6 ms·

You are right, but I was wondering how an alternative could look like. Probably just giving it to universities to create more and better paid PhD possitions?!

swift532 8y ago
That, and maybe instead of giving the money to a big, inefficient corporation that's going to spend it on low quality bullshit and snake oil, spreading the money along multiple established companies and startups, seeding them all with some money and offering additional incentives for achieving milestones/whatever.
- Mahn 8y ago
  Imagine if those 3B were used to seed 3000 startups with 1M each. Even if only one third of these worked out, what an incredible golden age of productivity would that mean for the country.
  - j_jochem 8y ago
    One third is next to impossible. Anecdotally, startup survival rate should be around 5-10%. However, that should still yield better results than distributing the money amongst SAP and Deutsche Telekom.
- tluyben2 8y ago
  > giving the money to a big, inefficient corporation that's going to spend it on low quality bullshit Like T systems.
mrdodge 8y ago
They'd probably get more return by 'encouraging' Google and American tech companies to open bigger offices.
- Isn0gud 8y ago
  Why favor big companies that already have resources?
  - mrdodge 8y ago
    It's an interesting thought. Does German really have a prayer in this space? Making breakthroughs in this space isn't something just any trained student can do. The best all work for American tech companies... German co's don't believe in paying well. This can be extended to most European nations.
    - orbifold 8y ago
      Those are really ignorant statements. Bosch, Siemens, BMW etc. definitely pay well and employ plenty of talented people.
      - biglenny 8y ago
        Ignorant? It's a well known fact that European tech salaries (especially SWE salaries) are dwarfed by American/SV salaries. Just look up the difference in what GOOGLE pays its American vs EU employees. This doesn't even take into account taxation rate, which is favorable in US. Virtually every "How much do you earn?" thread that pops up on HN has loads of comments with Europeans being surprised at the amount of money Americans make in tech. Further - right now America is close to uncontested in the amount of technology it is producing and exporting. The only widely used European software I can think of is SAP. America is winning the talent war. I've only had a few friends who moved from US to Europe for tech work - and in all cases it had nothing to do with the job. Had more to do with wanting to "explore new places". On the other hand, I know tonnes of Euros, Indians, and Chinese who have come to US to work.
        mrdodge 8y ago
        It's going to get even more extreme in the near future. Tesla is embarrassing all of the German auto manufacturers mightily. I think they'll need one or two to go down before they break out of their complacency.

swift532 8y ago

That, and maybe instead of giving the money to a big, inefficient corporation that's going to spend it on low quality bullshit and snake oil, spreading the money along multiple established companies and startups, seeding them all with some money and offering additional incentives for achieving milestones/whatever.

Mahn 8y ago
Imagine if those 3B were used to seed 3000 startups with 1M each. Even if only one third of these worked out, what an incredible golden age of productivity would that mean for the country.
- j_jochem 8y ago
  One third is next to impossible. Anecdotally, startup survival rate should be around 5-10%. However, that should still yield better results than distributing the money amongst SAP and Deutsche Telekom.
tluyben2 8y ago
> giving the money to a big, inefficient corporation that's going to spend it on low quality bullshit Like T systems.

mrdodge 8y ago

They'd probably get more return by 'encouraging' Google and American tech companies to open bigger offices.

Isn0gud 8y ago
Why favor big companies that already have resources?
- mrdodge 8y ago
  It's an interesting thought. Does German really have a prayer in this space? Making breakthroughs in this space isn't something just any trained student can do. The best all work for American tech companies... German co's don't believe in paying well. This can be extended to most European nations.
  - orbifold 8y ago
    Those are really ignorant statements. Bosch, Siemens, BMW etc. definitely pay well and employ plenty of talented people.
    - biglenny 8y ago
      Ignorant? It's a well known fact that European tech salaries (especially SWE salaries) are dwarfed by American/SV salaries. Just look up the difference in what GOOGLE pays its American vs EU employees. This doesn't even take into account taxation rate, which is favorable in US. Virtually every "How much do you earn?" thread that pops up on HN has loads of comments with Europeans being surprised at the amount of money Americans make in tech. Further - right now America is close to uncontested in the amount of technology it is producing and exporting. The only widely used European software I can think of is SAP. America is winning the talent war. I've only had a few friends who moved from US to Europe for tech work - and in all cases it had nothing to do with the job. Had more to do with wanting to "explore new places". On the other hand, I know tonnes of Euros, Indians, and Chinese who have come to US to work.
      - mrdodge 8y ago
        It's going to get even more extreme in the near future. Tesla is embarrassing all of the German auto manufacturers mightily. I think they'll need one or two to go down before they break out of their complacency.