Ole Lehmann Profile picture
Nov 13, 2024 23 tweets 7 min read Read on X
I'm German.

16 years ago, the EU and US economies were neck and neck.

Today, the US economy is 50% larger than the entire EU combined.

Here's the devastating truth behind Europe's ongoing economic suicide 🧵: Image
Image
First, let's look at the numbers:

• US GDP: $25.5 trillion
• EU GDP: $16.6 trillion

But in 2008, they were nearly equal.

What the hell happened over the past 16 years?

It's simple:
Europe chose security over growth.
America chose innovation over regulation.

The results?

America has produced 9 trillion-dollar companies (9/10 of the most valuable companies in the world).

Europe? ZERO. Nowhere to be found: Image
But it goes deeper than numbers...

European talent is fleeing en masse.

I see most European entrepreneurs choosing between two paths:

• The US for higher salaries ($350k+ tech jobs)
• Southeast Asia for lower cost of living to build startups

Why? Image
Because Europe made it impossible to win at home.

Take Berlin's startup scene (where I used to live):

Founders are often viewed with suspicion. "Entrepreneur" = exploiter

I witnessed tech founders being called "capitalist parasites" at local meetups. Image
Meanwhile in places like Silicon Valley and NYC:

Founders are celebrated. Risk-taking is rewarded.
Failure is seen as education, not embarrassment.

To make matters even worse... Image
Europeans are drowning in red tape:

• Employment laws making hiring/firing impossible
• Tax rates crushing small businesses
• Compliance costs killing innovation

To start a company in France takes 84 days
In America? 4 days. Image
Even French president Emmanuel Macron admits it.

When comparing Europe to the American and Chinese markets, he said: Image
The anti-innovation mindset is killing Europe.

For example, when Elon Musk built Giga Berlin, Germans protested:

"No techno-colonialism"

Tesla almost cancelled the project due to regulatory hurdles and community opposition.

This happens daily with smaller companies too.
Europe's regulatory culture created an economic spiral of doom:

• Talent leaves
• Companies avoid investing
• Innovation dies
• Economy stagnates
• More regulation follows

This is why memes like "Europoors" exist. Image
The numbers are brutal:

• 90% of EU tech talent would move to US for right offer
• European tech salaries: 50% lower than US
• Startup funding: 5x higher in US

And Europe's few tech successes?
Most of them move to America:

• Spotify (now NYC-based)
• Klarna (major US operations)
• ARM (being acquired by NVIDIA)

The theme here is obvious: Image
While Europe debates the ethics of AI...
America builds it.

While Europe regulates cryptocurrencies...
America innovates them.

While Europe protects old industries...
America creates new ones.
The solution? In my eyes, Europe must:

1. Slash regulations
2. Embrace risk-taking
3. Support entrepreneurs
4. Lower taxes on innovation

But will they?
As a European, I unfortunately doubt it.

The regulation addiction is too deep.
The anti-business culture too ingrained.

As one French friend/entrepreneur told me:

"I love Europe, but I can't build my future here. The system won't let me." Image
This is why America keeps winning.

Not because Americans are smarter.

But because their system benefits those who build. Image
Europe has become a museum:

• Great at preserving the past
• Terrible at building the future

Unless Europe slashes regulations and embraces risk-taking, the gap will only widen.

As a German, this pains me deeply. I love Europe...
The rich culture and history.
The incredible cuisine.
The best techno scene on Earth.

The fact a 2-hour flight takes you to new worlds with new language, new culture, new country.

I'm rooted here. Image
But beneath this beautiful diversity lies a common problem:

Every European country shares the same anti-entrepreneurship mindset.

It doesn't matter if you're in Berlin, Paris, or Stockholm...

The system is designed to hold builders back. Image
This is forcing a generation of Europeans to make an impossible choice:

Stay in a culture we love but can't build in?

Or leave everything behind to chase opportunity?
The question isn't if Europe will fall behind. It already has.

It's on its way to irrelevancy. And its a reason why I'm currently looking to move out of the continent.

The real question is....

Will they change course before its too late? Image
Btw, I share more magic-internet-money making insights like these in my newsletter.

Over the past 16 months, I've generated:

• $650,000+
• 220,000+ followers across all platforms

Join 40,000+ solopreneurs learning how here (100% free): aisolopreneur.beehiiv.com
wen DOGE EU? @elonmusk @VivekGRamaswamy

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Apr 21
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8 European AgTech companies making the world's healthiest food even healthier: Image
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Apr 20
I’m based in the EU.

Europe's comeback is HAPPENING NOW.

After 20 years of economic stagnation, the EU just launched its most radical pro-growth plan ever.

The "Competitiveness Compass" blueprint that could make Europe a world superpower again 🧵: Image
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First, understand the crisis that forced this change:

Europe's productivity has been lagging behind major economies for 20+ years.

Only 4 EU companies are in the world's top 50. Pathetic.

The US economy is now 50% larger than the entire EU.

But here's what changed everything: Image
The Budapest Declaration.

In November 2024, EU leaders finally admitted the brutal truth that everyone knew but nobody said:

"Business as usual is no longer an option."

Survival requires radical change.

The Competitiveness Compass that followed in January 2025? Image
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These 10 European defense startups are reshaping warfare as we know it 🧵: Image
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🇩🇪 ARX Robotics opened Europe's largest production facility for military robotics in February.

Their autonomous ground systems handle logistics & surveillance in environments too dangerous for humans.

No remote operators - these robots make their own decisions in real-time. Image
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Everyone talks about Musk, Bezos, and Zuck.

But Europe's tech billionaires built empires worth $80B+ while staying completely under the radar.

From revolutionizing payments to searching for aliens...

Here's how the 10 richest European tech founders spend their billions 🧵: Image
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He took his fortune and created the Hasso Plattner Institute, pouring millions into IT education across Germany.

His foundation now funds groundbreaking medical research. Image
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He shocked Germany by becoming the owner of a small-village football club TSG Hoffenheim.

His foundation now funds vital medical research, focusing on cancer treatments. Image
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Google has a secret startup in England with a moonshot mission:

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How Isomorphic Labs is changing drug discovery forever 🧵: Image
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First, let's meet Isomorphic Labs - the London-based Alphabet company that's redefining how we discover drugs.

Their goal? Nothing less than "solving all disease with AI."

That might sound impossibly ambitious, but founder Sir Demis Hassabis has the credentials to back it up:
• Co-founder of DeepMind, acquired by Google for $500M
• Creator of AlphaFold, which solved the 50-year protein folding problem
• The tech that won a Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Isomorphic isn't starting from scratch... Image
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10 European robotics startups reshaping our physical world 🧵: Image
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Their MAiRA system doesn't just follow instructions - it perceives its environment, learns from mistakes, and adapts in real-time.

They've got real demand too with a whopping €1B order book.
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