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The New York Times has a story that delves into a conundrum faced by Europeans: Why are there few, if any, technology companies from Europe with the size and reach of American tech giants like Google, Amazon, and Apple?
The article hypothesizes that, even though employment regulations and other business and legal factors play a role, it's actually deeply-embedded cultural differences that are the primary cause, citing less aversion to risk-taking, less stigma from business failures such as bankruptcies, little or no stigma from leaving and rejoining a company which is seen as disloyal in European cultures, more acceptance of disruptive innovation, and a less rigid educational system that allows individuals to find their own form of success.
(Considering the many indications that US schools now train for tests, not knowledge, perhaps alternatives to school are more attractive.)
Original Submission
(Score: 3, Insightful) by deimios on Sunday June 21 2015, @12:08PM
Why do we need one? Silicon Valley already exists and it's already a huge magnet for talent, european or otherwise. This is like saying: where is the european facebook? Since it already exists and it serves europeans too, there is no incentive to create a competing copy.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 21 2015, @05:02PM
Those are a bit different things you are comparing. Just because facebook can serve europeans, it's because it's a digital service. A place like silicon valley is a physical place, and people in europe need to go to work. Maybe at some point there's no need to go to work and everyone can work from home, but that is not reality yet. The question is, why in all this time has there not been a place like that in europe (and i don't know if it's needed)?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 22 2015, @03:57PM
But there's no need that a large fraction of the people working in a certain field work all in the same area.
(Score: 2) by VortexCortex on Sunday June 21 2015, @09:32PM
Since it already exists and it serves europeans too, there is no incentive to create a competing copy.
The life forms that adopt monocultures quickly go extinct (and why sexes are even a thing). Diversification is good for a stable ecology. Competition also breeds new adaptations. Not everyone can afford to travel to a Tech Mecca to do such work, so it would probably be beneficial to foster centers of innovation around the world. Better to tap into the minds of the many vs relying on the few. I apologize if I sound patronizing but you did ask, "Why?"
(Score: 2, Insightful) by GDX on Monday June 22 2015, @12:20AM
The true is that the actual value of Silicon Valley is how they sell themselves, most of things that is done in Silicon Valley is done in Europe in a more spread way and the only thing that Europeans companies needs is to learn to sell themselves like the Americans do, specially their ability to create and hype a brand. There is also the hypocrisy of the Europeans investors in VC, that prefer to fund a US company than a European only, even when both have the same probability to fail.
(Score: 2, Flamebait) by Dr Spin on Monday June 22 2015, @08:29AM
One of the big problems is that people keep smoking this "Murricaine" stuff. Mrs T was addicted to it!
The UK was well ahead of America in many software areas, and a few hardware areas,
until Mrs T started publicly rubbishing the UK computer industry.
However, the VC issue is related to handing of tax write-offs, and taxation of the upper middle class.
When Apple started, Woz and Jobs' s dads had disposable income they could invest in their children's business,
and if it failed, deduct the losses from their tax. This is equivalent to the parents risking the state's money on their
children's venture.
Here in the UK, people at that level of society would have very little disposable income, because the policy is that
the state risks private people's capital. It may be communism, but the reality is Gordon Brown knows how to
spend your money better than you do! If you have disposable income, trust the government to dispose of it for you.
You know it makes scents!
Warning: Opening your mouth may invalidate your brain!