6 ms·

London does sales well, if you want a sales office you open it in london. What it doesn't do well is spaff money indiscriminately at any old idiot with an idea

London does sales well, if you want a sales office you open it in london. What it doesn't do well is spaff money indiscriminately at any old idiot with an idea. Even less so to someone with a crap idea. Despite the article author's claim, most of the startups in the generation that I joined (2018+) have focused on getting a decent business model, rather than hyper growth above all else. They also had to do much more with significantly less. There was less VC money sloshing about compared to the west coast, so we had to be very careful in how we optimised. To back up the point that John is making, "Technical purity" above all else is a symptom of leadership not explaining the business needs well enough. (or not putting in place an engineering team with enough pragmatism to translate business to tech. )

jgrahamc 5y ago
I mean, good luck to him moving his HQ to NYC etc. but if I were an employee in London HM The Queen's tea cup in Windsor would be shaking from the sonic boom after I lit the reheats on my CV.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- eganist 5y ago
  > I mean, good luck to him moving his HQ to NYC etc. but if I were an employee in London HM The Queen's tea cup in Windsor would be shaking from the sonic boom after I lit the reheats on my CV. I wish I lived in London just to use this expressive nugget of gold.
  - TheSpiceIsLife 5y ago
    Gold. The Epstein Drive[1] method of finding a new job. 1. https://expanse.fandom.com/wiki/Epstein_Drive https://expanse.fandom.com/wiki/Epstein_Drive
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
    - zeristor 5y ago
      As opposed to Jeffrey Epstein who everyone tries to get away from as fast as possible.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
iso1210 5y ago
> What it doesn't do well is spaff money indiscriminately at any old idiot with an idea. That's what government's for
- fmajid 5y ago
  No, the UK government requires you to have no clue (but be chums with a minister or Tory MP) before it spaffs torrents of money your way.
  - TheSpiceIsLife 5y ago
    It seems you are agreeing with the comment you replied to.
    - zdragnar 5y ago
      It isn't enough to be an idiot, you have to be an idiot with connections to get spaffed
      - DeathArrow 5y ago
        >It isn't enough to be an idiot, you have to be an idiot with connections to get spaffed The first part I can manage. But how do I get connections?
        deleted 5y ago
        [deleted]
        rgblambda 5y ago
        Whenever I hear advice about using connections and networking, I always interpret that to mean "be born with the right relatives".
        mrep 5y ago
        It can be work connections too. My brother worked for a startup that got bought for a 150 million and he still connects with the old ceo whom I bet my brother could get funding from now if he had a good idea.
barry-cotter 5y ago
>Despite the article author's claim, most of the startups in the generation that I joined (2018+) have focused on getting a decent business model, rather than hyper growth above all else. > They also had to do much more with significantly less. There was less VC money sloshing about compared to the west coast, so we had to be very careful in how we optimised. With supporters like this the UK is in no need of enemies. It would be difficult to more pithily explain why the US is a better place to build a startup as a founder, or to explain why US startups have more money and so can pay their staff more.
- DeathArrow 5y ago
  > It would be difficult to more pithily explain why the US is a better place to build a startup as a founder, or to explain why US startups have more money and so can pay their staff more. But it is really simple. In US they have a higher appetite for gambling.
  - nivenkos 5y ago
    And far more money. The US is just far wealthier than Europe.
  - barry-cotter 5y ago
    It's not gambling if you consistently make more money than the person who thinks they're being prudent. It's a better investent strategy.
    - Cederfjard 5y ago
      This is devolving into a discussion about semantics, but in my vocabulary at least, just because you have an edge doesn't mean you're not gambling. It's about the level of risk, and investing huge amounts of capital in hopes of funding a unicorn tech startup fits the bill, to me.
    - chanc3e 5y ago
      There's a phrase in Europe. "Old money dies hard" And money in Europe is old, and hard fought for. We still have rich people who's families made their fortune in the 11th Century. Money in the US is new. And easily lost. The whole show is less than 250 years old. And that star is already on the wane.
DeathArrow 5y ago
>What it doesn't do well is spaff money indiscriminately at any old idiot with an idea. Different philosophies. In US you throw money at ten stupid ideas hoping that even nine will be dead, one will be successful and see extreme growth, making you very rich. It's more of a gambler's approach. I don't know if studies were made but I suspect US based startups who survive to see a large growth while in EU even the growth is small more startups are surviving. > most of the startups in the generation that I joined (2018+) have focused on getting a decent business model, rather than hyper growth above all else. With hyper growth at least you have the satisfaction of taking thousands of investors with you if you fall, while producing a big hole in the stock market and capture media attention. You will never be forgotten, you will have a several Wikipedia pages about you and also some legal investigations. Your name will be mentioned in bussines schools.
- solatic 5y ago
  > It's more of a gambler's approach. Wrong. The cultural difference comes from differing appetites for risk. VC's aren't gambling on their portfolio companies, they expect each and every one of them to turn into rocket ships. If there's no potential to become a rocketship, they don't invest, simple as that. Stupid ideas don't get investment. That VCs understand that it is highly unlikely that each portfolio company will actually become a rocketship, just means that they appreciate that each investment in the portfolio carries high amounts of risk. Europe doesn't have the same appetite for risk.
  - raffraffraff 5y ago
    I can't say I agree with either of you 100%. For example, your statement that VCs expect each and every one of their investments to turn into rocket ships? Nah. If they don't know that a % of their portfolio will fail, then they're idiots. Also, FOMO. Any time there's a new hot technology, VCs soil themselves trying to get a piece of the action (AI, I'm looking at you). So they end up investing in start-ups that probably won't succeed (BUT IF THEY DO, RIGHT???) I definitely agree that it's all about appetite for risk. I'm not sure you disagree with each other fundamentally, you're just watching from different sides and wording it accordingly. Some people buy stocks for long term investment, some people short sell, and some bet their house on a hand of poker. I'm sure they would have a bar fight if you got them talking about risk appetite.

