THREE years ago two Dutch brothers drove a rusty camper from Amsterdam to Berlin. The rest was history. They found Gidsy, got $2 million from Ashton Kutcher and two years later were taken over by GetYourGuide.

AT GYG both brothers took on leading roles as head of design and head of mobile development. However promissing these new roles may have been it was not meant to be. Floris has now moved to New York and Edial will soon head for the Valley.

Edial Dekker is the founder of one of Berlin’s most hyped startup stories, Gidsy. Gidsy was a platform for advertising and booking local events and activities. Gidsy took 10 percent of revenue while freeing organizers from the toil of advertising, marketing and booking adminstration. It seemed like an idea whose time had come.

BERLIN, with it’s abundance of centrally located vacant spaces after a post Soviet exodus seemed like the perfect place for young, cash strapped entrepreneurs. After the financial crisis hit Europe in 2008 many young graduates accross the continent were unable to find traditional means of employment. This increased the prospect of self-employment and assured a steady flow of idealists and young fortune seekers to exciting places like Berlin.

ALL was not well however as previous Gidsy funders halted further investments. Money finally ran out and at the last moment the founders organized a take over by a company based on a similar idea but with a much larger customer base.

IN a 2012 report on startup cities Berlin was considered “not mature enough in terms of capital, support infrastructure and mindset”. The advice for startups in Silicon Allee was to “consider relocating”.

ON lessons learnt Edial mentions the German infrastructure with it’s lack of flexibility and lack of standard contracts for startups. Accountants and tax officials also lack experience in dealing with startups.

All in all it seems Berlin might have the right ecosystem for startups with it’s affordable rent, large office spaces and vibrant art scene but the adminstrative and financial infrastructure dampen the enthusiasm and energy needed to sustain fragile ideas.