8/12/2019 EU Startup Ecosystem - More Hype Than Reality http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/eu-startup-ecosystem-more-hype-than-reality 1/7 MENU While you were boasting about your local startup ‘ecosystem’, others were trying to actually build it A long rant about why people should resist the urge to boast about their local tech startup scene with unnecessary and counter-productive hyperbole – because it doesn’t really help anyone at all. D Robin Wauters (http://tech.eu/author/robin/) Co-founder and editor-in-chief of Tech.eu, with previous stints at The Next Web and TechCrunch under his belt. Deeply in love with his family, technology, traveling and Belgian beer. Posted in EU startups (http://tech.eu/on/eu-startups/), European startups (http://tech.eu/on/european- startups/) UPDATED March 17th, 2014. ue to the nature of my work and our dedication (http://tech.eu/inside/42/we-have-lift-off/) to covering all of Europe’s tech innovation (http://tech.eu/about-us/), not just the movers and shakers in the major hubs, I travel quite a lot in order to meet with interesting founders and investors from across the continent. When people ask me where I’m from and where I reside (the answer to both of which is ‘Belgium, very close to Brussels’), a good chunk of them follow up to inquire ‘what the local startup ecosystem is like’. My response is always something to the tune of ‘obviously small, but growing, communities are starting to form and mature, and there are some interesting startups – like X and Y – doing some amazing things in their fields’. Nothing to boast about, nothing to be ashamed about.
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8/12/2019 EU Startup Ecosystem - More Hype Than Reality
And it’s always nice when there are people feeling the urge to give their local startup stars and
tech clout more visibility. We’re enormous fans of the likes of ArcticStartup(http://arcticstartup.com/), Inventures (http://inventures.eu/), Rude Baguette
(http://www.rudebaguette.com/), Venture Village (http://venturevillage.eu/), Goal Europe
(http://goaleurope.com/) and plenty of other regionals blogs and news sites, each of which have
a mission to shine a light on what’s happening on the ground, whether that means the Nordics,
France, Germany, Central and Eastern Europe, Turkey or wherever. It makes a lot of difference,
especially when it’s done in English so a broader audience can take note.
But there’s a certain kind of coverage coming from those and other sites that really puts me off.
The kind where people publish absurd claims such as “X is the new Silicon Valley” or “Y will be
the new center of activity, cfr. Tech City UK” or “Z might just become Europe’s next major startup
hub”.
No, it isn’t. No, it likely won’t ever be, either. And that’s fine.
A misplaced sense of local pride
I understand where it comes from. You don’t even have to be that much of a nationalist to look at
your local startup scene – particularly if you’re knee deep in it – and feel the need to tell the world
how awesome it is. Why can’t everyone else see it? Why aren’t we placed on the same pedestal
Posted in EU startups (http://tech.eu/on/eu-startups/), European startups (http://tech.eu/on/european-
startups/)
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