Comments on: Xtech 2006: Paul Graham - How American are Startups?

By: Will Perkins

Will Perkins — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 22:19:06 +0000

I would not agree that rigid labour laws in Europe are a necessarily a bad thing. People in the US should have a little more security about their jobs.

By: Mark

Mark — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 23:45:18 +0000

I would not agree with you that america has a more relaxed attitude to careers, EU is also flexible there….

By: China Law Blog

China Law Blog — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 22:46:32 +0000

Chinese education rewards memorizing more than innovation. This must change before China has a shot at its own Silicon Valley. Right now the innovation in China is being driven by those who are returning from abroad.

By: Profitable Signals

Profitable Signals — Tue, 23 May 2006 22:44:59 +0000

Why NYC IS a Start-Up Hub

Paul Graham made a comment at a conference last week that “NYC could not be a start-up hub because there are lots of rich people but no nerds. Result: no start-ups.” This has been bothering me since I read the comments.
Well first of all, I t…

By: Reuven Brenner

Reuven Brenner — Tue, 23 May 2006 16:57:19 +0000

Someone sent me a link to Paul Graham’s brief, and Kamen Stefanov’s comment. The latter refers to a collection of my speeches (The Financial Century) but which is out of print. The US edition, still in print, is published under the title The Force of Finance. One point in the book is how the movement of “vital few” to a place brings prosperity, and how when these “vital few” abandon some shores, the place falls behind. Many so-called “miracles” (and disasters) have been consequences of such movements - and not because local farmers or fishermen suddenly became tech of financial geniuses.

By: Web 2.0 in Ireland

Web 2.0 in Ireland — Sun, 21 May 2006 22:08:07 +0000

Xtech 2006: Paul Graham - How American are Startups?. Strange Attractor: Picking out patterns from the chaos that is the blogosphere.

Insighful coverage from Suw on a recent talk at xTech
Xtech 2006: Paul Graham - How American are Startups?.
I’m a fan of Paul Grahams - his book “hackers and painters” is a must read for anyone in the technology space.
…

By: Paul Elosegui

Paul Elosegui — Sun, 21 May 2006 17:29:07 +0000

I agree and sympathize with Jose Maria

A look around Europe shows Paul Graham is right about governments:

Government is not a good replacement for rich people / angel investors as they’re slow, invest inappropriately and don’t have the contacts or experience to support the right activity

The best evidence is comparing a commercially run Technology Parks and state funded parks. St John Science Park in Cambridge has one of the best company growth records in Europe. The Park director is an ex-banker, the funding is largely private, and the innovation support is entirely focused on sales.

Governments play an essential role in creating the infrastructure in which these Creative Classes can thrive, but private investors are best at funding growth companies.

By: eucap

eucap — Sun, 21 May 2006 17:05:54 +0000

Government’s Are Poor at Funding Growth Companies

Paul Graham is right about governments being poor at funding innovation growth. In his How American are Startups? speech, a candid analysis of how to create an innovation center like Silicon Valley, Paul damns government’s abilities to fund companies. …

By: Roland Alton-Scheidl

Roland Alton-Scheidl — Fri, 19 May 2006 08:04:25 +0000

Yes, the big players in the Internet world, such as Google, Yahoo with eBay or Apple with iTunes have all grown in Calitfornia or in cities like Boston. Europe is good at financing software (SAP) or mobile phone infrastructure (Nokia, Ericsson, Siemens), but seems not to be able to catch up with the Internet era, and seems to be sleeping with the current Web 2.0 hype.

The speech was an outstanding example of how Americans look at the rest of the world. The perspective is narrow, with the simple dish-washer business model in mind: making very few smart people rich when they are selling their idea after a three years development phase. Well, how many of them who try fail and remain dish-washer (plus a second McJob) forever?. The European society has other models for feeling rich: in wisdom, social responsibility or equal access to education.

After this key-note, I am not so sure, if any European region or city really wants to have a copy of silicon valley. I believe, we have different concepts, creating wealth. And may key factors are fulfilled the mekka, less cars, hiring on a per contract basis, and an inspiring culture!

Some more notes on the key note are available on my blog-entry when klicking on my name above.

By: Michael @ SEOG

Michael @ SEOG — Thu, 18 May 2006 14:59:17 +0000

Some companies have proven you don’t have to be in any one location to be successfull — look at 37 signals. They created a successful company and coding framework and did it across multiple countries and timezones. I wonder in 10 years if we will really be looking at the physical place as the most important. It seems as bandwith and the ability to truly work together across timezones increases, so does the ability for a startup to happen without the need for the angel investors that are just based in one place.

I also agree to the comments that China is becoming more of a place for these sorts of startups to happen. Many of the young people are finding their way into money and I have friends (from top schools in the US) who are chinese-americans and who are going back over there and starting to bridge the gap. The world becoming more globalized and there are increasingly going to be more opportunities for those companies that can successfully bridge the worlds of different countries.

Michael @ SEOG