Father, Founder & CEO of @Factory and Angel Investor in Europe, President at Allied for Startups

Lisbon
Joined August 2011
60 seconds for Europe: We are launching a euro hype video edit competition! Remember our hype video from last year? We want to 1000x that. So we partnered with some bigger pro-European social media accounts to spread this far and wide. @NXT4EU @Frid45 @POTFES Know an incredibly capable, young editor that loves to do short-form, high energy edits? Send this to them! Theme: Europe invented democracy, industry, capitalism and much of modern science. We are a continent of high culture, deep history and extraordinary civilizational achievements. Now Europe is being reshaped by crisis, war and geopolitical realignment. At the same time, a new generation of Europeans is building frontier technology, advancing science and creating new culture in pursuit of a stronger, more prosperous and unified Europe. That energy deserves to be celebrated! We want a high-energy, ~60-second edit about what inspires you about Europe and why you are excited for its future. Be ambitious, observant, artistic, optimistic, unique — and above all, yourself. More infos, and submission here: euromaxxing.fr/ @euromaxxing_fr
13
41
4
211
17,697
Actively monitoring the situation…
We are introducing EU Inc. To make building and growing a business across the EU faster, simpler, and smarter. 🔸 Start a company in less than 48 hours 🔸 No minimum capital requirement 🔸 Fully online and borderless
25
6
1
252
13,202
Let’s make EU-INC a reality! Europe badly needs less country-by-country fragmentation in capital markets and company formation - for large companies and small. Fill out the EU consultation form before Sep 30: eu-inc.org/cta Go @euinc_petition! @donaldtusk @bundeskanzler @slagodinsky @mary-khan94 @axelvossmdep @kosmazlotowski @TABochenski
8
1
27
4,267
On the anniversary of the 'Draghi report', and ahead of @EU_Commission President @vonderleyen's State of the (European) Union tomorrow, the need for bold measures for innovators has never been clearer. 🇪🇺 We could all use a good dose of @euinc_petition: linkedin.com/feed/update/urn…
2
4
1
14
1,054
🤯 MERZ AND MACRON JUST CONFIRMED A PAN-EUROPEAN LEGAL ENTITY IS COMING It's now up to all of us to ensure the solution that gets passed into law is fit for purpose for European startups. That means: EU–INC. 🚀 Support us and we all will get this done together. 🇪🇺🤝
🔴 Emmanuel Macron et Friedrich Merz s'expriment 🗣️ Friedrich Merz : "Nous voulons des entreprises européennes fortes et des emplois de qualité. Pour cela il faut un changement de cap radical."
15
101
24
591
91,308
Periodic reminder that you have until the 30th of September to let EU bureaucrats and politicians know what YOU think about, what YOU have experienced in, and how much better we can make things for YOU in this beautiful but fragmented mess we call Europe. linkedin.com/feed/update/urn…
1
8
20
1,816
The EU has a once-in-a-generation chance to deliver on a bold new measure with the potential to vastly improve life for scores of startup founders, operators and investors. But Europe risks Europe-ing itself out of the opportunity. linkedin.com/feed/update/urn…
7
78
20
212
62,327
Genuinely going insane. Can't count how many times i had to explain this to politicians: "No, it's not easier to update 27+ (semi-digital) government registries and introducing 27+ legal entities, instead of introducing a new clean modern digital one. Plus, it defeats the goal – you end up w/ 54+ entities and platforms instead of one pan-European standard." 🤯
EU-Inc is close to the finishing line (of the first stage) 🇪🇺 All the politicians in Brussel want "something like it". It's the #1 item on the commission's strategy. Now the hard part is to make sure the politicians have the ambition to get the details right. You can have the same goals, but if you stack-rank priorities differently, don't understand details, or simply lack political ambition you easily end up with something useless. We will need your help – now and over the next weeks. First up, I wrote up a quick primer that gets you up to speed with everything that happened so far and WHICH details are important to get right. It also gives a bit of insight into the repeating discussions we constantly have with Brussels and member states. If we as European startup scene get this right, and implement EU-Inc cleanly – as something that startups can actually use – we will create the biggest leapfrog improvement for startups and tech-innovation in Europe in our lifetime. Here the details: klinger.io/posts/eu-inc Let's get this done. Please RT/like this post 🙏
11
18
4
198
15,618
EU-Inc is close to the finishing line (of the first stage) 🇪🇺 All the politicians in Brussel want "something like it". It's the #1 item on the commission's strategy. Now the hard part is to make sure the politicians have the ambition to get the details right. You can have the same goals, but if you stack-rank priorities differently, don't understand details, or simply lack political ambition you easily end up with something useless. We will need your help – now and over the next weeks. First up, I wrote up a quick primer that gets you up to speed with everything that happened so far and WHICH details are important to get right. It also gives a bit of insight into the repeating discussions we constantly have with Brussels and member states. If we as European startup scene get this right, and implement EU-Inc cleanly – as something that startups can actually use – we will create the biggest leapfrog improvement for startups and tech-innovation in Europe in our lifetime. Here the details: klinger.io/posts/eu-inc Let's get this done. Please RT/like this post 🙏
