Optismism in Overdrive
Americans have an over optimism which doesn't translate well to European business. After trying to start one company here and being told I need to have a degree and certificates in picking up laundry and buying gifts (concierge service), I have been watching the expats I know and how they deal with starting a company. One expat that I have met is named Maria. Maria's optimism has not been tempered yet and she thinks very much like an American business woman. Where I am looking for two million Euros to start my company, she is looking for hundreds of millions. The numbers seem funny they are so unfamiliar. Maria is interested in creating a new amusement park and has asked me to help her with the business plan. I agree to do the initial research and find it fascinating that amusement parks are actually a pretty good investment. Even Disney Paris is doing well now that they have changed their concept to agree with European sensibilities.
I am not sure if the optimism is built into our school system in the US or if expats are just a breed of people who tend to be optimists but no matter where I live in Europe, the American business people I meet are super optimists and have a hard time understanding the cautiousness of the European mentality.
I still feel very much like an optimist and completed the first draft of my business plan. My adviser at the business plan competition introduces me to the Luxembourg Incubator representative.
After telling him what my project is, he reviews my plan and tells me that I can continue developing my idea at the incubator. The incubator is in an old castle down in Esch, Luxembourg. The incubator is deserted. Every time I go, I am one of the few people in the facility.. it is a very lonely place to go and work. The people at the incubator keep telling me that my product should solve a problem. It is an animated music video software... I want to develop it for fun so people are enteratined but that is not the focus of European businesses... In European business, your product must solve a problem.
It goes against my Americanism to have a company that only solves a problem but I spend months trying to figure out what kind of problem my software fixes and I find one. It is actually a pretty cool problem that it fixes and has to do with advertising. I am happy that I tracked down the problem that I can fix, now I can pursue the creation of the software and funding.
I am not sure if the optimism is built into our school system in the US or if expats are just a breed of people who tend to be optimists but no matter where I live in Europe, the American business people I meet are super optimists and have a hard time understanding the cautiousness of the European mentality.
I still feel very much like an optimist and completed the first draft of my business plan. My adviser at the business plan competition introduces me to the Luxembourg Incubator representative.
After telling him what my project is, he reviews my plan and tells me that I can continue developing my idea at the incubator. The incubator is in an old castle down in Esch, Luxembourg. The incubator is deserted. Every time I go, I am one of the few people in the facility.. it is a very lonely place to go and work. The people at the incubator keep telling me that my product should solve a problem. It is an animated music video software... I want to develop it for fun so people are enteratined but that is not the focus of European businesses... In European business, your product must solve a problem.
It goes against my Americanism to have a company that only solves a problem but I spend months trying to figure out what kind of problem my software fixes and I find one. It is actually a pretty cool problem that it fixes and has to do with advertising. I am happy that I tracked down the problem that I can fix, now I can pursue the creation of the software and funding.
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