Which European country will become a startup "mecca"?
America has always been seen as a place where tech startups are born (especially Silicon Valley and San Francisco).
Historically, Europe has been a place for universities and banks (Italy, etc.)
And as times evolve and the need for technology, startups, etc., evolves, I would like to see this culture spread to Europe as well.
Do you have any tips for countries that can become a hub for entrepreneurship?
I usually see a lot of Scandinavian startups, a lot of French tech solo-founders, but yesterday I came across a project taking place in Germany at Schloss Bückeburg.
It would make sense that the economically strongest country can become the startup mecca.
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If you would've asked before COVID, I would've said Romania, where I live. We were on a strong trajectory, that encouraged business with rather lenient taxation, we had a substantial talent pool with lots of technical universities producing hordes of good, well trained, proficient developers, designers and executive level professionals, we had moderate to low salary expectations on average and we were happy with the work contract protections (which weren't as punitive for companies as in France, or as detrimental to employees as in the USA). There were even signs of government support, European funds availability and some startup incubators like Innovation Labs growing to maturity and a solid process.
However, now I'm betting on either Estonia, France or Poland, out of which I think Poland has the best mix of conditions, but lacks substantial government subsidies which France can afford, but it still would be my choice for the next 20 years.
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@viorelmocanu This is a fact – I hear more often that Poland is nailing it almost in every aspect: economy, using European funds, defence (military) etc.
Though I've never physically been to Sweden nor Poland, as an indie video game fan perspective, I will probably bet both Sweden and Poland would have a great potential on the topic you mentioned.
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@rickyguo That's a good point – Poland is becoming very strong lately.
Replyke
I'm betting on Eastern Europe.
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@tsabary Why? Because of lower costs?
Replyke
@busmark_w_nika No, culture and mentality. I say that based on intuition though - no data to back that with.
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@tsabary I am partially from Eastern Europe, and the mentality here is not as business-oriented. 😅
Replyke
@busmark_w_nika Interesting, I guess my intuition was wrong then 😅 for years I hear about Eastern European developers.
I guess technical skills don't always come with business skills or desire.
I recently read about France's investments in expanding its startup ecosystem. From what I'm seeing, France looks like the country pushing the strongest right now in this direction, as Station F, located in Paris, is the world's largest startup campus and incubator.
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@andreitudor14 more people started to be advocates for this country, as I read in the comments. Maybe I should move there :D
Migma AI
Definitely Stockholm
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@adam_lab Because of Lovable?
Migma AI
@busmark_w_nika Lovable, Spotify, Sana, Voi, Klarna, databricks and soon Migma.ai
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@adam_lab aaa, yes, these are quite big. BTW, love your effort and aspiration! :)
Triforce Todos
Definitely France!
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@abod_rehman Why do you think so?
I'm also doubling down on France, but I still have a tiny hope that it will be a country from Eastern Europe - the people's hardworking nature mixed with more funding opportunities would allow Eastern Europe to bloom!
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@ruxandra_mazilu That would be a dream, unfortunately, many Eastern European countries still have that "Eastern-Block" mentality, and I can even spot in some individuals sympathy towards communism. Which is not very pro-business oriented.
DiffSense
I think UK. London. Its just magical. The culture, the food, the people. It inspires you to do what it takes. When you see other people hustle around you, you get inspired. When you see other people making it and living awesome lives, it fires you up. Also having lived there and worked there ones in your life, it's really something everyone should experience. Esp when young. London and Newyork. Do it ones. It changes you forever.
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@sentry_co I have heard that the UK is the place where many Polish people migrated to live their "American dream". But to be honest, I didn't count on this one.
DiffSense
@busmark_w_nika It's the most "New York" place in the EU. Also pretty affordable. You can get a townhouse pretty central (5min bike-ride from the center) (east side) in London for ~$1m. And then have access to all that London has to offer. The great thing about places like LND and NYC is that they are meltingpots for diversity, mix of culture. So you avoid allt he mono culture tndencies we have in other places. Its probably the place that is easiest to adopt the fastest.
Eastern Europe - I feel like half the developers I speak with are in Poland, Ukraine, or Romania. Seems like a very strong entrepreneurial culture and work ethic.
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@matthew_glossop The Developer positions are very attractive because of the salary, and my opinion is that when you speak to them (and by any chance they work for some of the US corporations, it is because they are still a "cheaper workforce". OFC, we in Eastern Europe are hard-working, but because of our historical background, we are still perceived like that.
@busmark_w_nika Makes sense! I figured if it's an attractive role there it would naturally drive a more entrepreneurial culture.
Only tip I would have (without knowing anything about the VC community out there) is to attract more capital. There's clearly a ton of talent out there already, just needs more dollars to grow.
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@matthew_glossop From my experience, when someone wanted to "achieve" something, they moved to the West. Ukrainians to Slovakia, Slovaks to the Czech Republic, Czech people to Germany, German people to the US.
Germany.
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@matteo_marchetti3 Maybe, we will see :)