Recently, Erwin Blom’s initiative Starthub.nl spawned a video series of interviews with people from the Dutch start-up and investor scene. The series include talks about the latest trends in Dutch business start-up community and what one can learn from entrepreneurs and investors to inspire more people to start their own companies.
The videos are in Dutch, but I feel there are some interesting points made for the international start-up community. This is my worldview interpretation and aggregation of the information I heard in the video.
The first video mostly contains the experiences about having the ideal breeding ground (or maybe better: the local environment) for start-ups from Matthijs van Abbe (Mobypicture, Toading et al), Roeland Reinders (e-Factor), Guido van Nispen (Dutch Creation & Innovation Fund), Floris van Alkemade (Solid ventures), Stefan Fountain (Soocial), Bob Stumpel (Result), Ronald van den Hoff (Mindz, Seats2meet), Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten (The Next Web, Twittercounter, et al)
On The Ideal Environment
1. Pain.
The environment is actually a feeling of pain or the strong experience of lacking something, preferably personally felt by an entrepreneur him/herself. (Mathijs van Abbe)
2. Geography.
This is one factor that probably does impact business in terms of how many and what kind of businesses can be started and the opportunities a particular region provides. If you have entrepreneurial characteristics, they will flourish better in an entrepreneurial and encouraging environment, such as the Silicon valley, but in theory one can flourish anywhere. (Roeland Reinders)
3. The system.
A system resembling one such as in the Netherlands discourages entrepreneurship. Complicated administrative, legal and tax activities need to be performed in order to establish a start-up. These tasks might scare off some entrepreneurs. (Translated: Look for a state environment which encourages entrepreneurship and makes it easy to start.) On the other hand, such an environment is also a good filter to bring forth the strongest entrepreneurs. (Guido van Nispen)
4. Culture.
The same is true in Dutch culture – starting a company might be interpreted as the entrepreneur being unable to find a suitable job. If you fail, you will be confronted with that for many years to come, but if you succeed you will easily be seen as a show-off. Strong entrepreneurs wouldn’t care and do it anyway. (Guido van Nispen)
5. Aim.
You should be brought-up or live in a competitive environment. Where Dutch learn to aim for mediocracy, Americans, for example, learn to aim for the top. (Floris van Alkemade)
6. Free choice.
Humans are able to choose their environment. You should choose one that challenges you, one that makes you grow and keeps you focused on the game. If you compare a lion in the zoo to one from the Serengeti (research by Paul Graham), you will find that a challenging and fitting environment creates the best entrepreneurs where they feel at home as well. (Stefan Fountain)
7. Strong playfield.
If you think your environment is not encouraging enough, you are not a good entrepreneur. In general a good environment contains a strong field of investors and pride in entrepreneurship. (Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten)
On Your Ideal Background
8. Pain II.
There is none. Everybody can feel the pain and therefore the need to start something. It might help to be a person who is interested in people, having an open mind and broad interests. But when it comes to topics such as education, age, gender or ethnic background, there is no ideal background. (Mathijs van Abbe)
9. Youth.
Being young helps with the energy level one can put forth and brings the naivety that enables one to try things older people won’t or feel they are unable to try. People in high positions have a tendency to allow time for young entrepreneurial people to explain to them their great ideas and plans, because they enjoy hearing the input. This should be pursued in full by the young- get out there! (Roeland Reinders)
10. Experience.
Being older helps because you (probably) have more money, better skills and a better network. It is important to focus on your innovation, not on money or finding the right people. This is a common mistake made by young entrepreneurs. (Ronald van den Hoff)
11. Bad traits.
Being spoiled by your environment is not a good asset. The same is true for arrogance. (Floris van Alkemade)
12. Genes.
It is about genes! You need energy and passion to put forth your ideas, because it is about execution and not the initial idea. There are far too many ideas and too few who can execute them successfully. (Bob Stumpel)
It all comes down to…what?
I have not been interviewed by Starthub, nor do I think I should be, as last year, seed funded entrepreneur, but here is my personal take for what it is worth.
The environment shouldn’t matter, but it does to a certain extent. If the environment does not encourage entrepreneurship, the best will still emerge, but imagine there was tenfold or hundredfold the amount of start-ups in your city as there are now. With hundreds instead of tens as there are now, Amsterdam would be a different place.
This would not be about competition as some say, because our competition is inherently global. In addition, I don’t think many more start-ups would emerge the top players in their field, but there would be a great vibe, lots of sharing and inspiration going back and forth just by being around each other, by being around people who are working hard. Sure, we travel and meet people at conferences in Europe and abroad, but it is not the same as being part of the same local environment all the time.
I tend to think that one of the main reasons is sheer market size. The potential amount of use of a product idea defines the opportunity. This also affects the investor market and inspires many people to try at the same game. This is why the game is on in countries such as China, India and already for many years in the US.
I secretly imagine a truly united Europe, with one culture, one language, where Amsterdam, Berlin or Paris (sorry, can’t mention you all) is the city where all the start-ups come together and make it happen. Sadly, as an entrepreneur, it is not easy to change the size of the country you live in or merge the greater part of Europe, but how nice would it be?
On one hand, I agree with Stefan in that we should choose our environment unlike the lion can. We can move where the market is. On the other hand, I refuse to give up on the environment that we have. Every environment probably has the right handle to lift you up (and your background). This is what I believe, nothing more. But that is maybe what clusters of countries, such as those in Europe, should work on: the right handle. To create a level playing field for start-ups throughout Europe when it comes to administrative start-up tasks, attracting employees, laws, taxes, infrastructures, office space, product localization, etc. Most importantly, make expansion to all countries as easy as setting up an extra office a few blocks away. Brussels and all European governments should pay attention here and start tearing down the walls and create a true entrepreneurial Union. These are big words, but a bigger prize attracts a lot more players. Maybe the EU should start with working on a Europe-wide one-system-fits-all start-up platform and get the vibe going. How would that work?
Don’t worry; I am not going into politics. As said, every environment has the right handle. For example, our environment might just fit us, because small countries can be ideal test beds. It is an opportunity, though an extra step on the ladder to global success. But we’ll manage, thank you.
Conclusion: environments or breeding grounds shouldn’t matter but in reality they do matter, not as an encouraging force, but as an attracting force. We should work on being a lot more attractive!
What do you think the ideal breeding ground for start-ups is? Answer the poll in the right sidebar and let us specifically know what YOU think, below in the comments!
