

Why UK startups should stop trying to be US startups - timparker
http://not100percentaccurate.com/why-uk-startups-should-stop-trying-to-be-us-startups

======
dabeeeenster
I've worked in Shoreditch for over 6 years. The startup people here don't
dress like they do in Silicon Valley. And people in the UK use the word
Awesome all the time. It might be an Americanisation but it's not on account
of people trying to be like Twitter, it's because of the A Team and Knight
Rider.

If people are asking whether they should spell it colour or color, that's
probably the reason they are not doing well! What a ridiculously pointless
thing to worry about.

For me there is an elephant in the room regarding UK startups not achieving
the same sort of success as they do in the US. It's quite simple. People in
the UK are far more risk averse than people in the US. It's a completely
cultural thing, and it's not going to change any time soon.

~~~
DanI-S
I can't agree enough. I'm British, and I wouldn't want to change that for the
world. But growing up in the UK, ambitious young engineers dream of going to
work for Microsoft or having a successful career within a big accountancy
firm. Entrepreneurship is something that happens to other people -
stereotypically, middle-aged men tinkering in their garages with clockwork
radios.

I've somehow ended up in Silicon Valley, and the difference in aspirations is
immense. To some extent, people dream of running companies far before they are
capable of doing so - but this is what, over time, lets them build the
fearlessness they need. By getting used to being out of your depth you can
focus on making your enterprise a success, rather than how scary it all is.

The irony is, with private health insurance and a limited welfare system, the
penalty for taking a risk and failing can be a lot worse in the US than the
UK. There's just some key cultural difference. It's the same aspect of
character that makes Americans less afraid to strike up conversation with
strangers.

~~~
anamax
> The irony is, with private health insurance and a limited welfare system,
> the penalty for taking a risk and failing can be a lot worse in the US than
> the UK.

You're assuming something about what happens when you fail in the US that
isn't true.

> But growing up in the UK, ambitious young engineers dream of going to work
> for Microsoft or having a successful career within a big accountancy firm.

That "UK dream" is the US backup plan.

Seriously - health insurance and welfare isn't one of the things on my "what
happens if I fail" list because I'll just go get a job.

Oh, and the health insurance costs aren't actually that significant. I know,
because I've had the backup plan fail and had to do them out of pocket. Since
I'm "old", I'm pretty much a worse case.

~~~
DanI-S
All this is totally dependent on your personal background.

It may well be easier if you're "old", since you've already had a chance to
establish a career and make yourself hireable - but I can imagine it takes
some balls to try to start a business immediately after graduating (or instead
of going to college) unless you have a pretty good parental safety net.
However, we see it all the time from US kids - and not so much from the UK.

~~~
anamax
> It may well be easier if you're "old", since you've already had a chance to
> establish a career and make yourself hireable

You're assuming something about age discrimination....

> I can imagine it takes some balls to try to start a business immediately
> after graduating (or instead of going to college)

Huh? Why are you assuming that a youngster is less hirable/desirable after the
biz that they start fails? They're not, they're more hirable/desirable, at
least in the US. (Of course, if they weren't very hireable before, that may
carry over, but we're not talking about those folks.)

> unless you have a pretty good parental safety net.

That's not particularly relevant.

------
madamepsychosis
Maybe this article is just highlighting one of the effects of the internet.
Easier long-distance communication means more people are exposed to foreign
language and ideas, especially between technologically literate English
speakers. How long did it take for the phrase 'epic win' to spread across the
globe?

I'm not sure this guy understands how much of the English-speaking internet is
produced by Americans, especially relating to technology. I'm from the UK, and
a huge proportion of my media comes from the US (hasn't this been the case for
a really long time anyway?) Even programming language tutorials have words
like 'awesome'. The Brits aren't faking it, they've adopted that language
because they've heard it so often.

