Comment by mc32
4 years ago
If language were a major barrier; then, how does one explain the US doing well in the EU?
I get that home markets may not be big and provide a springboard perhaps to other markets but even the big countries there don’t seem to dominate the small countries in terms of Software.
>> If language were a major barrier; then, how does one explain the US doing well in the EU?
By the time US companies reach the EU they are already big, worth billions.
That being said I believe the main issue in EU is funding.
One good entrepreneur said that focusing first on 2 markets would be ideal when starting out. They went for 5 markets and said it was too much hassle. In the end focused on US/Polish market.
IMO language is big barrier as just testing different text in UI is a lot of hassle when starting out - not to mentions laws, cultures difference, dealing with business partners etc. is much harder due to that.
IMO common law/company to easily hire people across EU would help.
Yeah, I don't think language is really the issue. I mean, it can be a barrier, but I doubt it's the most important one. I think access to money is #1. The US, especially Silicon Valley, has a culture of taking risks, of venture capital, and it has a culture of bringing people together in order to get that money in the hands of startups. Europe tends to be more risk-averse. We want to invest, but only once it's clear it's going to be a success. People are much less eager to take risks with their money, and entrepreneurs are less eager to risk bankruptcy.
> If language were a major barrier; then, how does one explain the US doing well in the EU?
Hypothesis: A lot of people read English well enough to use apps and websites even before automatic translation was built into e.g. Chrome and Safari; but translation into your mother tongue is much easier than transition into a second language.
A good question. I think the answer lies somewhere in the fact that one in five Germans speaks French but about half speak English.