3 ms·
Spotify, Booking.com, Adyen, Takeaway.com, ASML are a couple I'm aware of - with a bias to the country I happen to be from. Also note that the EU is not always
by Vinnl 6y ago
Spotify, Booking.com, Adyen, Takeaway.com, ASML are a couple I'm aware of - with a bias to the country I happen to be from.
Also note that the EU is not always trying to push for global regulations - it's trying to push for EU-wide regulations which, by virtue of being strictest and a superset of global regulations, often end up as global regulations.
- adventured 6y agoSpotify and Shopify figured out the same thing: use the large, homogenous US market to springboard and hyper scale globally, before some US company does it first. Spotify got so big thanks to Facebook providing it an artifical shot in the arm, courtesy of Sean Parker's inside position in both companies (the spam method Spotify used to promote itself via Facebook was then promptly limited not long afterward).
- Vinnl 6y agoCertainly; while regulations will no doubt play a role, the fact that the EU is so much less homogenous (not just in terms of regulations) also plays a major role in making it harder for companies to scale. Then again, I could also see that being an advantage. For example, TakeAway.com was one of a number of European companies able to quickly capture their local market. They could independently gain a foothold, and only then did consolidation start. In a more homogenous market, a big player might be able to quickly drown out stronger players with more unfortunate timing.
- barry-cotter 6y agoBooking.com has been owned by a US company since 2005.