Where Are The European Startups?
Nat over at O’Reilly is having a hard time figuring out why there are so few european start ups in the open source world. There certainly is a huge amount of interest in implementation of open source systems among European Union members, so you would think there is a golden opportunity for start ups to provide services. Why arent there more start ups?
I dont see this as necessarily an open source problem but a start up problem. Incorporating a garage shop in the United States is a snap, especially in states where there is at will employment. In Europe however, you have to contend with regulations that vary state to state, but usually are so labor supportive that they discourage the start-up mentality. For example, the imposed 35 hour work week in France has both labor unions on both sides of the fence. When this was first implemented, it only applied to large companies. Now however, even small companies are impacted. It is also very difficult and expensive to fire incompetent staff or limit benefits for workers on term contracts or part time. The cost of business is so high that it discourages start-ups that ride on good will, credit cards and angel investors.