On Europe

@dalexeenko|December 28, 2025 (5m ago)243 views

There’s been a lot of pessimism about Europe lately; from Mario Draghi’s report to Dealroom’s $11T GDP gap chart, Andrew McAfee’s data on >$10B companies created in the last 50 years and the viral “the American mind cannot comprehend this” meme. Much of the criticism is fair. But after a year living here, I see reasons for optimism.

In the spring of 2024, the social media algorithm finally got me. One day it served me a blog called “European Office Time”, written by a guy from Texas named Sam, who has since become a close friend. Sam had previously moved to Lisbon, worked at Cloudflare and seemed genuinely happy. So I sent him a message.

“Hi Sam! My wife and I have always dreamed about moving to Lisbon. Would love to connect!”

He replied within minutes:

“The rumors about Lisbon are true. How about 6:30pm Lisbon time on Wednesday?”

And that was it. That Zoom call became the catalyst that moved us, our toddler, our dog and our entire life 5,000 miles across the Atlantic.

Lisbon (and Europe in general) had always been on our “one day” list. But moving to Europe always felt a bit like a fantasy — something many people talk about but never actually do. My usual counterpoint was that Europe didn’t seem to offer the same level of career choices. With Cloudflare it suddenly wasn’t a fantasy anymore. Now we were talking.

After a couple weeks of convincing (and Sam’s casual answers to big questions — “How are we going to move our dog?” / “Oh, you can just fly direct to Paris and drive down!”), we packed up nearly two decades of our life in the US, sold our electric car before it lost much of its value, put our stuff in storage, rented out our house and decided to go for it.

We’ve been in Lisbon for a year now. It’s been a wild ride, with ups and downs. There were a few moments when we genuinely thought about packing our bags and moving back. Other times we looked at each other and couldn’t believe we actually got to experience all of this.

But the biggest thing this year has given me is a deeper sense of how people live, what they value and how different cultures define a good life.

If you’re American, my advice is to try living in Europe for a year or two. Not just visiting – actually living. I didn’t appreciate the difference until we moved. If you’re European, spend a year or two in the United States. It’s a completely different experience and it will push you to learn, grow and change the way you see the world.

#The American Dream vs. the European Dream

My hot take is that at its heart the cultural difference between the US and Europe comes down to very different visions of a fulfilling life. America is a place driven by relentless ambition: acquiring wealth, building businesses, advancing careers, accumulating property. I’d wager that most Europeans haven’t experienced this high level of ambition. I clearly remember driving in San Francisco’s South of Market neighborhood after a successful product launch at Airbnb and realizing that, with sufficient grit, practically anything is possible. As Doc Brown put it in Back to the Future: “If you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything.” There is no ceiling. This is where America excels.

Europeans tend to prioritize leisure, relationships, community and enjoying life over perpetual economic growth. It can be both bewildering and refreshing when people’s first question isn’t “What do you do?”. I remember sitting at a dinner party with other dads from my kid’s school, when the conversation went from food to real estate to fashion, without anyone once asking what I did for work. It was odd and liberating.

Fundamentally my guess is that it comes down to what people value the most. The definition of the American dream is about economic success. It’s about making money, buying a house, buying a car and building a family. People tend to gravitate towards the US to work, start businesses, fulfill their entrepreneurial dreams and make money along the way.

In Europe people seem to prioritize community, spending time with friends and family and enjoying life. Europeans don’t seem to glorify individual gain and pursuit of wealth. Instead they are content with their lives, culture and not trying to become millionaires. They are happy living in (on average) smaller apartments, paying higher taxes and enjoying life. Another thing that struck me — and that I’m still trying to comprehend — is that Europeans seem to take pride in taking their time. They almost want to cherish it above profit or efficiency. I still don’t get it. This also could be deeply rooted in culture and compensation structure.

At this point it’s clear that the US has an unambiguously stronger economy and its GDP growth is unparalleled. But Europe’s slower pace isn’t always a bug, sometimes it’s a feature. Culture here has enough weight to resist the flattening force of global consumerism. It’s why so many European cities still feel special instead of blending into a familiar grid of highly-optimized Starbucks, Domino’s and Marriotts. I do miss Domino’s though.

#Where Europe Wins

Our decision to move to Lisbon brought a few immediate benefits. Travel is the obvious one. In our San Francisco and Seattle days a trip to Europe meant a lot of planning, transatlantic flights and jet lag. It typically led us to more conventional (nevertheless fantastic) places such as London, Paris or Barcelona. Living in Europe means spontaneous weekends in Marbella, afternoon walks in Saint-Tropez, flying to Paris to see an opera at the Palais Garnier or driving through Tuscany winding country roads trying to dodge crazy Italian drivers. This has completely transformed our travel experiences and allowed us to create some of our favorite memories.

Food deserves its own category. Not surprisingly European food has been nothing short of extraordinary, particularly in France, Italy, Spain and the UK (well, London). It’s not just the ingredients, the meals, the wine. It’s the ambiance, the communal nature of it, the friendly chef that comes out and spends a good amount of time chatting. It also feels healthier across the board, from grocery stores to restaurants. This is one area where tighter regulation seems to be working as intended.

