E-consultancy reports that Prime Minister Tony Blair paid a visit to Silicon Valley on Sunday:
Hopefully the PM will have left with some ideas about how to create an environment in which dotcom and tech start-ups can flourish here in the UK.
The visit saw Blair urged to set up his own blog, as well to change attitudes to failure in business.
“In the US and especially in Silicon Valley, if you have taken a risk and you fail, you in fact become more interesting and potentially more valuable because now you know something,†said Sun Microsystems’ Jonathan Schwartz.
“Frankly, if you hop over the pond (to Europe) you end up with a very, very different perception of risk and how risk should be viewed.â€
I think it’s worth drawing a clear distinction between those putting their livelihoods on the line to run a new business and the institutions that are (or aren’t) backing them. I’d like to wave the flag (though not rattle the sabre) a little and point the authors to JigsawUK, a wiki detailing dozens of UK internet, mobile and technology startups, some of which I’ve had the privilege of talking to recently.
I’d say that the main difference is not that we don’t have a climate of innovation and the willingness to have a go, what we lack is a risk-taking investment community. Go to your UK bank and tell them you want £50K for a Web 2.0 startup and I’m not at all positive they won’t call security, as opposed to offering up the millions that one hears about US-based startups receiving every week to all sorts of companies.
You’re absolutely right Ian and it’s not just banks! I’m fairly close to the London business angel community at the moment thanks to the ‘Creative Business Accelerator’ run by the London Business Angel network and my experience is that the stereotype of the British business angel as retired, male, grey-haired and largely risk-averse is quite accurate and does not sit well with the Web 2.0 startup community and our needs for a tech-savvy investment community such as can be found in Silicon Valley.
That having been said, I would also point out that perhaps we are in somewhat of a catch-22 in the UK. In order to launch, fund, grow and exit from a high-risk, high-growth Web 2.0 startup venture (many of which across the pond do not have revenue models) you must typically be highly motivated for a trade sale exit. With less ‘activity’ in the Web 2.0 space over here, there is less perceived opportunity for ‘entertaining’ such a sale with the big potential buyers, most of which are HQ’d in the States. Let’s hope all that is changing gradually.
Having said all that, counter-intuitively I would also argue all that works in our favour. The US have a huge market of their own and are often reticent to cross the pond to Europe before gaining a major foothold over there (wisely). This gives the UK a tremendous advantage of a protected market which can be leveraged by the right opportunity.
Really valuable input, David.
Cons: very low chance of investment from most available sources till you’re already proven.
Pros: greater access to a market that isn’t being pandered to overseas.
That could potentially mean more long-term success for UK Web 2.0 startups, and certainly far less hype! You may not get the group hugs from the news sites, but will that really create successful businesses?
Hi Ian,
Your point is well made and all too familiar (sadly).
In regards to the same issue, NESTA’s new chief exec has just issued an interesting statement – Business support vital to bridging “equity gap†– that I’ve just posted about.
Best,
Deirdre
Thanks for the comment and bringing your blog to my attention, Deidre. Love your latest headline!! ;) As one of the biggest incubators in the UK, post-bubble, it’s good to hear more about NESTA. I lost touch once FutureLab split from them.
Thanks Ian, i just stumbled upon your blog thanks to the good workings of Technorati. Perhaps Technorati should also be factored into NESTA’s ‘business support’ equation… no I mean really!
As for Tony Blair blogging, that’s a definite “no comments” scenario ;-)
I think Private Eye’s parish newsletter already fills the post, eh?
No RSS feed on NMK?? :(
I’ve been wanting RSS for over a year now, but we are a not-for-profit organisation and making further enhancements / additions to the NMK site’s functionality is very expensive and resource-intensive for us (but other things, like our range of events, have been getting better). It will happen eventually….
I agree. The UK will be a slower, less hyped and more stable market compared to the US. We will focus more on proper business principles and as a result will have a lot of medium term ’strong’ web performers but will be unlikely to fuel the next Google (and also therefore WebVan!). Large generalisations but you get the point.
@Deidre,
Here is a bodged workaround to creating a feed for latest articles that may help. I am so busy this morning, but can’t resist a challenge. I made it here: http://www.wotzwot.com/rssxl.php
http://tinyurl.com/jyw8h