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The challenge with any argument about SV vs Europe is that SV is so sui generis that it's actually SV vs more or less everywhere else including the rest of the

The challenge with any argument about SV vs Europe is that SV is so sui generis that it's actually SV vs more or less everywhere else including the rest of the US. Really, including the rest of California. What's the startup ecosystem look like in Fresno? SV is so atypical that it's almost impossible to draw any kind of conclusions from particular factors and anyway is now probably self sustaining - VCs go there because tech talent goes there and tech talent goes there because VCs do. Very hard for anywhere else to break out in that scenario in the absence of substantial barriers to either talent or money. Barriers to employment are just high enough (not just visas, but leaving friends and family behind etc) to prevent a lot of European developers from moving for the higher salaries but not so high that a lot of top founding talent goes there. I do wonder if the temporary barriers of Covid might have triggered something, we'll see.

martin_a 5y ago
> and anyway is now probably self sustaining As a German this is an interesting point. While I'm no big fan of the big cities (Berlin, Munich, Hamburg) we see lots of successful* startups happening and gaining track there and in smaller towns. University cities are often doing fine, too and are slowly but surely developing startup structures and everything else. To me this looks more promising than concentrating all startups and money in one place and measuring everything against that.
- SuoDuanDao 5y ago
  I've also heard that the German banking system is much more geographically diverse, with many smaller banks giving business loans to businesses in their immediate geographic area. If that's still the case, it would make sense that there would be less concentration of capital and therefore entrepreneurship.
  - martin_a 5y ago
    That's true, too. There are lots of so called "Volksbanken" ("peoples' banks") and "Sparkasse" ("savings bank", see this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savings_bank https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savings_bank) which act very local and are sometimes rather small especially in the more rural areas. Nevertheless those banks are often the biggest lenders to local businesses and startups in need of credit (my brothers' wife is working in such a department) although that is not VC like in "burn it if you need to". German banks are more risk averse, at least the most of them.

martin_a 5y ago

> and anyway is now probably self sustaining As a German this is an interesting point. While I'm no big fan of the big cities (Berlin, Munich, Hamburg) we see lots of successful* startups happening and gaining track there and in smaller towns. University cities are often doing fine, too and are slowly but surely developing startup structures and everything else. To me this looks more promising than concentrating all startups and money in one place and measuring everything against that.

SuoDuanDao 5y ago
I've also heard that the German banking system is much more geographically diverse, with many smaller banks giving business loans to businesses in their immediate geographic area. If that's still the case, it would make sense that there would be less concentration of capital and therefore entrepreneurship.
- martin_a 5y ago
  That's true, too. There are lots of so called "Volksbanken" ("peoples' banks") and "Sparkasse" ("savings bank", see this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savings_bank https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savings_bank) which act very local and are sometimes rather small especially in the more rural areas. Nevertheless those banks are often the biggest lenders to local businesses and startups in need of credit (my brothers' wife is working in such a department) although that is not VC like in "burn it if you need to". German banks are more risk averse, at least the most of them.