Category: Technology Author : Duncan Riley Posted: May 8, 2008
Tags : Germany, Irena Slutsky
Irena Slutsky and Sebastian Von Dobeneck tell the Bay Area’s Kron 4 that Germany is a better destination for startups wanting to breaking into Europe than the United Kingdom. Slutsky claims that “London is full,” which is in part true, but the language would still be the UK’s biggest selling point.
thanks to Paul Short for the tip
May 9, 2008
The UK has substantial disadvantages as hub for the European market and language is one of them. Only US startups that are producing a lot of own content would actually profit from starting their European activities in the UK. For all the others the UK is not the right place. The most prevalent mother tongue in Europe is German, followed by French and English.
Germany is a better choice than the UK, but then you will have a German focus, which creates issues with France and the UK. Most companies realize that it is in their best interest to base their European operations in a multi-cultural, multi-lingual country, that by itself does not constitiute a large market. The reason behind this is farily simple: If you base your European operations in a large country your point of view will be based on the experience in that country, leading to a reality distortion field. And if things are not running smoothly for you in that country, too much effort will be put into making things work in that single country, compromising opportunities in the other countries.
In order to understand the different European markets you need to understand the different languages and cultures to succeed.
May 9, 2008
What about Sweden?
I’m serious. Every man, women and child can speak English here. Plus a ton of them speak either German, French or Spanish as a third language.
May 9, 2008
I would rather suggest to select a centrally located country.