Economist has a feature on the thriving tech startup scene in Europe.
MENTION the name of a big European technology firm in Silicon Valley and chances are the reaction will be a mixture of pity and disparagement. SAP, the German software heavyweight? Past its prime. Finland’s Nokia, the world’s biggest maker of handsets? Missed the boat on smart-phones. Ericsson, of Sweden, the leading vendor of gear for mobile networks? Clobbered by the Chinese.
Turn the conversation to start-ups, though, and ears prick up. When will Spotify, a popular London-based online music service, be available in America? Why did Playfish, whose online games attract tens of millions, sell out to Electronic Arts, an American giant? And what will happen to Skype, whose software handles nearly 10% of international telephone calls, after its divorce from eBay, an online auctioneer?
Californians’ interest is most piqued by a French company, vente-privee.com, the pioneer of “private flash sales”: members—and members only—can pounce when told they have a few days to buy this Prada bag or that Dior perfume at a discount of up to 70%. This year the firm’s revenues are expected to reach €850m ($1 billion), a quarter more than the previous year. It already has dozens of imitators. Even Silicon Valley entrepreneurs have been heard saying they would like to do something “like vente-privee”. In the tech heartland, this is the ultimate compliment.