> salaries in tech startups are high (for what I saw: ~42K junior, ~60 senior (5y))
Are the salaries at the big corps lower than that in France? In Germany, I get about the same working at a big software company in a developer/architect role.
I gave an average, in big companies it depends on which company you are working for, which "Grande ecole" you come from, and what position you have. I would say that the variance is quite high.
Contrary to 10 years ago, best students coming from "les grandes ecoles" want to be entrepreneur or join a startup. This is a radical change to the mindset from the past when the best opportunity would be in big companies. PhD start to be recognised as they should in private sector and more PhD are leaving academic to private (which I did).
Now, I think that comparing Europe to SV is too premature, (A change in culture is yet to come). But the dynamic is here.
In Paris, salaries in tech startups are high (for what I saw: ~42K junior, ~60 senior (5y)) compared to the cost of living (in France healthcare and education are free), rent is high. So yeah, I am confident for the future of Europe :)
edit: and from what I saw, most startups' products have english language available (interface/doc). Most of them have international expansion in mind.