This feels like an orthogonal point. The OP make a very specific comparison to his travel company and Airbnb, and how people ignored them or even belittled them but adored Airbnb despite being very similar companies.

Europeans use Airbnb. Trying to to say he was trying to "apply the American mindset to the European market" as a bad thing doesn't really hold water here when the American product literally won.

Yes, the kind of companies historically started in Europe are very culturally different to startups. The point being made is that really for no good reason, Europe does not culturally support the existence of startups and is often actively hostile towards them.

The solution being "just don't do startups in Europe" is like, ok sure I guess you can do that, but it doesn't actually address the problem that was presented: cultural incompatibility and unwillingness to change.