European startup scenes compared

This is just an extract from the Telefonica startup ecosystem report that can be found here: <a href="http://blog.digital.telefonica.com/?press-release=country-highlights-startup-ecosystem-report-2012#filter=*,media=The-Startup-Ecosystem-Report-2012-–-Global-map" rel="nofollow">http://blog.digital.telefonica.com/?press-release=country-hi...</a><p>It's an interesting report, though unless there's actionable information in this for you (there is for me, actually), it's probably infoporn rather than anything worth reading...

Quick question: Do people think the rising cost of living in a place like London will have a negative effect on start ups?<p>Currently it doesn't look like it from that report but I'm currently on an intern's wage and have struggled to live here, I can only imagine how hard it is to potentially work for a small wage maybe even just equity whilst being a bit older than I am and potentially more responsibilities.

I'd say the UK certainly has the lead in Europe in terms of talent pool size, legal services, tax regime and government support.<p>I'll shortly be moving back to there and incorporating a company for my bootstrapped startup. I live in France at the moment and the decision to move and kick it off from the UK was a no brainer.<p>One of the major attractions is the SEIS scheme and the potential this gives me to attract funding via a crowd funding platform like <a href="http://www.crowdcube.com" rel="nofollow">http://www.crowdcube.com</a> This sort of startup friendly business environment just doesn't exist anywhere else in Europe (at least that I'm aware of).<p>Edit: in connection to the above, would love to know if any UK HNers have had any experience with <a href="http://www.vwv.co.uk/" rel="nofollow">http://www.vwv.co.uk/</a> ? I need some legal advice before I incorporate and I've heard they're good and very startup friendly.

Last time I checked Tel Aviv is in the Middle East not Europe.

Tel Aviv is in Europe now?

There's no question that London is suffering from a funding gap however some of the excerpts seem incredibly difficult to quantify:<p><i>They are more motivated by building a great product than by changing the world compared to SV entrepreneurs</i><p>I also don't really understand how a preference towards mobile orientated start-ups is indicative of quality:<p><i>London has been slow in adopting mobile as a new trend. It has 30% less startups than SV or NYC in the mobile space</i>

Depending on what happens with UK politics over the next 3-5 years that might change dramatically due to the constant drum beating on immigration and EU reforms.

Tel Aviv scores fairly high in the funding and support index but poor on the performance and trendsetter index. Kind of proves the point that $ isn't all it takes but sure helps you become visible.

The Berlin pin looks more like Bremen.