AMERICAS JUMPSTART ON TECHNOLOGY
September 24th, 2010
It’s not every day that anyone in the U.S. hears foreigners praising our country. In fact, for the most part Americans are the people who show pride in the country they call home. While the U.S. is constantly receiving criticism from others, it also strives to make improvements within itself, to become a better place for all, no matter who may have doubted the outcome. However, when it comes to advances in technology can America really claim to supersede foreign European countries?
Well, Alan Gleeson, seems to think so. Gleeson is currently the General Manager of Palo Alto Software, Ltd. During his educational background he has earned an MBA from Oxford University along with an MSc from University College, in Cork, Ireland.
In Gleeson’s article, “Guest post: Why Europe lags the U.S. in technology startups,” he has been keeping an eye on recent technology and internet trends that have been successfully arising from the U.S. such as Google, Facebook and YouTube, just to name a few. The cyberspace phenomenon created a thirst within Gleeson to find out whether or not Europe would be able to hop on the bandwagon and be just as successful as the American entrepreneurs.
Gleeson explains, “As someone who works for a U.S. software company with a strong focus on helping entrepreneurs succeed (Palo Alto Software), I am intrigued by the apparent gap between the U.S. and Europe when it comes to the development of successful technology and Web-based start-ups.”
So, what does it take to start up a successful web company? Gleeson believes that there are key drivers behind any entrepreneur’s achievement.
Let’s start off with Gleeson’s number one driver: LOCATION.
Location, location, location; this is one of the most important factors when creating your business. I think Gleeson is right on target here. He uses the West Coast as a reference—from San Francisco to Route 101 to Silicon Valley to Los Angeles. Gleeson explains these locations as having a sort of domino effect on each other; as soon as news hits one city it falls down onto the next one. He also goes on to say that while Europe does harbor large cities such as London, Dublin and Berlin, they are nothing in comparison to the Silicon Valley in the respect that they cannot stir up as much publicity for these entrepreneur’s new businesses.
Next up: TALENT.
Talent seems to be another main driver in Gleeson’s eyes. He points out that Silicon Valley is filled with a plethora of talented beings ranging from software developers to engineers to venture capitalists.
Gleeson throws in a statistic from Vivek Wadhwa, “.. 52.4% of Silicon Valley startups had one or more immigrants as a key founder. Indians had taken the lead in starting companies, but founders originated from all over the world—from Australia to Iran to Vietnam.”
Consequentially, as Gleeson points out, these talented immigrants end up returning to their native countries, and begin businesses of their own.
Moving on to: MARKET SIZE.
Gleeson brings up the phenomenal factor of Market Size. He explains that in the U.S. is better able to accommodate their inhabitants. This is due to the fact the with a population of circa 307 million, generally everyone speaks the same language, uses the same currency and has adopted to the same culture, creating a resonant environment for entrepreneurs to appeal to. On the other hand, while Europe covers a smaller geographic area as opposed to the U.S., they still seem to hold a larger population. For Europe, this leaves them at a disadvantage, simply because customers within Europe are at a divide when it comes to languages, cultures, currency—all of which affect marketing strategies. Consequently Gleeson points out that launching a product would most likely prosper in the U.S., unlike the case in Europe.
On deck we have: SUPPORT SYSTEMS.
Sometimes we all need somebody to lean on, which is also true of entrepreneurs. Although entrepreneurs possess the motivation and the drive to get a business started, there are also outside factors that contribute to their success. Gleeson demonstrates that in order for any business to progress they rely on further assistance such as: VCs, lawyers, PR firms, media, etc. He then backtracks to his example of the thriving business environment that has been created on the West Coast that helps to promote entrepreneurs. Unlike this system, Europe doesn’t provide as many investors as the U.S., which definitely causes a negative effect for European businesses. However, Gleeson also states that despite the fact that Europe lags the U.S. there are attempts being made to bridge the gap, through projects such as Seedcamp, startup promotion by TechCrunch, or the new early-stage funding by PROfounders Capital.
Coming up: ATTITUDE TO RISK.
Your attitude can lead to your ultimate success or to your spiraling downfall. Although statistics may be harder to find on this topic, Gleeson points out that there is clearly a difference in the appetite for risk in America as opposed to Europe.
Gleeson quotes an Economist article, “‘In Europe starting your own company has long carried higher risks and lower rewards than across the Atlantic. In America, a failed start-up tends to be a badge of honour; in Europe, it often spells professional death’.”
Gleeson agrees that European entrepreneurs and even consumers are less willing than Americans to take certain business risks. However, he does support the fact that European entrepreneurship has recently gained more credibility and is on the rise.
Last but not least: MEDIA.
Media plays a leading role in the victory of starting a new business. Gleeson explains the importance of getting such key influencers promoting your product or service; it creates a buzz increasing the chances that other people will too want to try your product.
He states, “when I consider the various blogs I read in relation to entrepreneurship, technology and raising finance (such as Mike Arrington of TechCrunch, and Jason Calacanis (This Week in Venture Capital)), they are overwhelmingly American and all do a great job at signposting emergent companies worthy of further consideration and trial.”
He then goes on to accredit Europe, “only Mike Butcher of TechCrunch Europe comes close in terms of influence, reader numbers and focus on promotion in Europe. “
It is because of media such as Mike Arrington plugging certain sites, that a greater percentage of global traffic is influenced and lured to visit your website. This is what ultimately creates a sense that the technology gap between Europe and the U.S. is becoming lesser and lesser.
CONCLUDING STATEMENT:
So, does this mean every entrepreneur has to move to the U.S. to become a success? No, I don’t think so. Although it might put you at a slight advantage, it is possible to be an entrepreneur in any part of the world.
Gleeson helps to make these possibilities more available. Stick to his 6 key drivers: Location, Talent, Market Size, Support Systems, Attitude to Risk and Media, and you should be on the road to accomplishments in no time at all.
Just remember as long as you have the drive within you to succeed you can achieve your goals. Alan Gleeson’s article seems to be proof of this; it doesn’t matter if you are in the U.S. or Europe, or anywhere for that matter. All you have to do is follow some simple guidelines and then you should be golden. Any business can be risky, especially when it comes to technology and web-based companies. And, hey, if at first you don’t succeed, try again.
Source: http://eu.techcrunch.com/2010/09/17/guest-post-why-europe-lags-the-u-s-in-technology-startups/
