Comment by ageitgey | Hacker News Reader

Comment by ageitgey | Hacker News Reader

Parent Full thread

I run a US-based start-up with a distributed team, but I personally live in London. I'd say a lot of this is true. I don't personally know how Brexit has or hasn't affected talent availability yet, but everything else lines up with my experience. US investors throw money around and European investors are much more traditional.

But I'd like to offer a different perspective on this quote from the article:

> I am not alone in believing Europe has a problem with founders and investors, who lack ambition in comparison to the best of Silicon Valley or Shenzhen. While I have been blessed with my European investors, who are very much the exception to this rule and share my ambition, I have seen this lack of boldness during my various fundraising processes with many other investors.

The US VC market right now is very "frothy", as the VCs say. It's so frothy, you might as well say the froth has churned into butter. The article says that European investors lack "boldness", but one might instead say that US investors are lacking outlets for their ample capital and will throw money at nearly anything right now. I guess it depends on your point of view.

But the truth remains - it's a whole lot easier to raise money in the US right now.

> The US VC market right now is very "frothy", as the VCs say. It's so frothy, you might as well say the froth has churned into butter. The article says that European investors lack "boldness", but one might instead say that US investors are lacking outlets for their ample capital and will throw money at nearly anything right now. I guess it depends on your point of view.

I wonder how many US investors are actually (partially) Europeans.

It's really not that hard to meet many Europeans in the valley who decided to move there to innovate and build without the restrictive environment of their homelands. I wonder how many Europeans investors are diverting parts of their funds to more ambitious and risky investments here in the US.

> But the truth remains - it's a whole lot easier to raise money in the US right now.

In the 20 or so years I've been involved in startups it's always been easier to raise money in the US.

How do you manage a company from across the Atlantic? What does your tax situation look like? Do you personally enjoy living in London or are you there in spite of your interests?

1. One day at a time. But in all seriousness, a good co-founder and team. Also, we started the company during COVID which I think made the VCs less worried a about a full remote situation.

2. US citizen but UK tax resident. So two income tax returns. It's a pain, but thankfully the tax treaty means one offsets the other and it works out in the end.

3. Personally want to live in London

Is there anything that specifically prompted you to live in London in place of other cities like Paris, Seoul, Tokyo, or areas elsewhere in the US and the rest of North America? Given what I've read on tax rates, incomes, and QoL (especially after Brexit) it doesn't seem economically advantageous to live there as a tax resident, especially with FATCA hanging over your head.

Different people like different places?

London is a beautiful city with high QoL if you live in a nice part. Much better transit and walk-ability than anywhere in the US except Manhattan. Same language and similar culture for kids in school. Very high quality schools if you live in a good area. Closer timezone to the US than Asia. The government systems are much easier to navigate for an English-speaking American than somewhere like France. Universal healthcare and much lower obvious social issues (i.e. homelessness) than California. Easy and cheap to travel around Europe (Paris is a day trip). Lots of people from all over the world in London. Beautiful cycling in the countryside. Lots of arts and culture in my own language. Great comedy scene and music scene. Endless history to explore.

Other people prefer different places. Lots of places are great. London is a great fit for us.

FACTA has zero impact on my life. Maybe it annoys my bank, but I'm sure they have long figured out how to deal with it. I spend 5 minutes a year sending my accountant a list of checking accounts to report as part of my taxes.

Brexit hasn't really affected me in any way personally, but it might be a bigger factor for others.

I can't really speak for the tax, but QoL is pretty good in London. Compared to the other cities I've lived in (>9mo in Glasgow, Portsmouth, Manchester, Sheffield, Southampton, Austin, Berlin, and Hamburg), the city has everything. It's more expensive than all those other cities, except maybe Berlin, but compared to similarly sized places it's not bad. Factoring size and location, the equivalent of my 1 bed flat in Clapham would be about 120% more in NYC.

London has one of the highest percentages of green space of any large city (33%), excellent public transport, some of the best music and theatre in the world, options in all British sports supplemented by regular visits from American leagues, excellent (though not leading) restaurants and speciality food markets, and more. You can't discount the English language either.

Regarding Brexit, at the moment it's kind of hard to say because COVID (and the ongoing collapse of the government) has muddled its economic impact so much.

> excellent (though not leading) restaurants

The variety is leading though. You’ll have a hard time finding such a variety of high-end restaurants anywhere else.

If you have money, it's really hard to beat QoL in London. Brexit mostly affects the poor.

Sure, if it bothers you to spend ~8k USD/mo on rent, London might not be for you.

The English language is probably a big draw.

I doubt Brexit's effect on QOL can yet be separated from Covid.

Feel your pain. Canadian citizen who previously founded startup in London and had to pay double taxes. Enjoyed the life in London though. Would love to go back some day.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com