Fear of failure is one of the many reasons cited for Europe's relatively weak high-tech startup and venture capital scene. But now it appears that a fear of success is another obstacle.

While speaking at the Innovate Europe conference this morning, Sven Lingjaerde, a general partner at Burlingame-based Vision Capital said Europe "needs to accept success." He noted that people are taught in Sweden that they shouldn't  try to place themselves above others. And Julio Alonso, founder and CEO of Madrid-based Weblogs SA, said, "If you succeed, people think you cheated to get there."

That way of thinking is inconceivable to most Americans, where striving for success is built into the culture. If Continental Europe is ever to foster a comparably vibrant entrepreneurial scene, it will have to build that willingness to win into their culture as well. —Joshua Jaffe from Innovate! Europe '05

Go to an interview with Joshua Jaffe
Go to the Innovate! Europe '05 Photoblog
Go to a live blog of the event