[hendrix]

How can the government mandating the kind of paid-leave in Sweden be good for a startup? Tell me how this sort of policy can increase a new startups short-term cash flow? You can't exactly advertize superior working conditions (Google w/ free food/massages/nerf guns/paid child-related leave) since you do not have any track-record of being the hot new startup. Even if you did have the best working conditions available having to pay out for an employee who is not producing anything would probably kill the startup.

Culture/location/talent/vc $ is what makes a company though and to some extent trumps unfavorable tax/labor laws, this is IMO why SV & California have most of the startups as compared to Arizona/Texas or why Scandinavia>Eastern Europe.

[lflux]

I'd say it's good for talent since you don't have to pick a startup depending on what benefits you get (vacation time, health insurance, parental leave) due to the government providing well enough to begin with. Of course employers here can differentiate by offering more vacation, privatized health insurance, pension deals, but the swedish government seems to provide a better package than most US employers do.