14 ms·
There's also the matter of how funding is made available and the appetite for risk. From what I've seen and been told, the situation in Europe (including the UK
by hnhg 4y ago
There's also the matter of how funding is made available and the appetite for risk. From what I've seen and been told, the situation in Europe (including the UK) is vastly different to that in the US, where risk-taking is almost seen as a virtue. Meanwhile in Europe, a lot of money comes from family generational wealth and they only want sure bets. For example, friends in the UK have had more luck raising from US VCs than UK ones.
- nly 4y agoIn the UK it's just an ingrained cultural difference. There's a natural skew in the UK for public businesses to focus on making profits and paying dividends, both of which don't help growth. Meanwhile, many British entrepreneurs are happy with a "lifestyle business" that let them lead an upper middle class life on their own terms. When you look at crowdfunding platforms for tech startup you won't see any ambitions to aggressively take over the world like you do in American pitches. Most people here don't trust or invest in the stock market at all and instead the moderately well off seem to prefer investing in property, which produces income in retirement.