So Michael Arrington at TechCrunch seems to think Europeans are out to lunch when it comes to entrepreneurship. See his insights, and the scene at LeWeb 2008 that started all the drama here. It seems the 2-hour lunches and other “lifestyle” aspects of European culture are the reasons why Europe’s best entrepreneurs are moving to Silicon Valley. Hard work, long hours, and not being a “lifestyle” entrepreneur are part of the formula for success in America. Needless to say, his comments have created quite a frenzy at the TechCrunch blog and have even got the organizers of LeWeb questioning whether to invite Arrington to the next conference.
But what I want to know is: in the context of being a first-time entrepreneur in Vancouver, do you think Arrington’s idea of entrepreneurship has legs? Should we be doing something different – culturally – here in Canada? Are we guilty of the same “criticisms” as our European counterparts?
December 16th, 2008 at 12:51 am
I previously worked at Rockstar Vancouver, and one of the complaints of management was that, compared to other studios (including European studios in Scotland and Germany) the people in Vancouver were less willing to sacrifice their lifestyle for the company.
There’s a reason people move here – for the lifestyle. If we didn’t care about lifestyle we’d probably live somewhere less interesting!
However, I have found the entrepreneurs around here (myself included) be quite hard working. Once we have a stake in the business we are willing to work hard – but this enthusiasm doesn’t always get passed along to those that we hire, who are happier to collect a paycheque and do other activities as their passion.
I get the impression that in Silicon Valley, Scotland, and Germany the employees are likely to work a lot harder than in Vancouver – not to mention Japan or Taiwan where working morning to night is a cultural thing.
I think painting all of Europe with one big brush is probably bit hasty – France and Spain may have a reputation for afternoon Siestas and long lunches, but the colder and poorer countries tend to work hard.
One major reason that entrepreneurs leave Europe is that their income taxes tend to heavily discourage “getting rich” – the more you make, the more heavily you are taxed. In Canada and even more so in the USA Entrepreneurs are encouraged with special tax loopholes designed to help innovators reap big rewards for their work.