Founder from Berlin here. €50k for 25% is really off-market, even if you are a first time founder (at least in Berlin, Paris, London and hopefully all across Europe). And IMHO having worked in a startup (even if you aren‘t the founder) is seen as a BIG career plus if you join any corporate afterwards. I would say we have a thriving eco-system across Europe. Not at the level of SV, but still many big and meaningful companies with global foot prints being built every year.