An entrepreneur’s view on Brexit
Britain’s out. The people of Great Britain has spoken and we in the Continent have to live with it. We just experienced the democracy at its worst. By a margin, or not, doesn’t matter.
Now it’s our turn. European Union can be weaker without UK, but it can also be stronger. Our next actions will define the new EU for the years to come.
‘More Europe’
Let’s face it. EU was in a lock-in for years between ‘more Europe’ and ‘less Europe’, clearly brits leading the latter campus. With Britain left we can now focus no building a closer, much more integrated Europe.
One thing Brexit doesn’t have to mean — it’s not the end of the EU. Nor beginning of its decline. Quite the oposite. European Union has long been needing a shake-up. If remaining nations could come out of this situation more aligned, we could be now up for a much stronger start of a much stronger union. For a better or worse, we’re out of a deadlock.
New opportunities
Berlin, the Baltics, Amsterdam and Helsinki (and few others) are likely to gain a lot as increasingly lucrative startup hubs.
Oh, and Estonian e-residency just became a whole lot better deal. With UK companies no longer being part of single market, getting e-residency could be simplest hack to ‘return’ to Europe.
It’s also makes the choice easier for startups looking to incorporate in Europe. EU is still an amazing market with its 440 million strong population, investment friendly environment and single currency.
Startups will be just fine
We’ll continue to work together. UK will likely negotiate a similar deal as Norway. I’m confident that at the end of the day our relationship will remain close.
Startups are proven to be resilient and survived harder challenges than a few democracies deciding to go different directions. They manage to thrive even in regimes far from democratic, with underdeveloped infrastructure. We’ll hack our way as we always do.
Brexit may give us a rare chance to build a new, much closer Europe. As long as the rest of nations are here to stay and work together.
