eu/acc Madrid Meetup
Wake UP Europe!
EU/ACC is a decentralized community movement dedicated to accelerating progress in Europe through innovation, technology, and a positive Europe-centric mindset. Our mission is to establish the simplest and most effective path for building European businesses that can compete globally while upholding European values. We aim to propel Europe into a prosperous future by driving technological advancements and fostering growth.
Communities and meetups are emerging in all European cities, and we want to start the first meetup in Madrid on July 16th. Join our monthly meetup and meet a community of innovators and builders committed to improving Europe.
We will facilitate an open deliberation process to identify problems, propose solutions, and coordinate with other European meetups to propose public policies to Brussels.
Europe has significant talent and the potential to achieve faster economic growth and bridge the gap with the United States.
The abundance of research and innovation: Many successful US tech companies base large parts of their tech on EU deep tech acquisitions or use EU talent as CTOs, engineers, and other key roles.
Excellence in education: Germany, France, Spain or the Netherlands, for example, have great technical universities with almost zero cost to study and offer world-class education.
Europe's strong talent pool is further enhanced by its attractive quality of life, which draws as many US professionals to immigrate to Europe, making it a desirable destination for skilled individuals.
Numerous innovation clusters: Europe boasts many excellent clusters for innovation in various areas, each contributing to a vibrant and diverse tech ecosystem.
Plenty of ambitious founders: There are enough tech-minded people in Europe with the ambition to build something big and impactful. While the cultural approach to entrepreneurship may differ, it adds to the region's unique strengths and diversity in the tech industry.
Problems are easy to find, and plenty are easy to solve. We numbered the more noticeable:
Problem #1: 27 Complex Legal Systems: we need Europe Inc.
The European Union's legal landscape is highly fragmented, with numerous legal entities not equivalent to the US's simplified "Delaware LLC" model. This complexity hinders large-scale investment from EU venture capitalists across borders and deters foreign VCs from entering the EU market, as they must navigate multiple legal systems.
Problem #2: Red Tape: fix the notaries.
Notaries' stringent regulations and bureaucratic procedures pose significant obstacles for cross-European and international investors. The requirement for notarized documents, the complex and time-consuming verification processes, and the need for physical presence can deter potential investors from inside and outside Europe.
We can’t force entrepreneurs with non-English, non-US timezones, and no digital flows to defend some privileges, nor can some countries force this on other EU countries.
Problem #3: Backdoor Market Fragmentation: hire without subsidiaries.
The EU is based on the principle that goods, services, capital, and persons can move without restriction within the EU. However, countries use regulations and red tape to prevent this principle.
Unlike US startups, which can serve a vast, unified market across all states from the outset, EU startups face significant challenges in doing business with neighboring states. This difficulty arises from differing legal systems, tax rules, and cultural and language barriers.
Problem #4: Entrepreneurs are Infra-represented.
More representation of Entrepreneurs in funds allocations for VCs and all EU/national institutions that decide the future of growth/entrepreneurship-related laws, including corporate law
We can no longer wait. We need Europe to get into motion, to accelerate. It is about keeping the growth, the growth benefits, and the talent of Europe with its headquarters in Europe and making it attractive to invest in Europe. We kindly ask all European institutions and member states to make it happen. Please take away the administrative burden and barriers and let Europe grow, let the growth create prosperity for Europe.
We would like to thank Inbonis Rating (https://inbonis.com/) for inviting us to their splendid rooftop to celebrate the session.