The godfather of venture bloggers, Fred Wilson, posts today on the timeline of a startup ecosystem, with the assurance that it takes at least a generation to reach a level that is, “fully formed and producing great companies.” He breaks down the development process into 3 decade-long periods, with the middle phase described as:
In the second decade, you start to get it right. The entrepreneurs are doing it for the second or third time. The infrastructure has developed (lawyers, VCs, recruiters). And it is easier to get talented employees to do a startup. This is where Silicon Valley was from 1975 to 1985.
This is an accurate description of the scene here in the Nordic & Baltics, and makes it seem that we’re on the way to becoming a “dynamic ocean” of innovation. However, whether we really can “get to the mountaintop” here in Northern Europe and take a place as a leading center of startup energy in the 21st century is far from certain.
There are a healthy number of founders and CEOs at the moment that have experience from starting at least semi-successful companies in the past. The type of solid infrastructure Fred describes is also there, (even if funding levels and A-rounds in the region aren’t the same as in the valley). Perhaps, most notably it has somehow become “kewl” to be an entrepreneur in the last few years.
The problem here is that we have no flag bearer, no champion. The biggest exit in the region’s history is widely viewed as a catastrophe. I would argue that until a company born in this region can successfully scale itself and, Thor forbid, go public, our corner of the world will be stuck with the “silent lake” label. And while there is no shame in developing well designed and technically advanced solutions that bigger companies love to buy up, don’t we owe it to our unborn to strive for something greater?
Lumi Group Oy
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Atbrox
Skype is viewed as a catastrophe for Ebay but it’s hardly a catastrophe. I see 18.5m people online right now. When it was bought by Ebay that number was typically around 5m. Zennström and Friis are still my heroes – even more so after their recent tricks.
The trouble we have in moving from a place where startups are bought by bigger companies to one where they flourish on their own is that from a business perspective it’s bad business to keep your headquarters in the Arctic/Baltic region. Entrepreneurs who do that are not putting business first – and in a competitive environment that’s suicidal.
That said, while this is true for web and mobile it’s much less true for cleantech and biotech and nanotech and robotics. It’s just that they are capital intensive so they aren’t as much fun.
Where’s the “How to build a startup ecosystem for Dummies”-book when you need it?
I’d say most parts of Scandinavia is probably well in to their second decade but we have a huge challenge ahead of us to build a Nordic startup Nirvana. You guys are doing an excellent job highlighting what’s happening and I see a growing startup community building up in Stockholm as well as in Malmö/Lund.
But there’s just so much more to do. I don’t even know where the natural epicenter is or should be for a Nordic Startup Region. Copenhagen/Malmö/Lund has potential. What’s your thoughts? Where’s our Valley?