It may be that Europeans are deincentivized
from creating enormously overvalued startups
because their quality of life is much better
Ireland still doesn't have Uber or Lyft.[1]
[1] Does Uber or Lyft exist in Dublin??
https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g186591-i88-k11258020-...
Which IMO are better, if pricier, than Uber in London. They're what I take. But that isn't to disagree with your basic point. If cabs in some European cities are better than cabs in many American cities, that certainly isn't the case everywhere.
Before hailing a ride I always check Uber and taxi apps, all of which give me a spot on estimation o price. Most times I have to choose between a Mercedes (C/E class, so large and comfortable) taxi and a Uber (lower class car), the Uber ended up being more expensive. In some countries Uber will still offer better price or price/quality ratio but this is far from a given.
Or even: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/04/02/technology/ub...
As for the other startups in SF, I like this quote:
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/apr/17/get-rich-quick-...
> My idea was to pitch a tech startup and get obscenely rich while writing a book about how to pitch a tech startup and get obscenely rich – the Silicon Valley way.
> To save money, I took to cooking my own meals most of the time. This was when I discovered that it was much easier to launch a tech startup if you could afford to always have food delivered and never had to deal with mundane chores such as doing laundry, washing dishes or buying groceries. As one Twitter wag observed, San Francisco’s “tech culture is focused on solving one problem: what is my mother no longer doing for me?”