Startups are easier in a country with welfare.

Re:Startups are easier in a country with welfare. by Maciek416 on Thursday May 21, 2009 @10:23AM (#620477)

Contrast: Up here in Canada we have a health care safety net. That's helpful when you're calculating "how bad could it get if I failed completely".

On the other hand, I often hear the meme "you gotta be in the valley" to get anywhere with funding and meeting people and being in a stimulating environment. Do those stimulating factors outweigh the benefits of the safety net?

I feel like there's a funny mix of risk vs. reward at work here.

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Re:Startups are easier in a country with welfare. by noodle on Thursday May 21, 2009 @10:52AM (#620523)

"you gotta be in the valley to get anywhere" is not a universal truth. there are plenty of startups that are successful elsewhere. valley helps, but it its not a crucial ingredient.

i agree with the premise that if there's a social safety net, it would encourage entrepreneurism a lot more. in theory. in practice, it seems like people lose perspective on the "how bad can it get?" scale.

they just avoid the bottom level like the plague, more out of social stigma, i guess, than anything else. they avoid "the bottom" more than they're avoiding specifically being "homeless" or "on welfare".

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