Why is it so hard to make great burritos in London?
I just came back from a fantastic trip to the US with the Seedcamp teams. For a detailed summary of our trip, you can read the great posts from Platogo and Shout’Em.
I came back with one question in mind: Why is it so hard to make great burritos in London?
Indeed, everybody keeps telling me that Burritos are much easier to make in Silicon valley. You can easily find a great recipe, the best ingredients and the right skills; while in London you are likely to struggle finding chipotle chilies or even good corn tortillas. It takes a lot of trial and error with very few tools at your disposal to find that elusive combination of flavors you know is just right.
Come to think of it, burritos are a lot like start-ups.
After spending 2 weeks in NY and the Bay Area, I have to agree that the Silicon valley seems to be a fantastic place full of opportunities. Everyone knows were to find the best developers and the best technology, everybody knows someone with the right skills or a good idea. They have the infrastructure to create great new start ups, the echo-system is mature.
So are we doomed to eat average Burritos or to stick with jacket potatoes?
I don’t think so. I’ve met a lot of great entrepreneurs in London and some great technologies are being built across Europe. We have here a strong academic and scientific background and the ability to create fantastic IP but we are facing many obstacles when time comes to bring ideas to market. Saul Klein has written a great post on how Seedcamp is creating a distributed network for European start ups; which highlights some key differences between the US and Europe.
But on a day to day basis, I see one simple lesson for those of us in Europe: We’ll all make much better burritos if we start drinking more coffee.
During these 2 weeks in the US, I met more people than I meet in London in a year. Every single person introduced me to other people, some with great travel experience, some with lots of lessons to share from their previous start up and sometime I’d be the one sharing my thoughts on travel, Amazon or online payment.
I know we have meet ups like OpenCoffee, Minibar, OpenSoho or Mobile Monday. That’s great but not enough, and far from what I witnessed in the US. We have to share lessons learned, now!
We all need to spend more time meeting up around a good coffee, sharing ideas, lessons learned and contacts. That’s one important step towards making London and Europe the best place to build a start up; which is your best chance to succeed with your own business…
So if you want to make great burritos, I know were to find chipotle chilles in London, and I know someone who can find great corn tortillas, I might even introduce you to some great carnitas.
Share your thoughts in a comment or come meet me for coffee: itamar at kukunu.com
And to Alasdair, Reshma and Saul: Thank you! You did a fantastic job building an extremely rewarding experience both on a professional and personal level.