It's silly to tell people to stick to one set of social norms because of their
place of birth. Every culture is a mishmash. And anyway, the internet is
making culture less dependent on geographical location.

~~~
pbhjpbhj
> _The Brits aren't faking it, they've adopted that language because they've
> heard it so often._ //

I'd probably go so far as to say they've [we've] adopted that language becuase
that's the culture we're living in. I live more in a culture that approximates
US American culture, heavily skewed that way, by virtue of the internet, than
I do in British culture.

Like you seem to intimate so long as we've been the poorer cousin WRT
receiving media money this has been the case. We get a version of USA culture
via movies and games and TV shows and books and the internet. If they amount
to any substantial part of your life then you're living in that culture to
some extent.

/ramble

------
aniliop
24yo from London here too. The author's point was:

'Whats toxic is that this then becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, teams get
funding because they look/sound the part. This means that there are more teams
that succeed that fit the stereotype and on we go creating Tigertailz instead
of the Beatles.'

Morgan is using metaphors to show how UK startups need to be themselves.
Instead of aping US startups as much as possible in every way they can (for
example: dress sense and language), they need to be themselves, focus on
developing their own styles whatever that may be.

~~~
bengillies
Sure, but he makes no attempt to define what this "UK culture" they all need
to adopt is (bar stating that The Beatles were popular and that Motley Crew
were more like Motley Crew than a band that wasn't Motley Crew).

American culture's been slowly infiltrating the UK for decades (I don't have a
problem with that), why should a particular group of people suddenly start
rejecting it?

~~~
semanticist
There is no single UK culture, so telling people to adopt the ideas of, say,
London, isn't any better for people in Edinburgh than telling us to think like
Californians.

I think the key point is not being afraid to find your own path. In the start-
up world the Valley dominates everything - there is a huge push to get to
California or you're not going to achieve anything big. Governments around the
world want to make 'the next Silicon Valley', leading to 'silicon roundabout'
in London which is an attempt at the superficial trappings of the Valley
without any of the substance.

People are starting to realise that the big VC-funded start-up isn't the only
way to go - and people outside the US are starting to see that modelling
themselves after American companies and American ideals isn't the only way to
go either.

------
aculver
I think this commentary is relevant even within the U.S. It reminds me of
companies like <http://brainsonfire.com/> and <http://bellstrike.com/> who
have put the plug in for their state (South Carolina) when they present
themselves nationally. Despite presenting nationally and working
internationally, Geno Church is so totally South Carolina in his speech and
presentation. It's distinct. Some other examples come to mind as well, like
<http://sproutbox.com/> and their pride of Bloomington, IN, etc.

------
helipad
The headline is a relevant one, but the article seems to focus on dress sense
and accent? Imitation of success stories occurs in every walk of life - it
just happens to be Silicon Valley people in this industry.

It's quite possible to be unique and have your own voice even if you are
inspired by dressing and talking like Steve Jobs.

~~~
SamColes
24 yo from London here. That language is completely standard to me. I've been
saying awesome with a straight face for as long as I can remember. I'm not
sure it's the best way to have made the point.

~~~
craigmc
33 yo, and I can cope with using awesome too. I've even been known to use dude
and on occasion, stoked. However, that is because I've always been into
"extreme" sports (windsurfing, snowboarding, etc). In these sports, it is very
much about small fairly close-knit communities who adopt common vocabularies
made up of technical terms and also (normally) a bunch of "Americanisms" to
express their feelings.

I see tremendous similarities between the startup culture and the extreme
sports culture. Both tend to reject conventional methods of rewarding people
with "status" (i.e. family background) and focus instead on meritocratic
measures like ability / performance. Issues like nationality tend to also
become less relevant as people travel around frequently. Thus it is not
surprising and, is actually welcome, that a universal vocabulary has emerged
to connect startup'ers wherever they might be based.

Of course, I accept that the author has a point about slavish imitation being
a bad strategy. In extreme sports circles, no one likes the guy who turns up
with all the kit and the lingo but without the skills, so the key lesson to UK
startups is probably best summed up as: focus on walking the walk, before we
start talking the talk.... ;)

(Separately, the Beatles might have emerged from Liverpool, but they were
hugely influenced by a number of American acts, and indeed were involved in a
virtual creative arms race against Brian Wilson at one point.)

------
0x12
This does not just apply to the UK, it goes much farther, it applies to every
place that is not Silicon Valley.

------
dasil003
The underlying point which has nothing to do with nationality and merits
ongoing consideration from every human being is that there's a fine line
between learning from someone good and cargo culting.

------
swampthing
Seems like the author is throwing the baby out with the bathwater. The key is
to be thoughtful about what traits you learn from, not to give up on learning
from others altogether.

------
petegrif
Wow - tigertails were the shit. What happened to 'em?

