The long tail of Europe’s deep tech

Some nice gems from @gdibner’s post on the unexpected higher odds to find “deeply technical” startups in Europe outside of the major tech hubs (which are London, Berlin, Stockholm, Paris, and Dublin).

The basic premise is that all big successes eventually need to move to the US:

The more commercially savvy a founder is, the more she realizes that relocation to the US is likely to be in her future, and — consequently — the less likely she is to want to move to one of the five tech hubs of Europe because that’s likely to be an interim step.

In the founding phase, it can actually advantageous to be outside of tech hubs:

it’s often the case early on that only a handful of technical ninjas are the real driving force behind the technology in a tech-driven startup

A growth strategy can be to keep a development team in the founding country but set up a commercial center in a big tech hub:

The model of a development center in the “home country” and a commercial center in a commercial hub like London, NY, or San Francisco can often work — and it has advantages. It can be easier and cheaper, and it can keep a company truer to its founding DNA while exposing it to global customers and market forces.

And a nice lesson learned is to be aware of where you are and act accordingly:

Start-ups that insist on setting up shop in a “non-hub” need to work harder to be part of the global tech conversation, need to stay current, and need to be willing to move to wherever makes the most sense for the business at the right time.