Opinion

August 4, 2025

Europe doesn’t have a startup problem, it has a storytelling problem

While US founders pitch big ideas with flair, Europe’s finest are busy burying brilliance in buzzword soup

Steph Bailey

5 min read

Spend five minutes with a Silicon Valley founder, and you'll hear how their API is going to "change the world”, make a trillion dollars and put Google out of business. Spend the same time in Berlin or Stockholm, and instead of a bold origin story or world-changing vision, you’ll get a structured roadmap, cautious forecasts and a GDPR checklist. 

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Steph Bailey

Steph Bailey is head of content at Sifted. Follow her on Twitter and LinkedIn

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