

What Every European Startup Should Know: 10 Keys to Presenting Your Startup in the US - markessien
http://mashable.com/2008/12/02/presenting-your-startup-in-the-us/

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jumper
"boutique consultancy"? I'm not sure whether to applaud for a precision
application of language or cringe at the pretentiousness of a deluded grab at
prestige....and of course on their main page they call themselves a "Customer
Experience Strategy consultancy".

Of course, I'm American, so maybe I'm just too unrefined to properly
appreciate their own eloquently enhanced customer experience strategy. ;)

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ido
I don't know how you use "boutique" in the US, but it's a commonly used word
around here (when speaking English anyway).

I do think there is definitely a qualitative difference in the way people
speak in Europe and in the US (also when speaking languages other than
English).

I was a bit surprised when I have heard a (supposedly, could have been
Canadian AFAIK) American tourist saying something like "they were just a bunch
of dudes hanging out" (she was a woman in her 40's, in Austria using an
equivalent form of slang is something normally reserved to much younger
people).

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jumper
It was always amusing to me when my British drama teacher would use a word
that Americans rarely use like "coach" or "metro" (as opposed to bus or
subway). I had just big enough a vocabulary for it to be no effort for me to
understand her, even if I never used such words personally, whereas everybody
around me just went "huh?" I guess I'm finally noticing the times when I'm on
the other side of that divide and have to really think about what the
unfamiliar words mean in the given context.

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mixmax
As a European I found this article pretty interesting. And true.

We Europeans are academics - we love a good argument just for the sake of it,
we think before we talk, and our products (usually) don't crash. But we can't
sell worth shit...

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jumper
I've no first hand knowledge of Europe, but given what I know of human nature,
I'm pretty distrustful of someone describing a place the size of a continent
as intellectual... still, it does make me kinda wish it were true! But I mean,
honestly...

~~~
mixmax
It might be a overly broad, but I don't think its entirely untrue.

Your mileage will vary of course - Spaniards and Brits are very different.

~~~
ido
I think you could broadly divide Europe to 4 parts along the north/south axis
and the west/east axis.

I believe this thread pertains mostly to the northern and in particular north
western part.

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langer
11\. Know your US-based competition inside out. One of the first questions you
get asked will be about it.

