Paul Papadimitriou

I’ll be honest, I hate being called a futurist. It reminds me of reading the astrology column in the newspaper. Fun, but usually worthless.

Some clients love to introduce me to their teams with this title and I guess it won’t cease now that I’m invited to talk at a conference on the future of global innovation.

The Partners for Growth & Innovation conference is, however, no astrology event. But yes, we’ll talk about the future. An important one. Entrepreneurship.

And we’ll have people from various backgrounds, from various fields of expertise. From various continents. Included that unique continent, you know, the Silicon Valley.

That’s called bridging, a philosophy that I believe in strongly. And that bridging will take place in Italy. In Europe. At a time when we’re all wondering if the continent is still in the innovation race, how’s that?

Europe has never been short of talented people with good ideas, yet its entrepreneurs seem more interested in making products than making money; they take fewer risks and appear to be less driven—and maybe less greedy

➡ Europe’s tech entrepreneurs: Blooming

Ah, those perky Europeans. Not willing to do money? Considering all I’m usually hearing from the Valley is about “changing the world”, it would mean Europe entrepreneurs are even more idealistic. Which transforms into green bills. Err. Yellow. Whatever the color the Euro is.

The problem isn’t there.

Entrepreneurial spirit is thriving, don’t believe the pundits. 45% would love becoming their own boss. Still ten points than the US, but not the catastrophic numbers some would like us to believe.

The problem isn’t there.

Graphic doesn’t explain much, but nicely put together (Dave, look at the color scheme, nice, heh?). Take away is that Europe doesn’t to be missing much. Barriers to innovation are not dramatically higher and the trend is good.

The problem isn’t there.

I think the most important one is what goal you set for yourself. If your goal is to dominate Madrid or Paris in your niche, you might just succeed, but if you set yourself such a local goal, there is low chance you’re actually going to build a global success and be the best in the world at what you do. It’s the key, most people I know in Silicon Valley dream about building a world leader, not a local leader, it’s a question of attitude, and THAT is easy to change. Think more in english and more global, you might be able to achieve your dreams, but they have to be the right dreams.

➡ Why Silicon Valley Kicks Europe’s Butt

It’s beyond the time we take for lunch, Loic, but, you’re onto something: goals matter.

I’ve been living in Japan so, trust me, I know about country-focused goals. It’s a matter of choice, however, not just location. Silicon Valley has it somewhat easy: it can think locally and still -somewhat- make it internationally. The opposite is not that easy. Not that easy, but not impossible nor unachievable.

The problem isn’t there.

Now. Read this:

in China where the survey was done for the first time this year, 71 percent of the population has a positive attitude toward entrepreneurs, while in Japan people have the weakest inclination toward private business. In the United States, 73 percent view businessmen favorably, but in Europe the figure is only 49 percent.

➡ Epoch Times – The American Dream of Entrepreneurship a Hard Sell in Europe

Ouch. Perky European socialists? That is saying all European women go topless on the beach, gross generalization. But Europe has clearly something to learn from the US -anti-american ranters, you can leave this blog now-. Not the prude part. And not the absence of government intervention revisionists would lead us to think.

Europe’s got to start dreaming. And it will take time.

It’s all about time. The Silicon Valley wasn’t build in a day. It wasn’t even called “Silicon” for a while. There’s history. There are decisions. There’s will.

I’m not a big believer in big fat initiatives, especially coming from some commission in Brussels on in an antique -antiquated?- Parisian office. Decisions should be all about being lean & letting be lean (Paul McCartney Bond theme playing).

Leave the young & hungry free souls try changing the world. The yellowish bills will follow.

In recent years, a lively environment for young companies has emerged in Europe, complete with serial entrepreneurs, experienced venture capitalists and the necessary supporting infrastructure, such as law firms and PR agencies. And it is most visible where Europe has been considered weakest: the internet and other parts of the information-technology industry.

➡ Europe’s tech entrepreneurs: Blooming

Think lean. Forget about being Europe. Forget those political ideals for a minute. Countries will always tend to defend their national champions and no EU will change that in any foreseeable future. Think opportunities. Allow for fiscal competition between countries -it sure worked well for Switzerland- but get rid of the phonebooks of national financial regulations. Forget about political environments & don’t punish VCs for the credit crunch, damn it. Think big. Entrepreneurs are the key to social prosperity. They need capital. You can help jump start the industry. Silicon Valley did that. Israel too. Hell, even France did a nice job. Think small. Local initiatives will save you. Let young entrepreneurs collaborate and reshape whatever the hell they want. Don’t let public initiatives be the alpha and the omega. Nor public funding. Think smart. Reform those damn employment regulations. Everywhere. Stop protecting us from our own mistakes. Let us be resilient. And make it easy to grab talent. Anywhere it comes from. Think time. I repeat. Time. It takes time. More than the electoral cycle.

You know, there’s one key element everybody tends to forget. Silicon Valley has one disadvantage: being Silicon Valley.

It tends to self-validate.

Self-congratulate sometimes.

Yes, living one next to each other creates this amazing spill-over effect that baffles me -and lots of you probably-, but also induces this reality warp where the customer is a geek from the valley who’s got an iPhone. Where the VC is one with a similar background who just happens to have a Blackberry.

Flame me. I’m overstating it. But being bold is what makes the Valley successful. As bold as some comments I’m getting echoes of there when talking about Europe/Asia/Japan/Kentucky (choose your flavor) –I’ll save you from the specifics.

To make matters worse, that geek from the Valley with an iPhone is the poster-child most geeks in the world want to mimic, hence strengthening this early adopter curve that is so easy to mistake for success –”we have this iPhone app, it’s being downloaded internationally, we’ve got hits all over from the world”. Yay.

Silicon Valley, as the center of the storm, sometimes doesn’t see or feel what the rest of the world is experiencing.

It needs to go out. LeWeb is a favorite. It’s my favorite. I absolutely love it. But, honestly, isn’t it an US conference that just happens to take place in Paris? Do we come there to discover the latest European startup or to listen to Jack, Michael & the beautiful Marissa (hey, had sushis with her, the least I could do here is add a compliment)?

It’s in that sense that having a smaller conference in Viareggio (that’s in Italy, folks, thanks for following) makes sense. A lot of sense. Taking a page from Christine‘s [Re]Think series of event, forcing attendees to stick together for a few days in a location creates bonds that wouldn’t happen otherwise. Like Geeks on a Plane last month, it unsettles people. You’re not home. You’re not in the Silicon Valley.

And now that the Silicon Valley is out, old farty Europe with its shortcomings should take the opportunity to mingle and show it can be global. Aim for the moon, you’ll at least end up in the stars: grab your tickets.

Do not call me a futurist. Call me a wishful thinker if you insist. I prefer romantic optimist however.

With a wink and a smile.