John Markoff has an interesting piece in the New York TImes today about the Digital, Life, Design conference in Munich. The theme of the piece is that the whole "World is Flat" phenomenon has removed the intitutional advantage of Silicon Valley companies. It’s an interesting theory, but also a bit naive because there is more to building an environment for innovation and entrepreneurship than just social networking technology (We will actually be releasing a paper that looks at many of these issues in early February).
Markoff and the entrepreneurs he interviewed also seem to recognize this (at least partially), however:
"Still, he says that while there are major cultural differences in the way start-up entrepreneurs are viewed in Europe — failure is not viewed as a badge of honor, the way it is in Silicon Valley — a native community is beginning to emerge."
There definitely is a growing community of start-up entrepreneurs in Europe, and many of them are ACT members. Companies like Ceatec Solutions Limited, Logotec Engineering Group, Tribeka Ltd., Mobipocket.com, Astron Clinica, and Cyberfab are leading some of the leading voices in Europe’s vibrant community of new companies.
Yet, in the conversations we have with our European members, there is near universal agreement the Europe is a less hospitable environment for tech entrepreneurs. At the top of their list of concerns, is this issue of "risk adversity," which not only keeps many potential entrepreneurs off the playing field, but also makes it much harder for those that lace up their boots to raise the capital they need. Other concerns usually include labor laws, red tape, market barriers, and lack of IP protection.