Meredith Whittaker

One meta observation, having been here for a bit of duration now is, and I've thought this before, but it's interesting to think of Europe as one thing. When you go to different countries and meet different people and you're like, wow, this is not one thing.

One meta observation, having been here for a bit of duration now is, and I've thought this before, but it's interesting to think of Europe as one thing. When you go to different countries and meet different people and you're like, wow, this is not one thing.

One meta observation, having been here for a bit of duration now is, and I've thought this before, but it's interesting to think of Europe as one thing. When you go to different countries and meet different people and you're like, wow, this is not one thing.

It is in the US, yeah. I mean, you know, it's big and it's… But there is a common theme somehow.

It is in the US, yeah. I mean, you know, it's big and it's… But there is a common theme somehow.

It is in the US, yeah. I mean, you know, it's big and it's… But there is a common theme somehow.

It's split in an interesting way. Because on one part, if you go to kind of the startup ecosystem, the VC ecosystem, like that world, there's a lot of smart people and cool people doing cool things. And there's sometimes a bit of magical thinking that I see, which is really like... If we wish hard enough, if we're able to figure it out, we're going to be able to create competitors to the U.S.

It's split in an interesting way. Because on one part, if you go to kind of the startup ecosystem, the VC ecosystem, like that world, there's a lot of smart people and cool people doing cool things. And there's sometimes a bit of magical thinking that I see, which is really like... If we wish hard enough, if we're able to figure it out, we're going to be able to create competitors to the U.S.

It's split in an interesting way. Because on one part, if you go to kind of the startup ecosystem, the VC ecosystem, like that world, there's a lot of smart people and cool people doing cool things. And there's sometimes a bit of magical thinking that I see, which is really like... If we wish hard enough, if we're able to figure it out, we're going to be able to create competitors to the U.S.

incumbents, right? And we're going to have our own thing. Own search engine.

incumbents, right? And we're going to have our own thing. Own search engine.

incumbents, right? And we're going to have our own thing. Own search engine.

Which often just – sometimes I'm just like, okay, that's a money play, right? Like you get enough in your Series A, Series B, and then you'll get acquired and no one will do anything with it or you'll get rich or whatever. You may not necessarily believe that. Like markets float on hype and –

Which often just – sometimes I'm just like, okay, that's a money play, right? Like you get enough in your Series A, Series B, and then you'll get acquired and no one will do anything with it or you'll get rich or whatever. You may not necessarily believe that. Like markets float on hype and –

Which often just – sometimes I'm just like, okay, that's a money play, right? Like you get enough in your Series A, Series B, and then you'll get acquired and no one will do anything with it or you'll get rich or whatever. You may not necessarily believe that. Like markets float on hype and –

So, OK, but it is there is this thread where it's it's almost a willful misunderstanding of the reality of incumbent platforms, of the history that, you know, accrued that type of power to U.S. companies and of the dependencies that Europe and most of the rest of the world have on these companies. Like three, the three cloud companies based in the U.S. have 70, 70 percent of the global market.

So, OK, but it is there is this thread where it's it's almost a willful misunderstanding of the reality of incumbent platforms, of the history that, you know, accrued that type of power to U.S. companies and of the dependencies that Europe and most of the rest of the world have on these companies. Like three, the three cloud companies based in the U.S. have 70, 70 percent of the global market.

So, OK, but it is there is this thread where it's it's almost a willful misunderstanding of the reality of incumbent platforms, of the history that, you know, accrued that type of power to U.S. companies and of the dependencies that Europe and most of the rest of the world have on these companies. Like three, the three cloud companies based in the U.S. have 70, 70 percent of the global market.

You have five major social media platforms.

You have five major social media platforms.