I’m an American operating a seed-stage startup in Europe. Berlin, to be exact. Someone asked me recently “if there’s a next one, will you do it here?” I paused and really had a deep think about it.
The answer was indeed, yes. Probably. I think. Look, you do startups where you are, under the conditions you have. But if you’ve got the means, and the ability, perhaps it’s worth thinking about it a bit.
So here I am reflecting on exactly that. The pros and the cons of “doing a startup” in Europe.
I’ve spoken with many founders before writing this blog post. European founders get a bit defensive. American founders feel a bit sorry for me in that uniquely American, perhaps a bit patronizing, way. This is my own experience and these are my own thoughts. I’m sure there are many folks that’d be happy to share theirs too.
Who the hell am I, anyway?
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I’m originally from Portland, OR where I started (and killed) many startups over my 15 years operating there. In 2018, my co-founder and I sold my last startup, Reflect, to Puppet Labs. It was a fun adventure but at the end of 2020, mid-pandemic, I decided it was time for a new one.
I had always wanted to live abroad and figured that, at 35 years old, if I don’t do this now I probably wont. I wrote a blog post about that process if you’re interested in doing it yourself. Can recommend to Americans looking to expand your horizons: Your eyes will really open to how US-centric your life is.
Anyway, last year, my co-founder and I started Tower, a company focused on making better cloud infrastructure for data engineers who are using the composable data stack. We raised money from European VCs and have a small team across Berlin and London. We’re hiring, by the way.
America’s real super powers
Your talent pool is 350 million people deep
And, most importantly, you can hire all these people on the same terms. The EU is only partly federalized. Each country has their own social safety net and wants their own, differently-sized slice of the tax revenue pie.
On Reddit, u/bilby2020 posted this graph that describes it pretty well. As an employer, the amount of tax you pay depends on the country your employee lives in, with some being pretty insanely high.
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The most important number to pay attention to, in my mind, is the employer social contributions. The differences across boarders are significant: The €110k engineer will cost you €175k in Sweden or €150k in Germany.
Failing fast is…well…legal
It’s a bit cheap to complain about “bureaucracy” when talking about starting a company in Europe. But here’s one truth: There are requirements with regard to runway you have to consider to legally wind down (e.g. dissolve and liquidate) a company.
Most importantly, when trying to sort how much to raise, you have to ensure you have enough money in the bank to pay your employees, to pay the lawyers, and to pay the state.
Practically speaking, this can amount to allocating three months of runway just incase you fail. Three months is an absolute eternity in startup land and packing it in because you’re nervous about the government getting upset with you is just a bit sad.
Short notice periods are good for companies and for employees
It’s not uncommon to hire someone in Germany and have to twiddle your thumbs for three months (or up to six in Germany!) until they start. Notice periods are absolutely out of control in Europe and they get in the way of the employee and the employer both.
If you work in a factory and are the person responsible for putting a specific bolt into a specific hole on a specific assembly line making a specific part, then having long notice periods is good for everyone. If you’re a knowledge worker who can go to sleep tonight, wake up tomorrow, and go to a different office, then long notice periods are just a tool companies use to make it difficult for you to change jobs. This reduces competition, making it difficult for employees to demand higher salaries or a better quality of life.
Long notice periods don’t protect you, especially if you’re a highly paid software engineer that doesn’t need protecting anyway — we can get a new job very quickly. They’re a relic of an industrial society that’s currently struggling with the transition to a services economy.
What Europe gets right
Capital markets have gotten insanely good
Our last few rounds are composed mostly of European VCs and the quality all around has been absolutely amazing. Loads of operators who have been very successful or Europeans that cut their teeth in US VC markets have been coming back to Europe to start powerful funds that are making a real difference.
Top-tier European firms like Speedinvest, Earlybird, or Index as well as more specialized firms like Dig, Flyer One, or Celero Ventures have been supporting pre-seed and seed stage companies for years. And there’s been an explosion of early-stage companies as a result.
Easy migration makes for loads of amazing talent
Despite being a hot-button topic for the right (and centrist) political movements around the world, easy migration has led to a huge amount of talent being concentrated in Europe that you simply don’t get access to in America.
I’d call the prices for such talent “competitive” but not cheap. Perhaps some years ago it was cheap; however, in 2025 we pay engineers in Berlin about the same as what we pay in my home town of Portland, OR.
The burgeoning “buy European” attitude is an opportunity
This isn’t, by the way, just a result of America’s *ahem* amazing foreign policy. “Buy European” has been a topic (especially in defense) long before the White House turned orange.
In tech, the enterprise is, I’d say, interested but not yet compelled to buy European products. Especially in terms of cloud. But the cultural shoe is dropping and “interested” will turn to “required” soon enough.
Shrinking borders gives quality of life a significant edge
When I was operating in Portland, I was needed in the Bay Area every four to six weeks. As a founder in Berlin, I’m needed in the Bay Area every four to six weeks. This is just a tax we pay, operating in the startup world. If we were in entertainment, it’d be LA.
Living in Europe, I don’t own a car (which is important to me), I’m part of and contributing to a diverse and interesting culture, and my family’s guaranteed safety. All these little cultural bonuses add up to hefty cultural benefits.
It’s cheaper and easier than ever before — in the history of humanity — to get across the world. So, why not live somewhere that’s got dramatically better quality of life?
Your own milage may, indeed, vary
So, would I do it all again here in Europe? Absolutely. Not because it’s easier. It’s not. But because is a game that’s worth playing.
If you’re an American founder, don’t come to Europe expecting Silicon Valley with socialism and a few castles. Come because you want an adventure, to contribute to a different culture, to tap into the global zeitgeist, and to challenge yourself.
Europe won’t make your startup easier. But it might make your life richer.