviving a liberal entrepreneurship model fits his views ps: also it doesn't seem to have any major factual impact (they may have helped a bunch of people but I didn't hear about anything groundbreaking); annnnd the disrupt startup motto is not well received nowadays, Uber -> Uberization... gig economy .. it didn't catch on really (for good reasons IMO)
zapita 8y ago
> what does "startup nation" even mean? A nation where startups can succeed?
- ldng 8y ago
  It's more, managing a nation like a startup
matte_black 8y ago
Israel is an example of a “startup nation”. Edit: Downvotes!? Israel has the most startups per capita of any nation. Look it up, not doing homework for you.
- asdsa5325 8y ago
  You are getting downvoted because you didn't answer the question. What are the qualities of being a "startup nation", other than simply having the most startups in the world, which is likely not what Macron meant.
- adventured 8y ago
  Israel has so many start-ups and so much VC, solely because of the vast capital investment flows from the US. That's hardly a reasonable example for a large nation like France to work from. It'd be like pretending Ireland's $70,000 GDP per capita is organic, rather than the result of US corporate giants using it as a tax device.
prolikewhoa 8y ago
Translates to "slow erosion of labour rights".
makotech222 8y ago
A nation where you can abuse your workers and exploit them by promising financial gain, work them to the bone with low pay and benefits, and actually deliver nothing for them. AKA America.
- scrollaway 8y ago
  I flagged you because I am seriously sick of seeing questions get answered by pure concentrated sarcasm. You don't even attempt to be helpful here. There's a middle ground between "worker abuse" and "useless bureaucracy". France is closer to the latter right now (I'm french, I've got experience setting up companies both in the US and in France). This is because: 1. Many systems aren't properly automated and/or don't know how to communicate between each other. So you have to deal with extra paperwork when not necessary. Go in-person somewhere that isn't even necessarily the city you live in, you have to plan ahead for these things. Fax or snail-mail things where email would be sufficient. Etc. 2. Complying with european laws isn't always easy. You sometimes have to deal with slightly-different versions of certain laws, regulations, etc for no good reason. This is what the EU is supposed to fix, and the EU helps but it doesn't always work. 3. Complying with VAT is super hard for the same reasons. This is being worked on in 2018 and 2019. It should be getting easier soon. 4. There's less tooling, documentation, and marketing around creating startups in France. If you're in the EU you'll be tempted to do it in Ireland for tax reasons. Otherwise you'll end up in Delaware. This isn't even because it's necessarily a good idea for your case, but simply because everyone else is doing it. But, you know, your helpful cynicism too.
- dang 8y ago
  We've banned this account for posting unsubstantive and uncivil comments, and for using HN primarily for political battle, all of which is against the site guidelines: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html. If you don't want to be banned, you're welcome to email hn@ycombinator.com and give us reason to believe that you'll follow the rules in the future.
olivermarks 8y ago
'what does "startup nation" even mean?' It's aspirational happy talk to disguise a bureaucratic log jam reality, calculated to appease the voting public's economic frustration and keep up a posture of being 'business friendly'. In reality the politicians are bought and paid for by big global businesses who don't need any competition...
kworker 8y ago
Escape the Brexit. Many EU startup gone to London for some reason.
- Symbiote 8y ago
  It's extremely easy to register a company in the UK, probably even easier than in the USA. You just fill in this web form and pay £12: https://www.gov.uk/limited-company-formation/register-your-company https://www.gov.uk/limited-company-formation/register-your-c...

ttul 8y ago

It means a bunch of tiny firms that mostly fail.

I would imagine it means a cultural and legal infrastructure lending itself to entrepreneurship. As a US citizen it's easy to take this for granted

agumonkey 8y ago

many fuzzy things wrapped in a taco: - having a French silicon valley (I believe attempts have been done before but failed) - jump on the wave of smart iot app fad - leverage the previous thing for (probably super bad) software education - Macron seems to be in the self-made man (with state support if you're positive minded) so reviving a liberal entrepreneurship model fits his views ps: also it doesn't seem to have any major factual impact (they may have helped a bunch of people but I didn't hear about anything groundbreaking); annnnd the disrupt startup motto is not well received nowadays, Uber -> Uberization... gig economy .. it didn't catch on really (for good reasons IMO)

zapita 8y ago

> what does "startup nation" even mean? A nation where startups can succeed?

ldng 8y ago
It's more, managing a nation like a startup

matte_black 8y ago

Israel is an example of a “startup nation”. Edit: Downvotes!? Israel has the most startups per capita of any nation. Look it up, not doing homework for you.

asdsa5325 8y ago
You are getting downvoted because you didn't answer the question. What are the qualities of being a "startup nation", other than simply having the most startups in the world, which is likely not what Macron meant.
adventured 8y ago
Israel has so many start-ups and so much VC, solely because of the vast capital investment flows from the US. That's hardly a reasonable example for a large nation like France to work from. It'd be like pretending Ireland's $70,000 GDP per capita is organic, rather than the result of US corporate giants using it as a tax device.

prolikewhoa 8y ago

Translates to "slow erosion of labour rights".

makotech222 8y ago

A nation where you can abuse your workers and exploit them by promising financial gain, work them to the bone with low pay and benefits, and actually deliver nothing for them. AKA America.

scrollaway 8y ago
I flagged you because I am seriously sick of seeing questions get answered by pure concentrated sarcasm. You don't even attempt to be helpful here. There's a middle ground between "worker abuse" and "useless bureaucracy". France is closer to the latter right now (I'm french, I've got experience setting up companies both in the US and in France). This is because: 1. Many systems aren't properly automated and/or don't know how to communicate between each other. So you have to deal with extra paperwork when not necessary. Go in-person somewhere that isn't even necessarily the city you live in, you have to plan ahead for these things. Fax or snail-mail things where email would be sufficient. Etc. 2. Complying with european laws isn't always easy. You sometimes have to deal with slightly-different versions of certain laws, regulations, etc for no good reason. This is what the EU is supposed to fix, and the EU helps but it doesn't always work. 3. Complying with VAT is super hard for the same reasons. This is being worked on in 2018 and 2019. It should be getting easier soon. 4. There's less tooling, documentation, and marketing around creating startups in France. If you're in the EU you'll be tempted to do it in Ireland for tax reasons. Otherwise you'll end up in Delaware. This isn't even because it's necessarily a good idea for your case, but simply because everyone else is doing it. But, you know, your helpful cynicism too.
dang 8y ago
We've banned this account for posting unsubstantive and uncivil comments, and for using HN primarily for political battle, all of which is against the site guidelines: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html. If you don't want to be banned, you're welcome to email hn@ycombinator.com and give us reason to believe that you'll follow the rules in the future.

olivermarks 8y ago

'what does "startup nation" even mean?' It's aspirational happy talk to disguise a bureaucratic log jam reality, calculated to appease the voting public's economic frustration and keep up a posture of being 'business friendly'. In reality the politicians are bought and paid for by big global businesses who don't need any competition...

kworker 8y ago

Escape the Brexit. Many EU startup gone to London for some reason.

Symbiote 8y ago
It's extremely easy to register a company in the UK, probably even easier than in the USA. You just fill in this web form and pay £12: https://www.gov.uk/limited-company-formation/register-your-company https://www.gov.uk/limited-company-formation/register-your-c...