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The London startup scene is interesting. I think it's fair to say startups here are usually less ambitious than in SF or the US in general. But they also tend t
by irremediable 12y ago
The London startup scene is interesting. I think it's fair to say startups here are usually less ambitious than in SF or the US in general. But they also tend to be more practical -- there's less pie-in-the-sky thinking.
I've seen firsthand a surprisingly large number of startups that make a profit from day one. And a lot of startups that were funded from nonwealthy founders' savings. My impression is that we do stuff on a smaller scale, but it tends to be more reliable.
- eli_gottlieb 12y agoFunny. The only London startup I've heard of was ridiculously ambitious, and has largely been succeeding, since it came out of academic research. They did manage to get bought by Google, at the very least.
- irremediable 12y agoI'm sure there are plenty of exceptions. I think my description is representative overall, but YMMV. Of course, if they're the only London startup you've heard of, maybe there's a bias. Crazy ambition can garner a lot of PR, especially when it succeeds. :P
- spacecowboy_lon 12y agoever here of boo :-) for the younger hn readers that was a fashion startup based in London that crashed and burned hard back in the 2000's
- softdev12 12y agothere's a book by the founder of boo.com that tells the whole story. well worth a read.
- spacecowboy_lon 12y agomm must htry an dfind a copy I remember seeing the boo crew preenting at a first tuesday and was shocked how poor they where. I copuld have picked 3 first level managers from BT at rendom and woould have done a better job