Ask HN: Any hackers from the UK (or Europe)?

[sam191]

I've been wondering what the startup scene is like in the UK, or Europe in general. I'm a college student in Seattle and was thinking of moving to the Valley after I finish (for grad school possibly). But now I'm thinking about going to Europe, mainly the UK.

This is to anyone outside of the US really. What is it like as a hacker outside of the US? How is the startup scene or tech scene like where you live? What are the advantages and disadvantages of starting a startup, from your experience, in your area? And if you had the choice, would you move to the Valley?

Also, this is my firs post, so I apologies in advance if something is not right.

[davidw]

Europe is great, but I wouldn't recommend it for startups. It's fine for tech (especially open source), but the marriage of tech and business that exists in the US in certain spots (like SV) just hasn't gelled here yet.

[revorad → davidw]

Hi David, can you please say more about why you don't recommend Europe? How's your own company's experience been?

No doubt Silicon valley is ahead as far as startup hubs go, but I don't think we are helping the business community in Europe by just accepting that as an unchangeable situation.

[davidw → revorad]

Well, first of all, there's the standard "Europe is not one country" disclaimer, let's get that out of the way. The UK and Ireland are probably better than continental Europe in terms of startup costs.

My point is basically that, all other things being equal, for an American (such as the guy who posted this), you're going to have an easier time of it staying home, since 'home' is a pretty good place to do a startup.

[revorad]

I'm just starting up in London. I only know one startup here, but that's just because I haven't bothered to look yet. My guess is that in Europe, London is one of the big startup hubs. Last.fm was based here. Cambridge also has a decent startup scene. HN user pclark's startup www.broadersheet.com is based there.

Personally I think London's an awesome city to live in. Given it's not Silicon Valley, but it's a vibrant exciting city. I love working here. I'm not looking for funding but from what I hear there's a ton of venture capital too here.

Drop me a line if you come to London.

[sam191 → revorad]

Thanks.

Yeah, I heard the UK was an awesome place to live. And personally, I am a firm believer in bootstrapping startups, so venture capital isn't the first thing on my mind. It's good to know that London is not far behind. And good luck with your startup!

[pclark → sam191]

there is an american startup in Cambridge that are considering moving here permanently for their startup. They moved here because of the Red Gate Springboard programme.

Let me know if you wanna pick their brains about USA vs UK, and I'll intro you.

[sam191 → pclark]

That would be great. I'd love to hear their opinion on the UK vs US.

[pclark → sam191]

send me an email. in my profile.

[RiderOfGiraffes → revorad]

So you didn't see this, then ...

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=935053

[revorad → RiderOfGiraffes]

Oh no! Sorry I missed that. Did you meet anyone from HN? Where in UK are you based? It would be great to meet up some time.

[RiderOfGiraffes → revorad]

It was posted twice, but that's a problem on HN. Unless something gets up-mud within an hour, it sinks without trace.

And yes, CWB and I met up and had a a very pleasant lunch. A great way to take a break in what turned out to be a very busy day.

[authentic]

comparing SV and the UK (where I live atm), it's very different.

in SV you will be meeting people working on a startup idea of some kind literally everywhere, people are focused on maximizing potential upside rather than minimizing downside, employees are willing to take some risk, and you have an actual market for investment (i.e. there is a sizable number of equity investors who will compete). i also think that UK people lack the level of passion and greed I have seen in SV.

while there are other good reasons to be in the UK i would choose SV over the UK for a startup anytime, especially if you are US based at the moment.