well, if you've worked for startups, then you've worked for the exception. i'm not saying there aren't any, just fewer than would make sense.

i hope there will be more startups in europe in the future, and some people are already doing a great job, but the majority hasn't even taken notice that you can start companies that way, yet.

Come on. Europe is not the Soviet Union, and while the government sticks its nose in things in plenty of ways, there is plenty of space for entrepreneurs, startups, and all kinds of businesses that aren't some kind of government-created entity.

Let's talk about the real problems with Europe & startups, not made-up ones.

Here's my take on things:

http://journal.dedasys.com/2008/12/13/startups-and-work-euro...

If your point is that youngsters in continental Europe are less entrepreneurial in general, I think you're right. Not one of the students I studied with has started a company. I'm not just talking about those I befriended, I'm talking about entire classes. The fact that my alma mater has one tech spinoff every 3 years on average is further evidence of this. I don't know a single tech-sector person under fifty who has started on his own. It's as if geeks in my country are more timid or something.

I've worked for two startups in the UK and neither resembled this. What about Virgin, EasyJet, Last.fm, etc. etc. No government money there. This article describes an extremely small minority of startups, the exceptions, not the rule.

Startups aren't a revolutionary new thing, they've happened throughout history. It just happens to be in vogue to talk about them at the moment.

The article is absurd as it uses examples of big infrastructure companies that HAD to be setup by government in the past as the infrastructure costs were too high to a startup (telcos, post offices) and compares them to Google which had low costs to begin with. It's attacking a straw doll.