[toyg]

As a counterpoint - that's not what I've experienced in the UK. I know it's arguably one of the "friendliest" legislations, but still, red tape wasn't a big deal.

From what I heard from others, the main issue is access to credit and funding. European investors are risk-averse and ask for too much in return, probably because their experience is in traditional low-margins sectors; sadly that's a vicious circle, where low margin begets low margin and things never improve. Also, people just don't like to pull the insane working hours that are normal in the US.

[R0b0t1]

The UK is the sole exception afair. It's not just access to funding because many businesses in the US are created with no external funding. If you attempt to do that in mainland Europe you're going to bankrupt yourself just setting up the company. In most US states you just pay ~$100 and can 1099 your first employees.

[disgruntledphd2]

Europe is not a coherent place, much of the important regulations are national. At the very least, one should divide between Northern/Western Europe (more entrepreneurial) and Southern Europe (more regulations, less money and less entrepreneurship).