Entrepreneurship in Europe and US: spot the differences

Filed in archive Business on March 19, 2006

European Frederico Oliveira, who runs a web design and development company, spots the differences between Europe and US in terms on entrepreneurship. Frederico has been in the Bay Area, so he knows what he is talking about:

"There are less conversations between european entrepreneurs
Europeans don't take as many risks in terms of innovation
US Head-hunting gets the talent out, not in
Less VC investment to stimulate idea development"

Being a portuguese like Frederico, I couldn't agree most. Here in Europe people are simply more afraid of taking risks and not so willing to share knowledge. And we don't even get close to the american "garage company" culture.

Than, it's just a vicious loop. Smart, innovative europeans tend to go to the other side of the Atlantic, where they know they can find others like them.

Nevertheless, some interesting ideas and companies are appearing in the old continent. I'll blog about some of them soon.