

A cluster of start-ups in east London is thriving - csa
http://www.economist.com/news/britain/21587268-cluster-start-ups-east-london-thriving-all-they-need-now-big-success-start-me-up

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casca
_" We have 100 vacancies, but we’ll be fortunate if we can fill half with
hires in the UK,” says Errol Damelin, the boss of Wonga. Often talent has to
be imported from America or elsewhere, but immigration rules for hires from
outside the European Union are still “extremely cumbersome”, he complains_

Another reason is that Wonga is morally bankrupt as it takes advantage of the
desperate and the ill-informed. It's harder for them to hire as they want good
engineers but need them to be unconcerned with what their skills are being
used for.

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bosie
if they have such trouble finding good engineers, what are they willing to pay
for them?

~~~
simonswords82
Based on this job post 50k to 70k:
[http://www.linkedin.com/jobs?viewJob=&jobId=7339582&goback=%...](http://www.linkedin.com/jobs?viewJob=&jobId=7339582&goback=%2Ebzo_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_wonga*3com&trk=vsrp_jobs_res_name&trkInfo=VSRPsearchId%3A107350951380912992742%2CVSRPtargetId%3A7339582%2CVSRPcmpt%3Aprimary)

Pretty much market average according to this:
[http://www.totaljobs.com/salary-checker/average-sql-
develope...](http://www.totaljobs.com/salary-checker/average-sql-developer-
salary-london)

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thinkersilver
London is peculiar compared to Silicon Valley or Silicon Allee(Berlin), in
that it is the hub for Finance, Retail and Media,Politics and Advertising and
it is also the political capital in the UK. Talent is expensive here and
scarce. Compare this to Berlin, which doesn't have the banking industry to
compete with, makes it a much better startup hub than London and it also has a
thriving startup community and plenty of talented hard-working programmers.
There isn't enough money to go around here (in London), the VC firms here are
terribly myopic and often don't understand the technology (this is probably
true of all VC firms). A lot of the talent is tied up in Canary Wharf and the
Square Mile. My experience with startup culture in London is not as optimistic
as the article paints, seems half-arsed. But that's been my experience. I'd be
interested to know if others have had a different experience.

I work near London's Silicon Roundabout and like the article said, there is no
money. Growth is the biggest hurdle and there is little financial support.
Many of the VC firms, I hate to say it, don't understand the technology well
enough.

There isn't enough talent to go around either, since it is mostly tied up in
the banking and retail sector. Most of the money here is going towardsand I
find this a bit surprising. The sense of community that I'd expect from a
startup hub isn't there and most of the talent are tied up in the banking and
retail sector. It all feels a bit underground.

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adaml_623
I think you may have missed a few words in your comment "seems half-arsed" and
"towardsand".

Please edit and elaborate because my observations of London aren't dissimilar.
London just isn't a technology place. It's all about business.

