Meeting requests are bouncing back with OOOs. Work calendars are practically empty until ‘back to school’ events start kicking off during the first week of September. And Sifted’s entire team of reporters is desperately hunting down anything newsworthy to write about.
In other words, the Great European summer is upon us. And in the tech world, which loves to get on board with a good debate — particularly if it involves discussing how many hours we should all be working for, and how this compares to colleagues in the US — it is as ever a cause for controversy.
There’s no denying Europeans like a good summer holiday. From around the end of July until September there’s a clear slowdown, says London-based angel investor Simon Blakey. “Inbound opportunities drop off, and the pace of outbound activity from VCs also slows [...] even when deals are progressing, they often move more slowly.”
Nicolas Essayan, founder of Paris-based early stage VC Drysdale Ventures, says he sees the year as “an 11-month sprint” from September 1 to July 31 (plus a small dip around Christmas time). “The break from the end of July is pretty spectacular,” he says. “Founders don’t contact you, co-investors aren’t here, dealflow is in slow motion.”
Bad for business?
The summer slowdown inevitably has an impact on startups. It can be challenging for companies running low on cash, says Blakey: “If your lead investor is hiking in the Alps, it’s hard to close quickly.”
Vasily Alekseenko, founder of London-based startup community Rare Founders, says the period puts “extra unnecessary pressure” on businesses.
“Our business model is reliant on getting sponsors into our events and conferences. We need to get sales as soon as possible, but as for any company in B2B, decision-makers are simply not available,” he says.
“For us it affects everything [...] overall I think it is bad for businesses.”
Cue an abundance of LinkedIn memes portraying with varying degrees of creativity what essentially comes down to: European VC sits on a sun-soaked yacht in the middle of the Mediterranean popping bottles of rosé, overtly ignoring repeated calls from US-based colleagues frantically trying to close a deal. On the 15th of August?
It reflects the commonly-held view that while the US tech sector has an ‘always-on’ mentality, thriving with hard work, long hours and little annual leave, Europeans like to slack off.
This perhaps requires some nuance. “Life in both places is more similar in a lot of ways than people realise,” says Sarah Kunst, managing director of US VC Cleo Capital. “Taking LinkedIn memes seriously as to how business actually works is wildly inappropriate.”
European summer myth
The first time Essayan and I were introduced a couple of years ago, sacrilegiously in the middle of August, he responded to my email from the beach. He’d just got off the phone with a colleague to finish closing a buzzy AI deal.
“There’s this myth that you can’t reach a VC in France, Spain or Italy in August,” says Essayan. “The reality is we’re still keeping an eye on emails, working a few hours a day if needed and staying put in case of an emergency.”
Jean de La Rochebrochard, managing partner at Paris early-stage VC Kima Ventures, says from the beginning of August he checks emails once a day to deal with emergencies. For non-urgent matters he is “off, off, off”.
And when it comes to founders? They’re likely not taking a break at all. “They are working 24/7, no summer holidays, personal time or hobbies,” says Alekseenko. “No one will take the risk of not being available for a long period of time.”
It’s not like US VCs take no holiday either. Summer can be a slow time across the Atlantic too, particularly around Independence Day on July 4. The rest of the year also has its peaks and troughs.
“Every time you talk to an American VC, ask them where they are,” says Kunst. “We work a lot, but we also have endless amounts of flexibility. I was on my honeymoon doing calls and answering emails, but I also had multiple honeymoons.”
Similarly Essayan says he’s lost track of how often he’s pinged a US VC who couldn’t respond immediately because they were in the Bahamas, Tokyo, or Costa Rica. “It’s always one of the three,” he says.
To 996 or not to 996
The discussion is reminiscent of the recent (and fiery) “996” debate, which saw high-profile VCs like Harry Stebbings asserting European founders should be working 9am to 9pm, six days a week, to match the “velocity” of Silicon Valley — while others argued this was the best way to burn out.
“This debate is a caricature,” says Essayan, featuring on one hand heavily masculine, chest-banging pride of working seven days a week, and on the other welfare state-protected Europeans dropping work at every opportunity.
The reality is somewhere in the middle. “The idea people should work 24/7 and not rest is bad, because it doesn’t work,” says Kunst.
For founders, the summer time may even be an opportunity. In a recent post, de La Rochebrochard advises entrepreneurs to take the summer not just to rest, but to “realign”.
“It’s one of the few moments in the year where the world slows down with you,” he wrote. “So take it seriously. Not to get a tan. To get some clarity.”
