1. It's harder to get investment for a startup in Europe than it is in America. Or I guess more precisely, it's harder to get investment outside of Silicon Valley.
2. If you do get investment, it'll be far lower in Europe than in America. This puts you at a disadvantage in fields where marketing spend is increasingly important (like social media sites/apps and ridesharing businesses). I mean, people over here think the amount of money given on The Apprentice or Dragon's Den is a reasonable investment for the next Google or Facebook. That's closer to 10-50 grand than the couple of million some Silicon Valley businesses raise.
3. European investors and accelerators are very hesitant to invest in consumer facing startups. Instead, they prefer giving money to companies who sell services and products to businesses, like say Moz. When I asked a few of them about a user facing social networking company (like Twitter or Facebook or Medium) they said it would require more money than they'd be willing to offer for a lesser chance at a return.
4. Cultural differences. People are less encouraged to take risks over here, with the 'default' being to take a standard job and work your way up to management before retiring X years later with a spouse, 2.5 kids and a dog. If I'd said I'd drop out of university to start up an internet company, people would think I was crazy.
5. The wages are lower, so the best candidates likely don't get involved in startups here. This is at least in part because programming isn't much more respected than retail or office work, at least from what I've seen in London. So those with the interest in doing something big with their life either get into a different field (like finance) or pack their bags and move to America.
6. Finally, I think computer education being so bad for so many years may have had an effect here. If you didn't go to university to study a technical subject (or have an interest in it in your free time), then you likely only know how to use Microsoft Office. A lot of people who'd otherwise be interested in working in the tech industry likely don't think it's interesting work, or (based on their schooling) imagine it's basically Microsoft tech support.
