Introduction

The idea to write this book came from the knowledge that most books on start-ups focus on North American companies, and while I found great value in reading those books, it made me wonder how different, if at all, the perspective of European companies and their founders would be. It’s quite common to read about the differences between Europe and North America, particularly the United States of America, but is it really so different to start a company in the United States than in a European country?

In isolation, this book gives founders’ views of starting a venture in Europe; but in conjunction with Founders at Work, we see the differences and similarities between starting a venture in the United States vs. in a European country. My view on this is that there are many similarities in the entrepreneurs’ mind-set, but that the context changes, leading to different decisions while creating and growing their businesses.