Do we (not) work that hard?

There is an interesting article on TechCrunch I wanted to comment but, unfortunately, I had to work so hard the last three days I had no time to put this on paper!

It’s an unfiltered (presumably) insight of a London’s VC expert that claims European start-ups are not working hard enough as their Silicon Valley’s counterparts. The writer adds that in US is easier o find talented workforce than in the EU and explains this as a consequence of our protectionism against cutthroat internal competition. In short, if we take for granted what the author says, we, Europeans, are much more busy to care preserving our lifestyle than keeping up with the pace the world is spinning*.

It’s a fact: in USA people work harder than us, no wonders why: the system there is pretty sharper when it’s about success or failure; their competitive approach is actually beneficial and generating a staggering amount of new opportunities. It’s sort of Business Darwinism 2.0.

By the time you read this, the article has gathered a lot of comments, many are nailing very hard the cultural divide that distinguishes us from our US friends and there is little left to add for me except some real-life considerations:

• Start-up businesses in Europe bind their views to local markets first. It’s a mixed blessing that help them grow in their own eco-system and becomes a limiting factor later.
• In small and developing companies, people do actually work more than 40 hours a week. I receive a lot of relevant e-mails on week-ends. Even in Europe e-mail cannot be that slow that it takes a whole weekend to arrive.
• Access to funding is harder in Europe while, market reach imposes higher investments. EU start-ups face a situation where they need money to achieve visibility but they don’t get it because they are not visible (something that comes more for granted in US where one language and one culture are shared among 270 millions people) . Call it catch 22.
• We don’t fit the American model. It’s that simple. While it is a personal opinion, it seems to be supported by the many reactions I get when I address the subject in IT circles.

Europeans might be doomed because of their distasteful tendency to sip Martinis in the evening sun in Ibiza or because they still call for the right to ski on the Matterhorn (sorry for the French-speaking: Cervin, sorry again for the Italian-speaking: Cervino).

Whatever our fate would be: what VCs have to offer is not enough to change our “lifestyle” I suppose. Otherwise is in the human nature to take the most opportunistic way.

*Off the records: I think it took us around 2,750 years to come to some sort of balance, I can understand why some of us oppose consistent resiliency towards cultural models others than our old-fashioned European way of life.

Tags: Productivity, Start-ups