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Yes VC is less abundant, but if your plan is absolutely dependant on VC, maybe something is wrong. In Europe, you get other valuable things, like a vibrant pla
by guylhem 13y ago
Yes VC is less abundant, but if your plan is absolutely dependant on VC, maybe something is wrong.
In Europe, you get other valuable things, like a vibrant place, health coverage, etc. I'd put Canada in the same bag.
IMHO, the ideal plan is a fully owned company (ala O'Reilly) which pays for its own growth. You'll still be able to find outside investment later- except you will make the terms, instead of getting pennies.
Call me selfish (and that's a compliment to me :-), but I'd prefer the money to be in my pocket than in the VC pocket.
- joonix 13y agoBut if you're not European you're not going to get health coverage in Europe. To be honest, health coverage isn't a major concern for 20-something hackers who sit in front of computers all day. I'd also spend a good bit of time studying the tax code of any country I start a business in. Some countries, like Australia, tax capital gains at the same rate as income, which is bad news for anyone who put sweat and tears into a startup for years. You'll get punished when you take a nice exit.
- greghinch 13y agoYou can even be looking at having your fat exit taxed twice if you are a citizen of another country
- ojbyrne 13y agoI'm not a tax expert but I think that would only apply if you're a citizen of the USA, which is the only country in the world that taxes you on your worldwide income.
- rdl 13y agoA lot of countries tax you if you're a resident still, even if physically non-present (Canada, etc.), and earn the income in a foreign country. You can do stuff to become officially non-resident first. that is the thing you can't do as a US citizen.
- _delirium 13y agoEven for the USA you'd generally not be taxed twice, because foreign taxes paid are deductible from U.S. taxes. For example if I, as an American living in Denmark, sold a startup, I would pay Danish taxes on the sale. Then I would file American taxes by computing my tax liability under the American rates and subtracting the Danish taxes paid. The result in that case would just about always be $0, because Danish taxes are higher than American taxes, so the foreign tax credit wipes out any American tax liability. If the foreign taxes were lower, you'd have to pay the difference in U.S. taxes, but not the sum of the two.
- greghinch 13y agoAs I understand it, the US allowance for this is capped at $90k (in income, not tax paid)
- _delirium 13y agoThere's no cap on the foreign tax credit; you can deduct millions. What you're thinking of is the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion, which allows you to exclude the first $95,100 of foreign earned income from your taxes, if you live outside the U.S. more than 330 days a year. In my case there's no real reason to do that, because the foreign tax credit I get for my Danish taxes zeroes out my US tax liability. The main people who benefit from the $95k exclusion are those working in low-tax jurisdictions, e.g. American expats in Saudi Arabia. In their case it allows them not to avoid double-taxation (which is what the tax credit prevents), but any taxation at all.
- greghinch 13y agoAppreciate that correction, thank you
- davidjgraph 13y agoIn England the health system is free to everyone, the private health insurance buys you very little.
- jpadkins 13y agoIf I get a travel visa to England, I can get free cancer treatment?
- falsedan 13y agoyou need right of residence to register for a National Insurance number, but after that you're good to go
- davidjgraph 13y agoIf you are entitled to live and work in England, you are entitled to free healthcare. Since the subject is about running a startup in London, you'd have to have those entitlements. This isn't a discussion about visiting England as a tourist.
- kintamanimatt 13y agoIt depends! Am I entitled to NHS treatment when I visit England? http://www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/1086.aspx http://www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/1086.aspx Am I entitled to NHS treatment when I move to England? http://www.nhs.uk/chq/pages/1087.aspx http://www.nhs.uk/chq/pages/1087.aspx
- _delirium 13y agoSame in Denmark. I'm not a Danish citizen, but since I'm legally resident in the country (work/residence visa), I'm in the system. In fact since everyone is in the system, the yellow health-coverage card is de-facto used as your ID card for some purposes (there's no national ID card). Anyone visiting the country but not resident here is also entitled to emergency care, e.g. if you fall off your bike as a tourist and have to go to the hospital, there is no charge. Same if you have a heart attack while visiting.
- MisterWebz 13y ago> health coverage isn't a major concern for 20-something hackers who sit in front of computers all day. I wouldn't be too sure about that.
- potatolicious 13y ago> "but if your plan is absolutely dependant on VC, maybe something is wrong." This seems wrongheaded and a bit presumptuous. There are no shortage of startups with no realistic business plan - there are also startups with a business model that requires substantial initial capital. Silicon Valley is built on high-risk, high-reward, high-capital companies - there's a reason why "lifestyle business" (lower-risk, lower-reward, lower-capital) is a dirty word there. It seems like you're swinging the pendulum all the way to the other end where we start making fun of people who take VC money. I've been part of companies that are fully owned and never took VC money to get off the ground. They do reasonably well, but they are also pretty strictly limited to ideas with very low capital requirements.
- calinet6 13y agoThat reminds me, I've been wondering for quite some time: Anyone doing startups or tech in Montreal or Vancouver? How's the environment?