Johannes Reck, Co-Founder and CEO of GetYourGuide, says Europe is entering its strongest-ever period for building globally ambitious companies.
In a recent LinkedIn post, Reck argued that the long-held belief that founders must leave Europe to succeed on a global scale is becoming outdated. While he acknowledged the region’s structural challenges, he said the case for staying and building in Europe is now stronger than ever. The post was published just one week after he spoke with Gloria Baeuerlein at BAD1.
For years, the default advice for ambitious founders was to relocate to the U.S., where capital was deeper, talent clusters were denser, and the startup playbook was more established. Reck pushed back on that assumption, pointing to a new generation of European companies that have scaled internationally from the region;
“If you’re debating whether to build here or move, here’s your answer: Choose Europe. Conditions anywhere are never perfect. Spotify, Klarna, Booking.com, Zalando — none of them waited. They just built. The same is true for the next generation: Trade Republic, Mistral, Helsing, Lovable, ElevenLabs…The proof of concept exists. The question isn’t whether to build here, it’s: are you next?”
He said the shift is not just about individual success stories, but about the broader maturation of the European ecosystem. In his view, venture activity has accelerated, deal flow has expanded, and the pace of company formation now looks dramatically different from the early days of Europe’s startup scene. He pointed to 2025 as a record year for European startup funding, with artificial intelligence leading investment activity for the first time.
The strongest part of his argument is not sentimental. It is strategic. Europe is still early enough that founders can stand out faster than they might in the hyper-saturated U.S. startup scene. There is less noise, less inherited orthodoxy, and in many categories, less competition for attention, capital, and talent. That is not a weakness. It is an edge.
Reck also argued that Europe has a temporary opening that founders should recognize quickly. Compared with Silicon Valley, he said, Europe still offers room for entrepreneurs to stand out, particularly in a market that remains earlier in its appetite for risk. He also noted that migration pathways are, in some cases, more accessible than in the U.S., which could help attract more founders and operators to the region.
Beyond market dynamics, Reck framed the issue as one of policy and competition. He warned that the concentration of power among a small group of major U.S. technology companies makes Europe’s efforts to preserve open markets especially important. But he said regulation alone is not enough. Europe also needs more founders willing to build products and companies that can thrive under those rules.
His central message was clear: Europe is not a fallback option. It is, in his view, one of the best places in the world to build a global company right now.
For once, that story is not a stretch. It is already happening.
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