while avoiding to make this a U.S. vs Europe thing, I'd be more interested in seeing other metrics (such as exit figures) rather than using that as the defining factor.
Clearly the U.S. is a world leader here, and always has been. But Europe is a large market, and a different type of consumer culture which needs to be catered for.
There are some impressive services operating in Europe right now. I was in Berlin recently, where there is a very large startup culture. I visited Europe's largest online gaming company, and was very impressed by their operation, and of course Soundcloud, the world's biggest music sharing service is also based in Berlin. Let's not forget that spotify and last.fm are also europe based, both excellent services. There seems to be a large amount of startups in Germany and Scandinavia as well as the UK. And, on a personal level, the Irish government is offering quite a good deal of aid and support to startups here, with a few success stories emerging.
True, we're not on the same level as the americans, but it is foolish to dismiss Europe.
Clearly the U.S. is a world leader here, and always has been. But Europe is a large market, and a different type of consumer culture which needs to be catered for.
There are some impressive services operating in Europe right now. I was in Berlin recently, where there is a very large startup culture. I visited Europe's largest online gaming company, and was very impressed by their operation, and of course Soundcloud, the world's biggest music sharing service is also based in Berlin. Let's not forget that spotify and last.fm are also europe based, both excellent services. There seems to be a large amount of startups in Germany and Scandinavia as well as the UK. And, on a personal level, the Irish government is offering quite a good deal of aid and support to startups here, with a few success stories emerging.
True, we're not on the same level as the americans, but it is foolish to dismiss Europe.