5 ms·

Absolutely, and this explains largely why most of the massively successful startups we all know comes from the Nordics and not from places with poor social secu

by hcks 4y ago

Absolutely, and this explains largely why most of the massively successful startups we all know comes from the Nordics and not from places with poor social security like the USA

api 4y ago
I think it’s cultural. The US places a lot of value on striving out and doing new things. It’s a frontier culture. Older cultures tend to be more conservative. You can see this effect inside the US. The most “business friendly” states often do not lead in entrepreneurship because they’re culturally more conservative.
- starkd 4y ago
  I disagree. Texas has been one of the fastest growing economies in the states. With a lot of technology companies.
  - api 4y ago
    Texas isn't the lowest tax or lowest regulation state, though it's a bit lower than California. I also think the cultural thing is obvious there. Texas is very pro-entrepreneurship generally.
    - kortilla 4y ago
      Texas has no income tax, very little government owned land, no zoning in some places, etc. It’s laughable that you try to put it in the “bit lower than California” category. Texas is basically the opposite approach to governance than California.
jacooper 4y ago
Missing the /s here mate
JohnBooty 4y ago
Sarcasm noted. Seriously, though, this is somewhat easy to explain. Much of America does have an amazing "safety net": generational wealth. There's a reason why startups tend to spring from elite schools like Stanford, MIT, Yale, etc. Those kids have the brains, yes, but also the family connections and the parental safety nets and the connections to capital investment. These kids don't have to worry about food security or having healthcare. If you're from that upper 10%/5%/1% or so of American society, that's GREAT! It's an incredible primordial soup from which startups can spring. We are a big country, so we are still talking about perhaps 30,000,000+ people in this lucky category. That's more than all of Scandinavia's population combined. Goes a long way toward explaining why so many "big" startups come from the USA. However, if you don't come from one of these blessed demographics in the USA, you have a much harder road. If you didn't go to an "elite" school and don't have a parental safety net it's very difficult... I fall into this category and simply didn't have access to healthcare for five years while I pursued my tiny indie business. It made money, but not enough to buy healthcare for a family, so I had to ditch it.
- starkd 4y ago
  But its not just an economic safety net that is required. (Although that's part of it). It's also the network of social connections, family connections and upbringing. A stable childhood and family life, I would argue, is probably even more important. In a lot of ways, welfare support (at least how its been done in USA) has driven a wedge into the stability of the family (by decreasing marriage incentives, removing the father from the home, removing incentives, etc.) Not everybody is born with the same ambitions as those that attend MIT.
- tracker1 4y ago
  I grew up in a lower-middle class household and although my grandfather had money during his life, it wasn't passed down (swallowed by medical bills the last decades of his life). My parents were definitely working class. I'm doing okay, but that came from a lot of self-study and self-driven interests... I put my first computer together from parts scrownged up over the course of about a year... at a time where it was far more expensive to do than today (early-mid 90's), where today you can definitely find something usable for free. Today it will largely come down to the investment of time... that doesn't mean you will succeed... I spent my time on knowledge growth, others will spend it on building a business. Most will simply waste it and complain that they spend too much time working. I saw a lot of this when I was single in the last decade. So many people want a relationship, too few would actually take the time to make it happen. Most won't even take the time/effort to go out on a date on a work night. No, it's not easy. There are no guarantees... but it's mostly laziness that stops people from getting things done in life.
HWR_14 4y ago
Is that sarcastic? I really cannot tell.

by hcks 4y ago

Absolutely, and this explains largely why most of the massively successful startups we all know comes from the Nordics and not from places with poor social security like the USA

api 4y ago

I think it’s cultural. The US places a lot of value on striving out and doing new things. It’s a frontier culture. Older cultures tend to be more conservative. You can see this effect inside the US. The most “business friendly” states often do not lead in entrepreneurship because they’re culturally more conservative.

starkd 4y ago
I disagree. Texas has been one of the fastest growing economies in the states. With a lot of technology companies.
- api 4y ago
  Texas isn't the lowest tax or lowest regulation state, though it's a bit lower than California. I also think the cultural thing is obvious there. Texas is very pro-entrepreneurship generally.
  - kortilla 4y ago
    Texas has no income tax, very little government owned land, no zoning in some places, etc. It’s laughable that you try to put it in the “bit lower than California” category. Texas is basically the opposite approach to governance than California.

jacooper 4y ago

Missing the /s here mate

JohnBooty 4y ago

Sarcasm noted. Seriously, though, this is somewhat easy to explain. Much of America does have an amazing "safety net": generational wealth. There's a reason why startups tend to spring from elite schools like Stanford, MIT, Yale, etc. Those kids have the brains, yes, but also the family connections and the parental safety nets and the connections to capital investment. These kids don't have to worry about food security or having healthcare. If you're from that upper 10%/5%/1% or so of American society, that's GREAT! It's an incredible primordial soup from which startups can spring. We are a big country, so we are still talking about perhaps 30,000,000+ people in this lucky category. That's more than all of Scandinavia's population combined. Goes a long way toward explaining why so many "big" startups come from the USA. However, if you don't come from one of these blessed demographics in the USA, you have a much harder road. If you didn't go to an "elite" school and don't have a parental safety net it's very difficult... I fall into this category and simply didn't have access to healthcare for five years while I pursued my tiny indie business. It made money, but not enough to buy healthcare for a family, so I had to ditch it.

starkd 4y ago
But its not just an economic safety net that is required. (Although that's part of it). It's also the network of social connections, family connections and upbringing. A stable childhood and family life, I would argue, is probably even more important. In a lot of ways, welfare support (at least how its been done in USA) has driven a wedge into the stability of the family (by decreasing marriage incentives, removing the father from the home, removing incentives, etc.) Not everybody is born with the same ambitions as those that attend MIT.
tracker1 4y ago
I grew up in a lower-middle class household and although my grandfather had money during his life, it wasn't passed down (swallowed by medical bills the last decades of his life). My parents were definitely working class. I'm doing okay, but that came from a lot of self-study and self-driven interests... I put my first computer together from parts scrownged up over the course of about a year... at a time where it was far more expensive to do than today (early-mid 90's), where today you can definitely find something usable for free. Today it will largely come down to the investment of time... that doesn't mean you will succeed... I spent my time on knowledge growth, others will spend it on building a business. Most will simply waste it and complain that they spend too much time working. I saw a lot of this when I was single in the last decade. So many people want a relationship, too few would actually take the time to make it happen. Most won't even take the time/effort to go out on a date on a work night. No, it's not easy. There are no guarantees... but it's mostly laziness that stops people from getting things done in life.

HWR_14 4y ago

Is that sarcastic? I really cannot tell.