SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
As technology upends industries and lifestyles at breakneck pace, the Old Continent is not producing any of the online giants like Google, eBay or Facebook. Its best and brightest prefer to emigrate to Silicon Valley, or sell their ideas on to U.S. firms before they have a chance to establish themselves.
The European Union's top executives in Brussels are trying to rectify that with a long-term plan of reforms and incentives but face an uphill battle. The 28-nation bloc is, above all, lacking in the risk-taking culture and financial networks needed to grow Internet startups into globally dominant companies.
Europe's relatively cautious attitude to investment stands out as one of the biggest hurdles—and among the most difficult to change. Investors in Europe want to see that a young company can generate revenue from the start. Europe's many high-technology companies are focused on manufactured goods that can be sold right away to generate revenue—industrial equipment, energy turbines, high-speed trains, medical devices, and nuclear energy.
By contrast, Internet companies often have little to no revenue at the beginning. Twitter and Facebook, for example, first focused on building up their user numbers. Only once they were established as global forces did they put more attention to making money, through advertising and other strategies.
This difference in mentality stands out as one of the key reasons that Europe has fewer venture capital firms and less investment in startups than the U.S. or Asia.Over the past five years, U.S. venture capitalists spent $167 billion on new business ideas compared with some $20 billion by their European counterparts, according to the National Venture Capital Association.
http://phys.org/news/2015-09-europe-isnt-googles-facebooks.html
(Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Wednesday September 23 2015, @04:46AM
The more unregulated it is, the higher its peaks and lower its valleys.
In the U.S. we seem to have forgotten why it's a good idea to regulate it. The E.U. hasn't made the same mistake.
Hence why the greatest successes are in the U.S.
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 3, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 23 2015, @05:18AM
Hence why the greatest successes are in the U.S.
And the greatest failures, like Pets.com, "Bears, Sterns and Rectums", Scott Walkers, John Elias, Donald, Rick Perry, Michael Huckabee, Lyndsey Grahamcracker, Santorum (eeww!), John McCain, Ayn Rand Paul, the Bridge guy, and Curvy Findyourrea. And Micro$oft! Ha! Only thing worse than Dragons, Americans! (Reign of Fire).
(Score: 2, Interesting) by purpleland on Wednesday September 23 2015, @06:49PM
Ayn Rand. I read her books a long time ago, way before any association to US politics. I was fascinated because her ideology and manner in which her characters behaved were so completely alien to me. It opened my mind because I never realized people could think like this: to be so completely idealistic and not at all pragmatic... yet possessing a warped sense of rationality nevertheless. I was intrigued. So much so I attempted to join a gaming group that was built around her ideas hoping to get involved in some interesting discussions, but I was rejected due to philosophical differences. The scary thing was that they seemed bat shit insane.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by davester666 on Wednesday September 23 2015, @05:18AM
No, "we" haven't forgotten. The politicians have been paid to forget.