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Comment by wellboy | Hacker News Reader

There are so many entrepreneurs and startups in Berlin. There are probably even more startup events there than in San Francisco, it's a very vibrant scene.

However, there is just noooo money in Berlin. The reason for that is that there are no successful tech entrepreneurs who have been successful previously to fuel the ecosystem.

So all the money you have is money from Angels that are lawyers, dentists or who have a big family business.

Also, German young entrepreneurs just can't think big. There are a few that do, but the "taking-over-the-world" mentality in Germany is just not there as in the U.S.

They more like to create a cookie delivery business. (this just got six figures in funding)

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> the "taking-over-the-world" mentality in Germany is just not there

The last time we've tried that, it didn't end so well…

slow clap for this lame joke.

On the other hand, I find it hilarious. Face it, what Germans did in WWII was so horrifying that it will be remembered and associated with them for a long time.

LOL

It's the perfect place to bootstrap a small not-technically-a-startup-by-certain-definitions company, though. Fantastic place to live, still quite cheap, etc.

It's close to the ideal environment for an indie games studio, for example. Not looking to make massive piles of money and scale to infinity, just explore creatively and grow slowly.

Oh yes it is, you can virtually "not" run out of money there. Sandwhich costs $3, you can a really big room with a double bed for $600/month.

If you pay $600/month for a room in Berlin you are doing something wrong.

or you are making decent money and you want a nice apartment and are tired of living in tief neukölln.

when things are on sale, buy the nice one

Sure you can also leave there for 200 Euros in Neukoelln but that was in the hip area Prenzlauer Berg, 25 m2 with a nice kitchen and bathroom. I payed 400 Euros for that.

Just to provide numbers: I pay about $650 for a two-room apartment about 15min by subway from Mitte, where I study, and I sublet the smaller room.

I end up paying a bit less than what my classmates pay for rent on average. This is still considered expensive by people who have been living in Berlin for just few years more. The rents are still rising since many people are coming to Berlin at the moment; and have been quite high in hip districts like Prenzlauer Berg for a while, but there is definitely no comparison to many other large cities in Europe like London (and none to the Bay Area at all, where you can literally end up paying $700 for a room shared with a stranger, next to the gap in general living expenses).

In a discussion on Quora over where the "next Berlin" will be, someone mentioned Warsaw, Poland. I replied that that's a ridiculous notion - rents here are already far higher than in Berlin.

do you have any data to support these assertions. I'm interested and not dismissing your opinions, but I'd love some backup information to this.

According to the 2012 Pan-European Private Equity and Venture Capital Activity report[1], DACH (Austria, Germany, Switzerland) VC funds invested only €0.8 billion in late stage, startup, or seed money. The US[2] invested $26.7 billion total, but only 65% or ~$17.36 billion was in seed, early or late stage funds.

Comparing the VC/GDP ratios[3]:

Aus+Ger+Swiss VC $/GDP= $1.1 billion/$4.43 trillion. US VC $/GDP=$17.36 billion/$15.68 trillion. 1.107/.248=4.46

So the US invests ~4.46x more than Austria, Germany, and Switzerland combined .

[1]: pg. 38 http://imgur.com/2yjXmxT http://bit.ly/19wRbSH

[2] http://www.nvca.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=articl... http://imgur.com/Axpz43j http://imgur.com/evITTbs

[3]: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.CD

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