Why I Returned to London to Found a Startup After 2.5 Years in Berlin
This post is by Leon Mueller, Co-Founder of Squelo. Follow @iamleonmueller on Twitter.
When I first moved to Berlin about 3 years ago, it was exactly for the reasons why most young people come to the city: the great vibe, the big startup scene and the relatively inexpensive cost of living compared to other major German cities. I’d lived in Düsseldorf and London before, and knew I wouldn’t find better living at a better price than in Berlin.
After spending a year and a half building a strong recruiting team for a boutique agency in the city, I had an idea for a startup and immediately dove into the scene. I quickly realized how small and intimate Berlin’s startup community is — comprised of many ex-WHU students. They are typically very successful at what they do. A recent article in Der Spiegel about the German startup scene explains it well. It mentions that many people in Germany are looking for the “next Elon Musk,” but at the same time the German “management-consulting” way of thinking isn’t conducive to new ideas. Nevertheless, after attending a couple of great events like Gründerszene Spätschicht and the Startup Europe Summit, I kept meeting the same cool people, and realized that Berlin’s increasing number of young entrepreneurs and accelerators are attracting VC attention. Berlin really has a great startup community.
For me, London has always been the doorstep to the US, which makes it especially attractive.
I’ve been back in London for just over 6 months now, and have inevitably been comparing the two cities and their respective startup scenes. I’ve also had the chance to gather some other opinions on the topic. First, London has a much bigger startup scene than Berlin and therefore a lot more resources to expand internationally. For me, London has always been the doorstep to the US, which makes it especially attractive.
Another impression I have about German companies is they always perform great in the German-speaking countries, but have a hard time winning outside the borders. Xing vs. Linkedin is a prime example of this. On the other hand, it does seem harder for companies from the outside to conquer the German-speaking market. We’ve seen this with Facebook vs. StudiVZ. That’s also a reason why Rocket Internet has been so successful copying proven business models from the US, bringing them to Germany, and getting them acquired by the U.S. competitors (i.e. Alando and Ebay).
After speaking with a few people about Berlin, they also see the city’s startup scene as still wearing the kids’ shoes. There are currently just a handful of great VCs in Berlin, and ultimately it’s still hard to get money. Lifestyle startups abound and people are enjoying the hype. It doesn’t necessarily have the more serious, international vibe of London’s tech scene. In London, you’ll find three times as many startups due to the size of the city, its money and its resources. I also get the impression that it’s easier to grab attention and build something for the whole world when you’re based in London, but of course that depends on your business.
Despite this, Berlin is a great place and I loved it there. Coworking spaces like St. Oberholz and Betahaus are helping to grow the tech scene. At the end of the day, it always depends on your product and where your customers are. Mattan Griffel mentioned in his blog that Berlin doesn’t have much industry to begin with. But it has a great creative scene and it’s cheap — which helps for many startups. The talent pool is smaller in Berlin, since it’s easier to learn English and get a job in London.
I would still recommend Berlin for startups. It’s the team work that makes the dream work, and you can build companies anywhere in the world. Berlin is a great place to begin, but going international might be easier to do in London (at least that’s where I met my great co-founders at Squelo).
Exciting times lie ahead in London, but I’ll always go back to Berlin every now and then. The vibe is just something special.
