Brexit for Startups: Why You Should Pack Your Bags (By Stefano L. Tresca)

Stefano Tresca
Stefano Tresca

When I opened Facebook yesterday morning, I had over 100 messages from the startup community panicking about the possible consequences of Brexit.

Maybe because I am over 40 in a very young community, or because I regularly spend some time mentoring the younger entrepreneurs, at one point, I have been appointed as a sort of “Tech Uncle” of the community.

Right or wrong, let’s use the benefits of this Uncle figure to share some thoughts about the Brexit, and its consequences for the startups.

First of all, don’t worry (too much). Yes, it’s going to be harder to get permanent residence in the UK for European entrepreneurs. On the other hand, many successful entrepreneurs come from outside the EU and they are here in London. From a legal point of view, even Americans or Swiss are non-EU immigrants and nobody kicked them out.

Second, of all the people who can complain, tech workers should complain the least. There is such a gap in the job market for digital workers, that good programmers are always going to be in high request. In fact, tech workers as an average make 36% more than native English who are working in traditional sectors.

British are practical. Corporations are even more practical. If they need you, you’ll stay. It’s going to be a bit harder, I know. The American stand-up comedian, Louis C. K., has a clever joke about immigration. “Of course foreigners steal your job — he says — but maybe, if someone without contacts, money or speaking the language steals your job, you are sh*t”.

With Brexit, you may lose a legal advantage against your peer from Ukraine or Columbia. You still have your brain, skills, and grit. If they can make it, you can make it. If you can’t make it, well, the problem is not the visa status.

Workers without high skills will have more issues, and this is not fair. This is not just an issue for waiters and people in hospitality, but graduates in law, philosophy, literature, and other old fashioned education. They deserve a job as much as a coder. Unfortunately, life is not fair. If they don’t get entrepreneurial skills or coding skills, their life will be harder. Nothing to add on that.

Third and most important point. UK banks and companies cannot afford to lose access to the UE market. Consequently, the UK will choose a Norway-like position exiting the UE politically but keeping a foot in the EU economy. The consequence is easy to see. If the UK is still in the EU economy – as it almost certainly will – workers will move with a certain freedom.

So pack your bags but don’t go home. Take a small holiday because the next few years will be quite busy.

The fourth and last point is unfortunately the most annoying.

We have driverless cars, drones, and Artificial Intelligence. Facebook reaches 1.65 billion people across the planet. And yet, human nature hasn’t changed much.

When time gets tough, a small group of “leaders” start blaming someone else. The immigrants or those that are different. The masses follow almost every time.

London has plenty of people in tech and finance, two disciplines that require knowledge and an open mind, and they voted enmass to stay. Almost everybody else in England voted to leave in a cathartic relief: “It’s not our fault if our lives are difficult, it’s the immigrants’ fault.”

In part, they are right. It’s not just their fault, however, they point in the wrong direction. I spent two years in regulation and lobbying in Brussels, and what I saw was a bureaucracy structure completely detached from the real world. The European Union has two headquarters (Brussels and Strasbourg) and moves between each other every month, with duplicate offices, duplicate houses, duplicate staff, and duplicate costs of course.

Cars have changed and they can drive themselves. Computers have changed and they can (almost) think by themselves. But human nature hasn’t changed much.

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Stefano Tresca is founding member of Level39 — Europe’s largest technology accelerator for finance and future cities tech — and StartupHome — co-living for entrepreneurs. Many years ago, he felt in love with the city of London, and that’s where he lives now when he’s not travelling.

FinSMEs

25/06/2016

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