[kuschku]

> 3. European startups ask for permission instead of forgiveness.

Well, because everything else will destroy your reputation and company socially and legally for all eternity.

[ThomPete]

Say that to ex Uber and Airbnb plus a host of the other companies.

[mschuster91]

Well, Uber is taking a heavy beating in Europe (and thanks to our regulations, taxi service never has been as bad as in the US, so the market for "better taxis" isn't as large to begin with), and AirBnB already bows to regulator's pressure all over the world.

[ThomPete]

Thats not the point though.

The point is that they are the leader not a European company because they take that battle.

You can't disrupt most fields only by pure technology. A lot of the disruption is legislation.

[kuschku]

Well, disruption is just not necessary. Uber competitors existed in Europe before Uber even did.

AirBnB is literally doing what people in Europe had done for decades, just with a neat web listing.

[ThomPete]

Uber competitors didn't exist in Europe before Uber did. You are talking about actual "sharing economy" like the french carsharing service but thats a very different thing.

Airbnb didn't really exist either you are talking about things like Novosol that functioned as a middle man apartment renter.

[kuschku]

1. Uber competitors existed – although those were usually financed by the Taxi companies.

2. AirBnB competitors existed in the way that you could rent your apartment to others via such services. Renting out private apartments was standard for decades and centuries even.