A note on the Berlin startup scene
by James Glazebrook
If you have even a passing familiarity with the Berlin startup scene, you’ll have seen this blog post on The Guardian website, written by someone who recently returned to the UK after a brief immersion in the city’s tech “bubble”. Well, The Local asked for my reaction – as someone who has a lot of contact with expats in the startup world and part of the team about to open Berlin’s first tech campus – and I thought I’d share it here. Read their response “Ten points in defence of Berlin’s startup scene” here, and my comments below.
The Guardian article contains nothing we haven’t heard before. As one of Berlin’s biggest English language blogs, we attract a lot of questions and enquiries from the group to which the writer (who we know) belongs: young non-German speakers who are early in their careers, and attracted to the city’s competitive creative scene. Their observations are valid, but represent a very narrow experience of the Berlin tech ecosystem, one with fairly predictable outcomes.
If you land an internship at an English-speaking company, you are likely to remain in that bubble, speak (and hear) very little German – and you’re most at risk of losing your “job”. We know lots of people who have discovered that “the streets are not paved with gold”, and have had to move back home or onto somewhere where they can more easily lay the foundations for their career. But we also know plenty of people who’ve landed (very) real jobs at successful companies, who have stable work and are appropriately rewarded for their experience and qualifications.
We’re sick of the mainstream media cycle of hype and backlash when it comes to Berlin in general, and the startup scene in particular. No one in their right mind would believe that Berlin is the next Silicon Valley, or the only European startup hub that matters – but, equally, no one should dismiss it as just a hipster party town. We turn out innovative, productive businesses with global impact (SoundCloud, 6Wunderkinder, ResearchGate), and we’re only going to see more success like this. But we still have a long way to go…
To the Berlin startup community we say: ignore all of this. Keep your heads down and keep up the good work. To anyone thinking of moving to the city to follow their startup dreams, we say: don’t believe the hype! Follow the advice of this article and do your homework, find a company that you fit with and feel passionate about, and enter the Berlin startup scene with open eyes and realistic expectations. Good luck
Illustration by Josh Bauman.
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Author lists 3 examples of Berlin startups that make global impact. One of those, 6Wunderkinder, returns a 404 on the index page.
Their site’s back up!
As someone who works in tech, but not a startup I look forward to the day where more people understand the distinction. And it’s possible to build a successful, independent and sustainable company in this field.
Genau.
Here is my article about the internships in Berlin:
http://avanthard.wordpress.com/2013/08/26/all-the-truth-about-internships/
My research shows that most of the startups are exploiting the young and talented, and I say “can’t pay, don’t hire! You’re not working for free, why should anyone?”. And everyone knows there are no instructors who’d teach you, you’re expected to work independently from the 1st day. The internships at startups unfortunately are NOT for the benefit of the intern, but vice versa and it’s against the law.
Creative sector is full of sins too, Transmediale and Berlinale survive totally thanks to un(der)paid interns.
Want to know the German law and your rights as an intern? Check this presentation: http://www.slideshare.net/JekaterinaPetrova/internship-culture-in-berlin-13nov
Thanks,
Katja
Thanks for sharing. We agree that the intern culture is a rotten one, especially here in Berlin. As someone who works in marketing/communications/community management, I hate to see my work devalued by ads for interns to do the work of juniors in this field. The example of the cleaner earning 3 x that of the marketing intern speaks volumes – should companies be allowed to pay insulting wages for roles, just because there’s a queue of people waiting to fill them? Should they only pay decent wages for jobs that no one else wants to do? Thanks for taking it upon yourself to champion this worthwhile cause – good luck with it!
Thanks for the comment, James.
It’s a dead circle here in Berlin; if they don’t sing the law about €8,50/h for all graduate-interns, young people (especially expats) will struggle just more and more.
InternsGoPro, a European organisation, came up with the idea to publish quality listings of the companies who offer internships, anyone who’s done one, can fill out a short questionnaire and rate the company. This would help at least future interns. http://internsgopro.com/rate-your-internships/
It is sad, absurd and totally wrong to be paid €300/m when you already have a BA or MA. You’ve invested money and time in your studies, while working part-time in a shop, and then you graduate and get paid 3 times less for all your hard work.
This a broken economy.
Amen, brother.
I my experience of almost two years in the environment I would say that, when you arrive, you will notice two kinds of dimensions: the “let me tell you about my startup/idea(r)” one and the one in which there is people who started a company. You don’t want to fall in the first one.
Thanks for the comment!
Do you mean some people just talk while others do? Or are you talking about the difference between startups and actual companies?
Oh, just seen your Facebook comment. You mean the latter.
That is an important distinction – between startups searching for a business case, and successful companies who have found theirs. Berlin needs more of the latter, but that doesn’t discount the work of the pioneers!