27
152
34
563
103,542
💯 A hundred days just passed since we submitted the 16,000 strong petition and the final blueprint for the 28th Regime to Commissioners @Michael McGrath and @Ekaterina Zaharieva. What happened since then ⬇️
4
21
6
100
15,255
We need EU Inc to make European companies independent of the US Delaware C corp and to usher in a renaissance of investing in European Startups. With Trump at the helm, this is becoming a strategic necessity for Europe. @euacchq @andreasklinger
3
5
1
66
2,361
Our First Episode is up: PROXIMA FUSION – Europe's Most Ambitious Startup 🇪🇺✨ Every industry in the world will be redefined once we reach energy abundance – there is one company in Europe hell bent to make that happen as soon as possible. I went to visit them in their office and their lab – and I am taking you, with my camera, along. Teaser attached – Please watch, like, comment, and subscribe on Youtube – We need the algorithm there to pick it up! Full link in the reply 👇 Let's make this series together: Let me know what you like? – what you don't? – what can i do better? – and who I should interview next! 🔥
I am starting a new video series: "Europe's Most Ambitious Startup 🇪🇺" Who should I interview? Who is building crazy ambitious and exciting stuff and got the credibility to actually do it? The benchmark is: [if it works] fundamentally changes their industry. I will do this as unfiltered and authentic as possible. Together we will visit their office, their workshops and labs and I just take you along. We will put a camera up, chat with the founders, talk about their working prototypes, about their customers, about their factories. Understand why they do it and what they are epic. Please help me with getting this right – hit reply: Which company is absotuely epic? Who are the founders? Where are they based? And btw subscribe (link in reply) - the first one is dropping tomorrow! 🔥 For Europe ❤️🇪🇺
19
45
8
262
28,433
Back in Brussels 🔥 Full day meeting with the comission and the EVP @HennaVirkkunen We’ll discuss topics like 28th regime / @euinc_petition and a few other topics. It will be a quite large meeting. They invited a lot of people. Seems like Brussels waking up. 👀
19
10
2
228
14,527
FYI Never liked the "MEGA" "Make Europe Great Again" brand. Never used/encouraged it. Long before Musk. Mainly b/c I never understood why Europe should copy US marketing, or import their bipolar obsession with culture wars Europe needs its own brands, stand on its own feet 🇪🇺
82
32
15
585
52,699
Good morning Europe, Let's get to work… 1) As some of you already heard: the EU has confirmed that they are starting to work on a pan-european legal entity early 2025 🔥 2) Instead of waiting and hoping for the best. We want to frontrun this and – together with the whole startup ecosystem – create the best 👀 Today we are opensourcing a first-draft of how the EU-Inc could look. And we want your contributions. What are we missing? What's unclear? What edgecase might be an issue? The @euinc_petition needs you! 😉 It's all opensource and public here proposal.eu-inc.org/ This first draft was created with several dozen legal experts in the European ecosystem. Now we are opening it up to the wider community. We – as a community – got until January 15th to finalize a draft for the EU-Inc. To contribute simply comment in the notion (seriously what could go wrong 😬) or use the feedback button to send us your thoughts/changes/suggestions/questions. Please promote this and send this to your friends. Ask your legal-council to give their feedback too. Post on twitter your thoughts to give this more reach. The last time we said "we got 6 weeks" we managed to make this an urgent part of the work agenda. This time we got 6 weeks to make sure the implementation is right for startups. Let's show, not tell! 🔥🇪🇺
45
159
33
724
86,774
🔥 The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announces she wants to propose a so-called 28th regime for startups, aka an EU Inc. 💪 @vonderleyen wants to see innovative startups scale all across the huge single market of the EU! 🇪🇺🚀
22
51
25
259
26,419
Breaking News 🔥 The first proposal for an implementation of the EU Inc could already happen next year. 🤯
People told us this would never happen! And now... The European Union will have its first proposal for an EU Inc in 2025!! 🚀
19
18
4
312
21,335
Last week in Brussels was crazy for EU Inc. Quick recap: - Met multiple Members of Parliament - Arranged meetings for this week too - Met people from the Commission - Got support from all big startup associations - Joined the Annual Summit of @Allied4Startups - @simonschaefer even opened the event with our cap And we hit over 10k subscribers making the largest petition for any startup topic ever. We will publish a full roadmap later this week – and there is even more to come. The EU Inc will become reality - the momentum is here to stay. Attached a few pictures (not sharing several photos as the MEPs first wanted to learn more)
25
25
10
301
27,888
🔥 BREAKING: Paul Graham – Founder of Y Combinator – signed the EU Inc Petition. Thank you @paulg for your support! 🙏🏻 Sign and promote the EU Inc! eu-inc.org
2
20
7
169
33,356
