I think this is a very broad statement that does not reflect the reality on the ground for a significant amout of non-etnical-europeans.
Europe is a very diverse continent culturally speaking and also has a big immigration background, and those blank statements, while they're cool as a counter-narrative to the 'Europoor' memes, lack nuance in terms of the representation of what is going on.
I come from a significantly large cohort of demographics to the EU that was searching for upward mobility from a poverty/middle-class background in South America/India, and on the contrary (maybe our fellow Asians in Central Europe can agree here also), money matters. A lot.
If you're an ethno-European and you live in Munich, Freiburg, Hamburg, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Zurich, Basel u.z.w not needing money would be OK because at the end of the day you can have relatives nearby, and probably you might be sitting on some real estate heritage that can make you good in the future.
But for a large part of the cohort that I mentioned, there's no family at max 3h flight, and money matters to help family abroad.
> Venture capital is pure gambling in the US. We don't subscribe to the American unrestricted capitalism here (well except for the UK and Netherlands which are heavily influenced by America)
This turns me off most of the time, but here we go...
VCs are just the capital allocators; most of the time those people represent family offices, institutional investment funds, and sovereign wealth funds that have some excess capital to allocate in several ways to have positive disproportionate positive returns, where those returns will subsidize the failed ones.
Capital for investment means that an ecosystem can start to work and you can have a flow of talent and capital, and it potentially flows to other parts of society—more explicitly, to the economy—but at the end of the day, it goes back to the public via taxes and public services.
If the alternative for the capital arriving in Central Europe is (a) founders fleeing to the USA and opening their companies there, (b) European companies using Delaware LLCs to operate at EU, (c) working at traditional old-money companies that squeeze wages, and (d) having those jobs and capital fleeing to Poland/Spain/Paris/Portugal/Amsterdam; I will take the capital at any time of the day.
> If you're an ethno-European and you live in Munich, Freiburg, Hamburg, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Zurich, Basel u.z.w not needing money would be OK because at the end of the day you can have relatives nearby, and probably you might be sitting on some real estate heritage that can make you good in the future.
It's not that and I don't have that, it's just that we have good social security and free healthcare where I live. And nearly free public transport. So you don't have to be afraid that an unexpected event can bankrupt you like in the US.
We care more about quality of life here than just about money. Of course money still matters but not as much as in the US where it's pretty much people's only goal in life.
I don't want my country to become like the US. As it is Holland is already one of the most capitalist countries in the EU, very neoliberal. If you want it to be more about money, then the US would be a better destination to migrate to than the EU (and I'm not saying that in a "go away" manner, I'm an immigrant too, I just mean that the US is a much better match with your economic vision).
And yeah I know there's many people from poor countries, I have an ex who is from South America. But they get the worst jobs with really shit pay so of course it's more about money.
> If the alternative for the capital arriving in Central Europe is (a) founders fleeing to the USA and opening their companies there, (b) European companies using Delaware LLCs to operate at EU, (c) working at traditional old-money companies that squeeze wages, and (d) having those jobs and capital fleeing to Poland/Spain/Paris/Portugal/Amsterdam; I will take the capital at any time of the day.
I wouldn't. I'm fine as it is. I took about a 50% pay cut to be where I am but my life is so much better here. I can buy much less tech things here (things that cost the same everywhere) but things like food are also much cheaper. A car would be difficult but I don't need one and I really enjoy no longer having to drive (I deeply hated driving). And rent is cheaper too, even though they are really inflated right now, it's still a lot cheaper.
The tech things don't really matter, and I have more free time and a much easier life than at home.
I think we come from different perspectives; you placed a more individualistic perspective on how things are good for your particular situation, and I am talking about a broader and more absolute part where, whether we like it or not, the whole tech investing and capital allocation makes a difference.
An economic system like the US might be better for the 0.1% but overall it's a net negative. There's tons more violent crime because there's so much economic inequality. I'm very glad to live here.
Don't forget a country exists for all its citizens, not just the top wealthy, and not for companies. They're just a means to an end.
I think this is a very broad statement that does not reflect the reality on the ground for a significant amout of non-etnical-europeans.
Europe is a very diverse continent culturally speaking and also has a big immigration background, and those blank statements, while they're cool as a counter-narrative to the 'Europoor' memes, lack nuance in terms of the representation of what is going on.
I come from a significantly large cohort of demographics to the EU that was searching for upward mobility from a poverty/middle-class background in South America/India, and on the contrary (maybe our fellow Asians in Central Europe can agree here also), money matters. A lot.
If you're an ethno-European and you live in Munich, Freiburg, Hamburg, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Zurich, Basel u.z.w not needing money would be OK because at the end of the day you can have relatives nearby, and probably you might be sitting on some real estate heritage that can make you good in the future.
But for a large part of the cohort that I mentioned, there's no family at max 3h flight, and money matters to help family abroad.
> Venture capital is pure gambling in the US. We don't subscribe to the American unrestricted capitalism here (well except for the UK and Netherlands which are heavily influenced by America)
This turns me off most of the time, but here we go...
VCs are just the capital allocators; most of the time those people represent family offices, institutional investment funds, and sovereign wealth funds that have some excess capital to allocate in several ways to have positive disproportionate positive returns, where those returns will subsidize the failed ones.
Capital for investment means that an ecosystem can start to work and you can have a flow of talent and capital, and it potentially flows to other parts of society—more explicitly, to the economy—but at the end of the day, it goes back to the public via taxes and public services.
If the alternative for the capital arriving in Central Europe is (a) founders fleeing to the USA and opening their companies there, (b) European companies using Delaware LLCs to operate at EU, (c) working at traditional old-money companies that squeeze wages, and (d) having those jobs and capital fleeing to Poland/Spain/Paris/Portugal/Amsterdam; I will take the capital at any time of the day.