Beyond Spotify and iZettle: How Sweden became Europe’s capital of startup exits
Let me contrast two European business experiences from the past year.<p>One, very recently, from Paris. Terms of a deal agreed on. But the investor wanted to wet sign over a 2-hour lunch. At the end, he couriered the signed document to his lawyer, to scan and e-mail. The lawyer, unfortunately, didn&#x27;t notice it come in before leaving early for the week-end. (He promised he would have it out first thing on Monday, at which point he e-mailed it to the wrong person.) Everybody&#x27;s English is good, but broken, and miscommunications over e-mail and voice occasionally occur. When complaints came up, the reactions were in the form of &quot;calm down&quot; or &quot;be realistic&quot; or a counter-complaint.<p>Second, a few months ago, from Stockholm. Perfect American English. Documents moved over the weekend. Fast, no-frills dealmaking with a common sense of commercial values. When complaints arose, a discussion emerged around how we could work better together.<p>As a New Yorker, I love doing business in Sweden over almost anywhere else in Europe. From recent discussions–and statistics–it appears I&#x27;m not alone. Culture matters hugely.