Got a ton of questions related to this the last days: 🇪🇺 eu/acc Recap: 1) Yes this is true, Mario reached out to Peter This is by itself epic 2) Mario Draghi's report has been a long time coming A bunch of us send several suggestions beforehand to his team. I personally didn't expect them to be this honest, direct and full-force with critique and recommendations 3) A centralized entities for the EU isn't a new idea by us. There have been multiple full-blown projects in the last 20 years to make this happen, even Mario Draghi pitched this a few times in the past. The difference now is that there is a real political will to make it happen 4) An EU inc is needed as fundament/platform and it's not a done conclusion It's less than 1% in his report. Entity via 28th regime is such an old idea that it's basically a meme in Brussels Plus the EC historically has more SMEs in mind and based on the current recommendations might make this too complex. 5) TLDR: There is still work to be done I am currently working with a few freaks on a very exciting project in this area - can showcase early october. We can improve Europe for Startups. Less complaining. More doing. LFG
🇪🇺 eu/acc A few weeks ago Mario Draghi asked my recommendations for his report that came out today about European competitiveness I had a call with him and summarized my problems with doing business in the EU I wrote this which is included in the report presented to the European Union today: 1. Minimum revenue cut offs for current and new regulation Exempt small businesses with annual revenues below €10 million from complex regulations like VATMOSS, GDPR, the EU AI Act, and certain labor laws. This approach encourages innovation and growth by allowing startups to focus on product development and market validation without the heavy burden of regulatory compliance. Once these businesses surpass €10 million, they will have the resources to comply with regulations, ensuring that growth is not stifled. 2. Simplify starting a pan-EU business with an EU-wide Incorporation (Inc.) business form Currently, starting and operating a business across the EU is complex due to 27 member states, each with its own company registration requirements. To streamline this process and make it easier for entrepreneurs to operate across Europe, there should be a single, standardized business entity that applies uniformly across all EU countries. I call this the European Inc. 3. Start an EU business fully online, no physical offices, notaries, lawyers etc To continue, right now starting a business in most EU member states it’s complicated, very time and resource intensive, and often involves lawyers and notaries. Instead, it should be as simple as going online to a centralized EU website, where entrepreneurs can register their business and details in just a few clicks. The entire process should be streamlined and efficient, allowing businesses to start operating immediately. The EU government taxes and bookkeeping of this business should also be fully online in an EU portal/dashboard. 4. 0% corporate tax for first 3 years of any new business Countries like Singapore have successfully attracted new businesses from around the world by giving them a massive tax discount during the first 3 years of business. Because they know that’s the most difficult time of a business: figuring out what product it makes and if there’s a market for it. That takes pressure off startups and business founders that they can focus on creating a great product and innovating. 5. Change tax on stock options: don't tax when a stock option is exercised, but tax it when the stock is sold The current tax policy in the EU taxes stock options at the time they are exercised, creating a significant financial burden on employees who have not yet realized any tangible financial gain. This approach stifles innovation, discourages entrepreneurship, and places the EU at a competitive disadvantage compared to other regions like the United States. I propose a simple change: Tax stock options when the stock is sold, not when the option is exercised. 6. Don’t see tech or AI as an enemy, but as a burgeoning and essential industry The most popular companies in tech are focused on AI right now for a reason. It’s the next frontier of computing. The European Union seems to consider AI the enemy. Any technology can be used for good or bad. By regulating it even before Europe has made much contributions (Europe has almost no tech companies leading in AI), it has stifled any potential innovation in AI from the start. Apart from the regulation itself, the optics of it make the EU look bad on a global scale. Why would tech founders move to Europe to start a business if the EU is actively positioning itself as Anti-AI? AI has gigantic potential to be used for good: think of the medical field for diagnosis of diseases, generally in programming (it helps programmers to create software faster/better), etc. This goes further than AI. The same applies to tech in general. It seems the EU is on a crusade against technology while not being able to compete in it itself. It feels a case of sour grapes: if we can’t build great technology in EU, nobody is allowed to do so! 7. Teach tech/coding/AI topics in all schools and unis It would help a lot if the EU has a focus on teaching AI and tech in schools and universities. Making the new generation competitive in this field instead. To secure the future prosperity of the European Union, we must prioritize education in technology, coding, and AI across all levels of schooling, from primary education to universities. This strategic focus is not just an educational reform—it’s a critical investment in the future competitiveness, innovation, and economic resilience of the EU.
42
46
10
595
80,938