[pmjordan]

I doubt it has much to do with the university drop-out rate. In Austria, it's the norm to drop out of university but my gut feeling is that the UK has more startups per capita.

That said, I got my degree in the UK (York, in the top 10 at least at that time) and there was no entrepreneurial angle at all. There was one guy in the careers office who encouraged you to enter business plan competitions and ran one or two seminars (which were vague and focused on coming up with an idea, not practicalities) but you only found out about that if you looked for it. I only ever contemplated opting out of the standard "get a job" career path because I stumbled across PG's essays via his "plan for spam". Up to that point the "get a job" indoctrination was working perfectly. As far as I can tell from friends, it's similar in Austrian universities (except they don't even tend to have careers offices).

Honestly, I think the best way Europe could help the startup situation is to somehow convey the message that the worst that can happen if you fail isn't really too bad. Also, everyone seems to be scared of the "business angle", so that could be addressed by running a module or two on practical small-business bookkeeping, accounting, tax and incorporation basics in sci/eng degree courses. Because, let's face it, those things are not actually that hard, at least not in the UK. Rest of EU needs to get rid of their idiotic capital requirements for setting up limited companies and severe penalties for bankruptcy. Lower social security/tax rates at low self-employed income levels would be appreciated, too. (those could easily be financed by killing all those stupid grants schemes that are so complex no small company could afford the lawyers required to figure them out)

[retree]

It's definitely true that the UK has lots of startups. But I think the problem is that people at universities, or university staff don't even consider it. Looking at the two best known (to your average consumer) startups in the UK - Betfair and Ocado, both were started by people in their mid 30s. I can't think of many started by people in their early 20s, which I think is a huge oppurtunity being missed.

There is definitely a stigma of failing. It feels like if your startup fails in the USA it isn't too big a problem, you just pick yourself up and start again. In Europe I get the impression that a failed start up reflects poorly on you - leading to a risk averse culture.

[pmjordan]

But I think the problem is that people at universities, or university staff don't even consider it.

Universities have historically not been the place for training up professionals or business people, but pure scholars. The vast majority of staff at universities are in the latter category to this day, probably less so in engineering disciplines or medicine. Expecting them to prepare students for the real world in a job, let alone running a business, is unrealistic. (nobody even teaches you how to do basic things like salary negotiations, forget about raising capital)

I'm not sure what the solution is, but making professors run awkward "soft skills" courses is definitely not it.