The Nordics aren’t going to be the next Silicon Valley

But they could be something even more exciting for a new generation.

“Si c’était à refaire, je commencerais par la culture.” Jean Monnet

Let’s get one thing out of the way first. Silicon Valley is great. But every time I hear some one say that the Nordics could be the next Silicon Valley or paint Silicon Valley as the one and only recipe for innovative excellence I’m reminded of a report done by Endeavor Insight in 2014. In that report they tried to find the answer to the question: “what do entrepreneurs want in a city?”

And while there’s no question that Silicon Valley is the global tech and startup hub of today, the things we outsiders often do to emulate Silicon Valley don’t reflect the findings about what it actually is that entrepreneurs look for in a city (or even what makes Silicon Valley great for that matter). Above everything else, it’s about talent. And attracting talent is about having a place that’s nice to live and work in. The founders rarely mentioned low taxes or business-friendly regulations as reasons for their choice of location, and yet those factors are some of the most common improvements politicians, journalists and lobbyists call for. And that’s understandable. They’re quantitative, easily manageable and rational.

But people aren’t always rational and things that are immensely important to a successful startup ecosystem can often be unquantifiable. Of the 100 descriptive words entrepreneurs used to answer the question “Why did you choose to found your company in the city that you did?”, the words Tax and Girlfriend are side by side. That’s right. Dating plays roughly as important a role as taxation in that regard, and yet I have a hard time seeing local governments opening singles bars for entrepreneurs in an effort to attract talent.

Yet that’s exactly where our focus should be. No, not singles bars. Attracting talent. After all, if our goal really is to try and replicate the Bay Area’s success it’s worth noting that despite California being ranked as the least business-friendly state in the US, it tops them all in job creation. Then again, why are we trying to measure our success by some one else’s metrics? After all, as Adrià Hernández put it, “Imitating any success formula, in the best case scenario, limits you to second place, as you’ll never be able to beat the original playing the same game, with the same rules and less resources.”

The Nordics aren’t Silicon Valley. The culture, history and economy is vastly different. That doesn’t mean we don’t have anything to compete on though. Quite the opposite. A high standard of living, safety, creativity, equality, vibrancy. Things which matter and are only going to become more important in a world where traveling and working remotely becomes easier and spending absurd sums for the privilege of living in cramped quarters competing with millions of others for the same prize seems increasingly ridiculous.

For Scandinavians, trying to replicate the Silicon Valley brand of “startup culture” doesn’t make sense. Scandinavians don’t do 80 hour work weeks and unbridled optimism. We do social responsibility and life-work balance. In a future where access to knowledge and talent is increasingly international, offering entrepreneurs a sustainable lifestyle is going to count for a lot more when it comes to creating a leading startup ecosystem. While the Nordics still face challenges (reforming immigration regulations, access to capital, etc.) the foundation for a truly revolutionary creative and innovative future is already in place. And for us, it won’t look anything like Silicon Valley.

This is a guest post by Oddur Sturluson, project manager at Icelandic Startups. You can find him on Twitter.