24yo from London here too. The author's point was:
'Whats toxic is that this then becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, teams get funding because they look/sound the part. This means that there are more teams that succeed that fit the stereotype and on we go creating Tigertailz instead of the Beatles.'
Morgan is using metaphors to show how UK startups need to be themselves. Instead of aping US startups as much as possible in every way they can (for example: dress sense and language), they need to be themselves, focus on developing their own styles whatever that may be.
Sure, but he makes no attempt to define what this "UK culture" they all need to adopt is (bar stating that The Beatles were popular and that Motley Crew were more like Motley Crew than a band that wasn't Motley Crew).
American culture's been slowly infiltrating the UK for decades (I don't have a problem with that), why should a particular group of people suddenly start rejecting it?
There is no single UK culture, so telling people to adopt the ideas of, say, London, isn't any better for people in Edinburgh than telling us to think like Californians.
I think the key point is not being afraid to find your own path. In the start-up world the Valley dominates everything - there is a huge push to get to California or you're not going to achieve anything big. Governments around the world want to make 'the next Silicon Valley', leading to 'silicon roundabout' in London which is an attempt at the superficial trappings of the Valley without any of the substance.
People are starting to realise that the big VC-funded start-up isn't the only way to go - and people outside the US are starting to see that modelling themselves after American companies and American ideals isn't the only way to go either.
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24yo from London here too. The author's point was:
'Whats toxic is that this then becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, teams get funding because they look/sound the part. This means that there are more teams that succeed that fit the stereotype and on we go creating Tigertailz instead of the Beatles.'
Morgan is using metaphors to show how UK startups need to be themselves. Instead of aping US startups as much as possible in every way they can (for example: dress sense and language), they need to be themselves, focus on developing their own styles whatever that may be.
Sure, but he makes no attempt to define what this "UK culture" they all need to adopt is (bar stating that The Beatles were popular and that Motley Crew were more like Motley Crew than a band that wasn't Motley Crew).
American culture's been slowly infiltrating the UK for decades (I don't have a problem with that), why should a particular group of people suddenly start rejecting it?
There is no single UK culture, so telling people to adopt the ideas of, say, London, isn't any better for people in Edinburgh than telling us to think like Californians.
I think the key point is not being afraid to find your own path. In the start-up world the Valley dominates everything - there is a huge push to get to California or you're not going to achieve anything big. Governments around the world want to make 'the next Silicon Valley', leading to 'silicon roundabout' in London which is an attempt at the superficial trappings of the Valley without any of the substance.
People are starting to realise that the big VC-funded start-up isn't the only way to go - and people outside the US are starting to see that modelling themselves after American companies and American ideals isn't the only way to go either.