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Non-US based startups

5 points by hiromichan ↗ HN
Ok, I have been reading lots of threads and questions regarding non-US based startups, but if some of the YC guys would jump in would help clarify what's the real story once for all..?

How does it work if you are ready to move to the bay area for a while, but would love to be back in Europe after the three months program is over?

Would you consider only UK/IE based companies or you are ready to take a leap of faith for teams that would like to live in a non-english speaking country like Spain or France? just to name a few..

I am sure this would bring a lot of bright ideas to YC and open the EU market a bit too..

Silvia aka hiromichan :)

8 comments

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gamechangr
(I'm not from YC)

If your talented with good ideas and a personality that can work with others...I sure they would give you an opportunity regardless of where you intend to live.

It's a numbers game and it's much harder to be successful in the startup world in Europe than the US. The ecosystem is vital and many times the environment is the difference maker.

"open up the European market a bit too". When going outside of Silicon Valley (besides Austin Texas) you have to remember that your not facing the best competition of the USA. You're opposition is the best talent of every nation that moved there.

If you can beat the odds, they would be interested.

garry
GoCardless is an example of a startup that came out to YC and moved back to their native London. They're thriving.
hiromichan
I think I need to clarify my statement here.. By saying "open EU market a bit too" I meant that I think it is beneficial for European startups and entrepreneurs wannabe if they know they can easily apply for programs like ycombinator and bring their knowledge and product back to the mother land once the program is over. Of course there are a lot of programs that deserve consideration in Europe too, but I am sure everyone likes to have the full choice available instead of picking something just because it's closer to where I live or I want to. As a consequence.. This would also open up YC to a lot of bright ideas to other countries in the world.. Thanks for answering guys :)
gamechangr
very beneficial!!

I would love to hear more about the "lots of programs that deserve consideration in europe".

Could you create a list these under recognized programs for the benefit of the global community?

I have been all over Europe (and love it) what it lacks in the tech community it makes up for with the nightlife.

hiromichan
Hey gamechangr,

here is the list of the just the most famous:

www.startupbootcamp.org www.seedcamp.org www.hackfwd.com www.springboard.com www.theopenfund.com

There is a lot going on in the tech community at the moment in Europe, even though we do not tend to concentrate all that is happening in a few places.

Just to name a few these are all european brewed products:

soundcloud.com soup.io 46elks.com circleme.com newscurve.com blossom.io blog.weavly.com newsgrape.com pocketgui.de txtr.com spreadshirt.net

I am sure you have lots in the states that we don't get to know of too.

I think with all that has been going on historically we tend not to found companies but to do other stuff for fun :)

S

gamechangr
I think you are reading into my comments. I believe there are many great european products!! I would like to help get the word out that there are good startup incubators in europe.

These are some great links. You lost me on the first couple (startupbootcamp is a two day conference) (seedcamp is a good company,but not a startup incubator)

I had not heard of Hackfwd and springboard. Both look to be the real deal. I'm excited to see innovation in every city and nation.

In America these are a couple of the good ones:

http://techcocktail.com/top-15-us-startup-accelerators-ranke...

Paul Graham has a strong opinion on the matter of why:

http://www.paulgraham.com/america.html

hiromichan
Sorry gamechangr, I think I might have got some links wrong.. This was the program: http://www.seedcamp.com/ :) it is the biggest one in europe at the moment of speaking even though I particularly like the hackfwd philosphy :). If you look at their videos you will get what I mean :)

At Startupbootcamp istead they define themselves as a mentorship based program: http://www.startupbootcamp.org/details/

S