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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, Insightful) by virens on Wednesday September 23 2015, @07:13PM
My humble 0.02 Euro to the discussion - as someone who can compare the life in Australia and US vs Europe (mainly France):
Not to mention horrific bureaucracy (France, you really need to pull your head out of your 17-century ass!), gazillion of regulations, exorbitant taxes (that are used to support african scum), overinflated sense of entitlement and overal 18-century lifestyle (just look at their inexpensive hotels in old houses).
Notice that I put the word culture in quotes - looking at France, the culture there is dead (like in the rest of europe). No music, no film, no decent books for last, I don't know, 20-30 years (I don't count the pulp sludge). The funny thing is this anti-US sentiment that US culture dominates european. Well, EU don't have anything to offer - no wonder everybody refer american films, music and books!
As for industry: yes, they have it, but look at the novel stuff - it is all comes from US. europe is capable only for incremental improvements and (quality) implementation of something done before them.
(Score: 2) by zugedneb on Wednesday September 23 2015, @08:03PM
...look at the novel stuff - it is all comes from US...
I think, when it comes to computers, what sunk the ship was the Microsoft contract, that thy shipped by default with all pc:s...
If Windows would have been "just a product" like everything else, others would have had a chance.
For that reason alone, there was so much inflow of cash into USA...
Secondly, if we take the main events of history: doom, starcraft, diablo, and the gaming revolution that fallowed... Yet again, an enormous inflow of cash, not undeserved, into the US...
It is not easy to compete with someone who was the first to reach the mountains of money...
old saying: "a troll is a window into the soul of humanity" + also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Ajax
(Score: 1) by Sarasani on Thursday September 24 2015, @03:39AM
My humble 0.02 Euro to the discussion
Thank you for your 2c worth of humbleness: in your own dull witted, ill-informed, unthinking fashion, you've been most helpfully instructive. But I must admit that I stopped reading after your mention of "African skum" [sic]
And yes, I have also lived in Australia, US, and Europe. Not that that brings anything to this discussion.