jgrahamc 5y ago

I mean, good luck to him moving his HQ to NYC etc. but if I were an employee in London HM The Queen's tea cup in Windsor would be shaking from the sonic boom after I lit the reheats on my CV.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
eganist 5y ago
> I mean, good luck to him moving his HQ to NYC etc. but if I were an employee in London HM The Queen's tea cup in Windsor would be shaking from the sonic boom after I lit the reheats on my CV. I wish I lived in London just to use this expressive nugget of gold.
- TheSpiceIsLife 5y ago
  Gold. The Epstein Drive[1] method of finding a new job. 1. https://expanse.fandom.com/wiki/Epstein_Drive https://expanse.fandom.com/wiki/Epstein_Drive
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - zeristor 5y ago
    As opposed to Jeffrey Epstein who everyone tries to get away from as fast as possible.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

iso1210 5y ago

> What it doesn't do well is spaff money indiscriminately at any old idiot with an idea. That's what government's for

fmajid 5y ago
No, the UK government requires you to have no clue (but be chums with a minister or Tory MP) before it spaffs torrents of money your way.
- TheSpiceIsLife 5y ago
  It seems you are agreeing with the comment you replied to.
  - zdragnar 5y ago
    It isn't enough to be an idiot, you have to be an idiot with connections to get spaffed
    - DeathArrow 5y ago
      >It isn't enough to be an idiot, you have to be an idiot with connections to get spaffed The first part I can manage. But how do I get connections?
      - deleted 5y ago
        [deleted]
      - rgblambda 5y ago
        Whenever I hear advice about using connections and networking, I always interpret that to mean "be born with the right relatives".
        mrep 5y ago
        It can be work connections too. My brother worked for a startup that got bought for a 150 million and he still connects with the old ceo whom I bet my brother could get funding from now if he had a good idea.

barry-cotter 5y ago

>Despite the article author's claim, most of the startups in the generation that I joined (2018+) have focused on getting a decent business model, rather than hyper growth above all else. > They also had to do much more with significantly less. There was less VC money sloshing about compared to the west coast, so we had to be very careful in how we optimised. With supporters like this the UK is in no need of enemies. It would be difficult to more pithily explain why the US is a better place to build a startup as a founder, or to explain why US startups have more money and so can pay their staff more.

DeathArrow 5y ago
> It would be difficult to more pithily explain why the US is a better place to build a startup as a founder, or to explain why US startups have more money and so can pay their staff more. But it is really simple. In US they have a higher appetite for gambling.
- nivenkos 5y ago
  And far more money. The US is just far wealthier than Europe.
- barry-cotter 5y ago
  It's not gambling if you consistently make more money than the person who thinks they're being prudent. It's a better investent strategy.
  - Cederfjard 5y ago
    This is devolving into a discussion about semantics, but in my vocabulary at least, just because you have an edge doesn't mean you're not gambling. It's about the level of risk, and investing huge amounts of capital in hopes of funding a unicorn tech startup fits the bill, to me.
  - chanc3e 5y ago
    There's a phrase in Europe. "Old money dies hard" And money in Europe is old, and hard fought for. We still have rich people who's families made their fortune in the 11th Century. Money in the US is new. And easily lost. The whole show is less than 250 years old. And that star is already on the wane.

DeathArrow 5y ago

>What it doesn't do well is spaff money indiscriminately at any old idiot with an idea. Different philosophies. In US you throw money at ten stupid ideas hoping that even nine will be dead, one will be successful and see extreme growth, making you very rich. It's more of a gambler's approach. I don't know if studies were made but I suspect US based startups who survive to see a large growth while in EU even the growth is small more startups are surviving. > most of the startups in the generation that I joined (2018+) have focused on getting a decent business model, rather than hyper growth above all else. With hyper growth at least you have the satisfaction of taking thousands of investors with you if you fall, while producing a big hole in the stock market and capture media attention. You will never be forgotten, you will have a several Wikipedia pages about you and also some legal investigations. Your name will be mentioned in bussines schools.

solatic 5y ago
> It's more of a gambler's approach. Wrong. The cultural difference comes from differing appetites for risk. VC's aren't gambling on their portfolio companies, they expect each and every one of them to turn into rocket ships. If there's no potential to become a rocketship, they don't invest, simple as that. Stupid ideas don't get investment. That VCs understand that it is highly unlikely that each portfolio company will actually become a rocketship, just means that they appreciate that each investment in the portfolio carries high amounts of risk. Europe doesn't have the same appetite for risk.
- raffraffraff 5y ago
  I can't say I agree with either of you 100%. For example, your statement that VCs expect each and every one of their investments to turn into rocket ships? Nah. If they don't know that a % of their portfolio will fail, then they're idiots. Also, FOMO. Any time there's a new hot technology, VCs soil themselves trying to get a piece of the action (AI, I'm looking at you). So they end up investing in start-ups that probably won't succeed (BUT IF THEY DO, RIGHT???) I definitely agree that it's all about appetite for risk. I'm not sure you disagree with each other fundamentally, you're just watching from different sides and wording it accordingly. Some people buy stocks for long term investment, some people short sell, and some bet their house on a hand of poker. I'm sure they would have a bar fight if you got them talking about risk appetite.