Europe's Lack of Big Tech

Europe is not less competitive. US companies/startups just happen to have more capital and also network effects (lots of tech companies are already there).

We can build those things in Europe, we have the know-how, what we lack is that glorious risk friendly VC funding and the huge, homogeneous consumer friendly market the US is, crucial for rapid product scaling/expansion.The EU market is super fragmented due to differences in language, culture, income and regulations so it would be nearly impossible to successfully scale a service made for Swedish consumers to the Italians for example. As another example, the Norwegians only pay wi

Europeans are mostly comfortable giving money to American companies, and there is not as much of a culture difference as with Asia, so there is no need for separate offerings specially for Europe. All big tech companies have several subsidiaries that seem to be doing quite well. It’s true that there are not as many European startups than American ones, but the market is there.

I believe it is a combination of things:* the regulatory environment is tough on businesses: it's hard to start one and follow all the rules. The rules can also be different across EU states.* poorer local market. Europeans generally don't have as much disposable income as Americans. It's harder to get a good amount of people to pay 20 EUR / month for a SaaS.* different investor culture: if you failed once, you'll always fail thinking* corporate and personal

As a European this article is sadly just a lot of noise. It simply all comes down to investment capital.1. The EU does not have a stock market that rivals the NYSE/NASDAQ. There are few exit strategies available to EU companies. This there is no perpetual money machine where the old generation funds the new. There is simply VERY little investment capital available. Companies tend to be self funded and thus growth is much slower. This is by far the most important factor everything else ar

European here. You're spot on with your question. Europe is an extremely hostile place to start a business compared to USA.USA embraced capitalism and is geared towards proving concepts FAST and enabling networking. I love that about USA and I miss that in Europe, when it comes to IT/Tech sector in particular.I'm not aware if Europe produced anything of significance in the past 30 years, we're lagging heavily behind USA/China and that's a fact. One could argue

Europe has lots of capital but when it comes to capital “Europe” is not a singular entity. Its surprisingly difficult for a fund in country A to invest in a privately held company of country B. The whole thing about the lack of big tech in Europe is partially caused by this fragmentation. In areas where the EU broke down those barriers (such as manufacturing) Europe is significantly more competitive than the US.

it's because Europe is a continent of 20+ different large languages and cultures. In Sweden everybody speaks Swedish and nobody uses cash. In Germany, nobody speaks Swedish and everyone uses cash. There is no homogenous market like in the US or China where you can blow up some product to 300+ million people.That's the reason why there are fewer startups in Europe. Europe has plenty of large technology companies if one stops equating technology with "user facing smartphone appli

You aren't in a bubble, there just aren't many. There are tech companies but they're largely copies of US companies built for the local market (DoorDash -> Deliveroo, Uber/Lyft -> Bolt, etc). Europe has twice the number of people so there should be twice the number of notable companies but it's a small fraction instead.The US has a history of innovation and a culture of ambition, drive, and seeking financial independence. Europe is more concerned with regulation

Startups move to the us because of the ease of access to VCs (or capital in general)> I'm not sure where this notion comes from.From the outside the EU sounds like on large unit. Where in facts it is a fragmented group. The EU has plenty of tech companies but it is pretty competitive when you have that many countries to cater to, each with their own culture, language, and laws. So you will target a specific market - like France, with marketing in french, adapted to the French conte