The start-up scene that is changing Norway

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-24912717

by runarb • 13 years ago

35 13 13 years ago

bbc.co.uk

The luggage company mentioned in the article has an interesting name.

patrocles• 13 years ago

"New graduate Mette Schjelderup has just joined her young husband's business Douchebags, a sports equipment luggage company that was launched last year, and already sells its products in 300 stores across 20 countries."

lol. I mean, what else would you call sports bags?

bowlofpetunias• 13 years ago

As usual, the working culture in Norway is most likely heavily overstated to contrast with the (counter productive) Anglo-Saxon way of doing things.

I cannot speak for Norway, but since my country, The Netherlands, is known for working even less hours, I seriously doubt the situation in Norway is very different.

Although those hours may be normal for the ordinary office and factory worker (and thank god for that), there is absolutely nothing abnormal about entrepreneurs, self-employed and people at start-ups working different and/or longer hours. (And even then most of them actually don't.)

We are neither lazy nor anti-entrepreneur. We just have decent labour laws to protect those for whom a job is just a job, which is 90% of the population.

But nothing is stopping the other 10%. Please note that this article suggestively heads a paragraph with 'Golden handcuffs' (including the quotation marks), but fails to reproduce any such quote, or any evidence of any kind of limitation.

It's just the typical desperate attempt to suggest that there must be something wrong that needs to change about prosperous countries where people work considerably less on average, and are happier and healthier.

andyjohnson0• 13 years ago

"We are neither lazy nor anti-entrepreneur."

I didn't get the impression that the article was arguing that.

I read it as: Tech results in the number of entrepreneurs in Norway reaching a tipping-point where a community forms and it becomes possible to create places like Mesh. Contrast with existing labour laws and practices. Will Norway find a way to accommodate both and keep a life-friendly balance?

(British, living in the UK)

elektronaut• 13 years ago

I am Norwegian, and your criticism is spot on. I don't recognize the working hours angle in this piece at all.

The labour laws have exceptions for the self employed, entrepreneurs and employees in important posititions, and are in no way a hindrance if you want to work insane hours. I did that, for years, mostly to my own detriment.

As a side note, my office is right above one of the spaces mentioned, and the lights are usually out by the time I leave.

That said, I'm excited to see all these places appearing.

purringmeow• 13 years ago

I could never work the hours some people here are putting. I mean, cmon - 12+ hours a day?

Not that there should be laws stopping people from working that much, but I would hate for Europe to become like the US in that regard - almost no employee protection and long hours(50-60h weeks) becoming a standard.

And that's coming from someone who's libertarian in many aspects :)

hipsters_unite• 13 years ago

Absolutely. Work a day job and freelance etc., on the side, but I'm free to drop the extra work if it gets too much and just live off a decent day job. Here in the UK it's tending more and more toward the US model, and I'm not a fan at all... luckily work for a small company that respects their employees :)

raverbashing• 13 years ago

"It's just the typical desperate attempt to suggest that there must be something wrong that needs to change about prosperous countries where people work considerably less on average, and are happier and healthier."

The real issue is, if their product can be competitive (cheaper, or maybe more expensive and better, and have a captive market), there's no problem with that whatsoever.

And Norway or other countries are welcome to have the tax structure they want, as long as it doesn't impact (too much) the competitiveness of their exported products.

I certainly am in favour of a more healthy and happy work environment and good luck for them for pushing that.

LekkoscPiwa• 13 years ago

And if someone (God Forbid!) is so crazy that they want to work 60 hours week when employed at a startup because they want it to succeed? Because they want their share of the equity to grow? Illegal? Forbidden? Costly like hell? Nice…

sputknick• 13 years ago

Why don't more maker spaces and co-working spaces combine like this? It seems like a natural meshing of cultures. In DC we have co-working spaces, and a maker space (coming soon) but they are roughly 30 minutes apart.

zerr• 13 years ago

Taxes - that's what needs a change.

While Norway can be a good place to be born and live permanently, it is really a bad destination for a foreign talent who might want to work for a couple of years and leave the country with the significant amount of savings.

reustle• 13 years ago

I'd go back to Austin to build my next startup if they fixed public transportation. I can't stand cities that require you to own a car.

bjark• 13 years ago

As a foreign worker you get tax discounts for the first 2 years. Can't remember exactly how much it is but it's a lot.

The start-up scene that is changing Norway

Related Stories