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It's not about funding, it's about culture. In Europe, no good developer wants to work at a startup - they want to work in a large century-old semi-government c

It's not about funding, it's about culture. In Europe, no good developer wants to work at a startup - they want to work in a large century-old semi-government company which provides long paid vacations, slow work pace and work-life balance. No one wants to fund a startup either. Almost no way to exit. And whole "industry disruption" thing is even inappropriate to talk about - you are supposed to go with the flow and play by the numerous formal and informal rules and uphold hierarchy.

nisa 6y ago
The reason is also pretty simple: Most german startups I've seen were some more or less (mostly less) good ideas from rich economics students - and they are looking for developers that are badly paid, get little benefits and have to work out all the issues - as a thank you, they get nothing in return if they are sold or die. Additionally it's extremely hard to get funding - there are some programs like EXIST - www.exist.de but this is also shaped pretty much for economics students and offers little help for a technical startup.
- anovikov 6y ago
  It is commonly accepted that it is business people who build businesses, and technical people are replaceable and should be hired as cheaply and easy to dump as possible, and not approached seriously. Sometimes literally lowest bidder gets the job. Same thing in Russia. In almost every startup i saw here in Cy started by Russians, founders have no idea how to code. They mostly siphon off cash from someone rich and dumb enough. Naturally technical part doesn't matter all that much to them.
  - jacknews 6y ago
    "founders have no idea how to code. They mostly siphon off cash from someone rich and dumb enough. " This seem to be common model worldwide.
dukeyukey 6y ago
I can promise you this doesn't hold across at least some of "Europe". Take where I work, London, for example. The stuff places like the BBC and GDS (Government Digital Service) are doing are pretty cool, but companies like Monzo, DeepMind and Revolut are the ones people talk about, plus the financial giants like JP Morgan and Bloomberg.
- np32 6y ago
  Monzo, Revolut vs Deepmind are not at all in the same ballpark of salary though. Deepmind pays 2x as much.
  - dukeyukey 6y ago
    I've got an ex-colleague working at Revolut. 5 YoE, and he got hired for £140k. I'd be astounded if DeepMind were paying non-specialist, BSc developers £270k+. Monzo is behind, sure, but they still get a lot of attention, and don't pay badly. But my point is these companies are talked about way more than the "large century-old semi-government companies".
rutthenut 6y ago
On what do you base this statement? >> they want to work in a large century-old semi-government company

nisa 6y ago

The reason is also pretty simple: Most german startups I've seen were some more or less (mostly less) good ideas from rich economics students - and they are looking for developers that are badly paid, get little benefits and have to work out all the issues - as a thank you, they get nothing in return if they are sold or die. Additionally it's extremely hard to get funding - there are some programs like EXIST - www.exist.de but this is also shaped pretty much for economics students and offers little help for a technical startup.

anovikov 6y ago
It is commonly accepted that it is business people who build businesses, and technical people are replaceable and should be hired as cheaply and easy to dump as possible, and not approached seriously. Sometimes literally lowest bidder gets the job. Same thing in Russia. In almost every startup i saw here in Cy started by Russians, founders have no idea how to code. They mostly siphon off cash from someone rich and dumb enough. Naturally technical part doesn't matter all that much to them.
- jacknews 6y ago
  "founders have no idea how to code. They mostly siphon off cash from someone rich and dumb enough. " This seem to be common model worldwide.

dukeyukey 6y ago

I can promise you this doesn't hold across at least some of "Europe". Take where I work, London, for example. The stuff places like the BBC and GDS (Government Digital Service) are doing are pretty cool, but companies like Monzo, DeepMind and Revolut are the ones people talk about, plus the financial giants like JP Morgan and Bloomberg.

np32 6y ago
Monzo, Revolut vs Deepmind are not at all in the same ballpark of salary though. Deepmind pays 2x as much.
- dukeyukey 6y ago
  I've got an ex-colleague working at Revolut. 5 YoE, and he got hired for £140k. I'd be astounded if DeepMind were paying non-specialist, BSc developers £270k+. Monzo is behind, sure, but they still get a lot of attention, and don't pay badly. But my point is these companies are talked about way more than the "large century-old semi-government companies".

rutthenut 6y ago

On what do you base this statement? >> they want to work in a large century-old semi-government company