Low regulatory environments with lot of capital and a motivated work force usually equals success. This is why you're on HN and I'm not on swiss-tech-news.com.
Probably, the point is that European and USA folks have different ways to measure success.
I guess that for a Scandinavian or a Swiss guy, working 60 hours a week, and not being able to see their kids grow up, would be a personal failure. No matter how many sport cars he owns.
I think he/she means that companies like Google, Apple and Tesla are all US-based, not to mention crazy/niche stuff like Oculus. Europe-based high-profile tech companies (like Nokia and Skype) seem more like outliers than the norm. The US seems to be the "technology king", so to say (disclaimer: I'm not an American).
I guess that for a Scandinavian or a Swiss guy, working 60 hours a week, and not being able to see their kids grow up, would be a personal failure. No matter how many sport cars he owns.