>A bottom up cultural shift is required to change startup culture in Europe.History and the study of Volksgeists shows that's almost impossible without any major revolutionary event.
The status quo Europeans have had for centuries was their lives being at the mercy of some higher monarchic power, be it emperors, kings, lords, etc, then revolutionary communists, fascists, dictators, etc, and post-WW2 at the mercy of the social welfare state to handle everything for you. There was never a period our relatively recent history where we could just do whatever we wanted, without the ruling powers interfering some way or dictating the rules till the next regime change, and so the Volksgeist inherited and passed on that status quo across generations, kind of like Plato's cave, or like a fish in the water. That's why many Europeans who felt held back or persecuted by the status quo fled to the US decades/centuries ago.
This is totally opposite to the American way of life since 1776 where the state was mostly hands-off to leave you alone and would not help you out, nor get in your way, you'd live or die based on your own individual actions. I realize this is different today for Americans, with the government having way more taxes, regulations and social services than in 1776, but the original Volksgeist around minimalist government, individualism, personal freedom and self-responsibility still prevails.
So people can say "we need to change" all they want, but the reality is that's never gonna happen, Europeans aren't gonna become Americans and Americans aren't gonna become Europeans, the cultural inertia is too powerful, and you can't fight against the stream.