Then there’s the simple fact of how cities work. The way cities are built forces you to walk more, explore things and run into shops, cafes, bookstores in a more spontaneous way. They invite you to explore. Everything from grocery stores, to restaurants, coffee shops, bookstores, barber shops are within walking distance. No sitting in traffic. No maddening commute on the 405 or 101. When you do need to drive, the left lane is actually the fast lane; people don’t sit in it driving 60 mph. Public transit is on another level. Portugal is sort of an exception to this, as it doesn’t have a particularly good public transit system. But it’s amazing how easy, convenient, and fast it is to get from any point to any point in London, Amsterdam or Brussels. The Elizabeth line, SNCB and the Amsterdam Metro are efficient, fast and clean. Sam and I took a 1.5-hour train from Brussels to Verviers for a few days in a row. It was great.

Sam’s “European Office Time” that had caught my attention, celebrated the ideal working environment — the quiet morning and the busy afternoon. It’s such a great feature. You get this sensation of living a few hours in the future. It’s also great to be able to have a slow start to the morning, do some deep work, go on a walk and think, then sit down and put your thoughts on paper, without non-stop meetings or interruptions.

Finally, the motorsports scene is on another level. There are many F1 circuits and FIA grade tracks. Portugal by itself has Circuito do Estoril, Portimão Circuit and Circuito do Sol that are phenomenal to drive on. Nearby Spain has Jerez de la Frontera, Monteblanco, Circuito de Sevilla, Circuito de Navarra and Barcelona-Catalunya. I’m not even talking about Spa-Francorchamps, Nürburgring Nordschleife and Zandvoort. These are serious race tracks, with great layouts, some serious cars, amazing facilities and fun opportunities to drive. You are welcome to bring your own car. You can rent a GT3 RS. Or an LMP3 Nova NP02. Or a Formula 4 racing car. It’s kind of insane. There are many events to drive, many racing events to watch: from F1, to Le Mans, Porsche Sprint Challenge, Ultimate Cup, Caterham Motorsport Iberia and many other endurance and sprint races. For me, it’s not just about racing — it’s a reminder of how deeply Europe values craft, engineering and history.

#Where Europe Struggles

One thing that I miss a lot is the business orientation of the US. Shit gets done. Quickly, professionally and efficiently. Capitalism coupled together with the incentive structure of commission-based compensation is a relentless force of progress. There is a very clear connection between “work hard, be the best at something” and “get rewarded”. It may not be perfect, it may not always work, but, boy, it’s better than anything else.

In the US the mindset is “yes by default” when it comes to business. The natural reaction is “yes, let’s see how we can make it happen”. Whether it’s sending a non-standard package at UPS, asking for advice from a tech founder (I once asked Max Levchin to share his lessons from PayPal and Affirm on how to approach building fraud mitigation systems when I was at Airbnb) or going through with an M&A deal. That’s because the incentive structure is there. I miss capitalism.

In Europe, when it comes to business (in contrast to personal relationships), the default is often a no. “Can I please…?” — “No!”. It doesn’t matter what you need. It’s a no. Then you need to negotiate a path to a maybe. When I brought my car to an emissions inspection center in Amadora, seeing my American license plate, the people who worked there had a quick answer for me. The answer was no. Take your car back. That was before I even unloaded the car from the truck. Four hours in and many negotiations later I finally got a yes and I got the technical inspection sheet signed. The other thing is that there are tons of rules, but because many of these rules are outdated, a lot of discretion is given to individual people in power. Never a great idea.

After a year here, a few structural issues feel hard to ignore. If Europe wants to compete at the same level, a few things feel unavoidable:

First, it needs much more flexible labor rules. It should be much easier for businesses to make high-risk hiring calls. It should be easy to take a bet on someone with no proven track record. You can only afford to do that if your hiring and firing rules are flexible.

Second, Europe needs more diverse capital and financing options. Businesses should be able to borrow from pension funds, university endowments, sovereign wealth funds. Not only banks. This is a big drag on raising funds.

Third, reduction of bureaucracy across the board. European bureaucracy — both in personal and business life — can be brutal. It stifles innovation, risk and entrepreneurship. My sister-in-law had to sit through an 8-hour notary meeting to incorporate her startup!

Finally, Europe still operates as disjoint 27 markets, with its own labor rules, tax codes, bankruptcy rules. Heck, the currency is still not unified! I’m looking at you, Denmark, Hungary, Iceland, Norway, Poland (and a few others). Forget the currency. The license plate dimensions aren’t the same. I found this out when ordering a bracket for a Portuguese plate from Germany.

For all of its inefficiencies, I believe Europe is ultimately shaped less by its policies and institutions than by its people. The talent is here; what’s sometimes missing is the agency — the will to change things.

Sam was kind enough to invite me to a class he teaches at NOVA Business School. Sitting in that classroom, surrounded by students from across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, I felt something I hadn’t expected: optimism. Europe has talent. It has taste. It has people who casually speak four or five languages. There is real hunger to build. The challenge isn’t potential, it’s whether the system will let that potential compound.

Thanks to Kenneth Auchenberg, Rob Daly, Sam Rhea and Tara Sandhu for reading drafts of this.