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I don't think, at all that Amazon, Facebook, Google, Tesla, SpaceX, Microsoft, Apple, Netflix, +++ could have happened in Scandinavia. Even our small success st
by marvin 7y ago
I don't think, at all that Amazon, Facebook, Google, Tesla, SpaceX, Microsoft, Apple, Netflix, +++ could have happened in Scandinavia. Even our small success stories are sold to foreign investors before they have time to grow big.
It's harder to determine the cause, though. Contrary to popular opinion, I believe that work ethic, level of dedication, drive and regulatory climate wrt. employee protections, consumer protections etc. has something to do with it.
But this is just a small part of the question. We also don't have solid access to investors and capital, a business/startup-friendly tax & regulatory climate, a home market of 300 million customers, a culturally compatible potential employee pool of 300 million, many of the world's greatest universities, thousands of successful entrepeneurs who participate in the business climate, entrepeneurial success as a prominent cultural trait, excelling in your chosen profession as something to be lauded, bureaucratic & legal support for companies that are about to become successful, a relatively judgement-free climate with regards to high compensation for successful professionals etc etc etc.
It's hard to say if the value of not having business/professional success, or even long hours as a primary cultural value is key when compared to these other elements.
I'm pretty confident that e.g. "The Law of Jante" easily trumps the lack of a 50-hour workweek as an impediment to success, but there are probably also downsides to not even having the latter as an option if it feels necessary.
- verttii 7y agoI agree with what you said. All these things compound and have multiplied effects. It's hard to blame a single factor like working hours when the underlying reasons for even that are cultural, political, geographical, historical etc.
- sharadov 7y agoThe Scandinavian countries are all in essence "nanny states", great to live in if you are not too ambitious or entrepreneurial. Also because of low-population density and abundant natural resources, their experiments with regard to social-welfare have worked. Unfortunately, that model cannot be replicated in the rest of the world, let alone highly populous countries.
- snark42 7y ago> great to live in if you are not too ambitious or entrepreneurial. While it clearly hasn't worked out this way (yet) having that social safety net actually should encourage entrepreneurial activity since you have a lot more freedom to fail. Once you succeed you sell out though, because it's easier to grow/expand in other locations.
- AdrianB1 7y agoThe observed result is people are not encouraged to do anything out of the ordinary because the current life is good enough and the reward for success is just big taxes, so the system is encouraging the status quo.
- sharadov 7y agoThe labor laws make it hard to hire and fire. So yeah you can start something, but can't do much if the employee does not work out.
- oblio 7y agoAbundant natural resources? Finland only has timber, hardly the stuff of billionaire dreams :-)
- cc81 7y agoSweden has a lot of entrepreneurs for being a pretty small country and has historically been pretty friendly to companies.