5 ms·

Also in the general culture. People I feel are too comfortable. The amount of times I've heard the phrase, "But we don't need to shoot for those stars, I'm okay

Also in the general culture. People I feel are too comfortable. The amount of times I've heard the phrase, "But we don't need to shoot for those stars, I'm okay if we do this small thing that makes us comfortable." The ambitious people have left for the US.

ed_mercer 1y ago
I think this was true 10 years ago but nut anymore after Ukraine.
- triknomeister 1y ago
  I hope but I'm not so sure.
- egorfine 1y ago
  I'm not so sure. I have a bit of insight into the ukraine-war-related contracts and all I can see is just some change, but not a substantial change. They still prefer committees and meetings over actual shell production.
  - rbanffy 1y ago
    The fact only Ukraine is at war complicates things a bit - funding and the risk of creating secondary impacts are still an issue.
- rbanffy 1y ago
  I don't see that WRT Ukraine specifically, but after Trump 2.0 I see an urge to invest more in science and R&D in Europe to offset the cuts in the US. When we bring Ukraine to the discussion, it's obvious the EU needs to invest a lot more in independent military technology that has no connection to outside partners that might no longer be aligned with the Union's objectives. Why would we buy F-35's when we have Gripen, Rafale and Eurofighter?
egorfine 1y ago
They are still plenty of ambitious people in the EU and new folks are growing up. Problem is, path to success in the EU is ridden with endless fights with the bureaucracy even for the simplest things. Re: general culture: there are much more social protections in the EU (paid vacations, maternity leave, etc) which are truly good and nice but no tech startup is actually practically possible while conforming to these laws.
- no_time 1y ago
  Are 20ish days of paid vacation per employee per year really an insurmountable obstacle for a tech startup? I'm guessing this was just an example but a weird one nonetheless. I always thought the biggest hurdle to overcome here in the EU is despite advancements with the schengen zone is branching out to other countries for business and talent is still much more difficult than a Bay Area company wanting to expand to Texas for example.
  - rbanffy 1y ago
    > Are 20ish days of paid vacation per employee per year really an insurmountable obstacle for a tech startup? No. > biggest hurdle to overcome here in the EU is despite advancements with the schengen zone is branching out to other countries for business For business you'll need to address differences in language and culture that are much, much deeper than the ones between the Bay Area and Itasca, TX (which claims to be the most conservative city of the state). Local legislation tends to be less of a problem here than the US though. YMMV. > and talent This one is less challenging. The company I work for has a 50/50 balance between "born Irish" and "new Irish" (such as me). Being remote-first is a huge helper.
  - egorfine 1y ago
    > Are 20ish days of paid vacation per employee per year really an insurmountable obstacle for a tech startup? I'm guessing this was just an example but a weird one nonetheless. Almost none of these rules by itself is insurmountable[1]. But it all adds up friction in the workforce dynamic which might end up halting the company. And afterwards you will be unable to bankrupt the dead company specifically because of the social protections. Or the sheer inability to fire a developer in Germany because laws here assume that the only work that exists is at a factory producing physical things. So hiring an intellectual worker becomes a huge commitment not to dissimilar to marriage and all of that doesn't help growing. [1] A notorious exception perhaps would be the paid maternity leave, as fraud with this one is something that happens in real life and can be deadly to a micro startup at the earliest stage.

ed_mercer 1y ago

I think this was true 10 years ago but nut anymore after Ukraine.

triknomeister 1y ago
I hope but I'm not so sure.
egorfine 1y ago
I'm not so sure. I have a bit of insight into the ukraine-war-related contracts and all I can see is just some change, but not a substantial change. They still prefer committees and meetings over actual shell production.
- rbanffy 1y ago
  The fact only Ukraine is at war complicates things a bit - funding and the risk of creating secondary impacts are still an issue.
rbanffy 1y ago
I don't see that WRT Ukraine specifically, but after Trump 2.0 I see an urge to invest more in science and R&D in Europe to offset the cuts in the US. When we bring Ukraine to the discussion, it's obvious the EU needs to invest a lot more in independent military technology that has no connection to outside partners that might no longer be aligned with the Union's objectives. Why would we buy F-35's when we have Gripen, Rafale and Eurofighter?

egorfine 1y ago

They are still plenty of ambitious people in the EU and new folks are growing up. Problem is, path to success in the EU is ridden with endless fights with the bureaucracy even for the simplest things. Re: general culture: there are much more social protections in the EU (paid vacations, maternity leave, etc) which are truly good and nice but no tech startup is actually practically possible while conforming to these laws.

no_time 1y ago
Are 20ish days of paid vacation per employee per year really an insurmountable obstacle for a tech startup? I'm guessing this was just an example but a weird one nonetheless. I always thought the biggest hurdle to overcome here in the EU is despite advancements with the schengen zone is branching out to other countries for business and talent is still much more difficult than a Bay Area company wanting to expand to Texas for example.
- rbanffy 1y ago
  > Are 20ish days of paid vacation per employee per year really an insurmountable obstacle for a tech startup? No. > biggest hurdle to overcome here in the EU is despite advancements with the schengen zone is branching out to other countries for business For business you'll need to address differences in language and culture that are much, much deeper than the ones between the Bay Area and Itasca, TX (which claims to be the most conservative city of the state). Local legislation tends to be less of a problem here than the US though. YMMV. > and talent This one is less challenging. The company I work for has a 50/50 balance between "born Irish" and "new Irish" (such as me). Being remote-first is a huge helper.
- egorfine 1y ago
  > Are 20ish days of paid vacation per employee per year really an insurmountable obstacle for a tech startup? I'm guessing this was just an example but a weird one nonetheless. Almost none of these rules by itself is insurmountable[1]. But it all adds up friction in the workforce dynamic which might end up halting the company. And afterwards you will be unable to bankrupt the dead company specifically because of the social protections. Or the sheer inability to fire a developer in Germany because laws here assume that the only work that exists is at a factory producing physical things. So hiring an intellectual worker becomes a huge commitment not to dissimilar to marriage and all of that doesn't help growing. [1] A notorious exception perhaps would be the paid maternity leave, as fraud with this one is something that happens in real life and can be deadly to a micro startup at the earliest stage.