Why working 24/7 is a bad recommendation to European startups
This is a short reaction on a post just published by TechCrunch Europe. An anonymous VC is stating in a guest article that European startups should work more or less 24/7 hours to be able to compete with Silicon Valley startups. And the author praises US workers having only 10 vacation days per year, compared to 20 days in the UK - which he thinks is already way too much.
My short answer to this in my eyes not very smart posting:
In Sweden, people have 25 to 30 vacation days per year. And in many companies, the day before a public holiday is only a half working day. Sounds crazy, doesn't it? According to the LondonVC logic, you could assume that Sweden would be the poorest, most unsuccessful country in the world.
The funny thing is: Swedens economy is in a good shape, in a better shape than the UK or US economy, and looking at some of the startups from around here (Spotify, Tradedoubler, Startdoll, Twingly or upcoming Voddler), these way more human working hours don't seem to harm the Swedish startups international success at all.
There are many reasons why it is difficult for European startups to have a global impact. But I totally disagree with the allegation that it is because European startups don't work their asses off (as the article put it). I'm convinced many do anyway.
