5 Reasons why Germany it not the Home of the Unicorns

Earlier this year I came across a post by Ibrahim Evsan where he stated that the market cap of all German companies is not as much as Facebook`s stock exchange value at that time. This made me thinking. Not that I'm a banker (anymore) or an investor; I'm not even running my own business anymore. It made me thinking from my position as a sales person. And I came up with 5 broad-brushed reasons why Germany is not the home of the Unicorns.

(picture from Ibrahim Evsan`s post)

1. We fear people that are better than us

Instead of surrounding ourselves with people that are better than we are, people we can learn from, you know, the real leaders, we always want to lead the pack. Trying to keep others small, hold them back instead of embracing new ideas. We fear people that are better than us. We fear that they may make us look dumb. This prevents us from learning and kills innovation. Someone once said: "If you are the smartest person in the room, you`re in the wrong room!". That`s something Germans haven`t understood.

2 . We can not begrudge another person its success

Instead of feeling inspired by other people success we can not begrudge another person its success. We do not buy from our friend who started a small business with a great idea. And when he fails, we are the first to say: "we knew it all the time!"

3. Germany has no culture of failure

The US do have a culture of failure built on Samual Beckett`s quote:

“Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”

This is something we absolutely would need here in Germany as well. We are so afraid of failure that we often even start. It`s in our DNA that failure means a complete career break.

4. Germans are no "risk takers"

An US American tourist once asked:" Why did the government of the German Democratic Republic built the wall between East and West Germany? A red light would have done the job!" He asked that while looking at people on the streets of Berlin waiting at a red light in the middle of the night. With no cars coming. O.k., first of all we always follow the rules. But also, Germans are no risk takers. We love safety. And safety was never a good driver for change and innovation.

5. Germans are definitely not early adopters

Germans are definitely not early adopters - we were just not born that way. To give you just a few examples:

• Just a few weeks ago Apple`s mobile payment service started in Germany. 4 years, in letters FOUR, after the service was made available in the US.
• most taxis in Germany haven′t even arrived in the `90s. They still do not even accept credit card payments.
• Free public WiFi in cities is still celebrated by politicians as a breakthrough in digitization.

You see, change is fundamentally a difficult thing for us Germans. And so at least I understand, why Germany is not the home of the Unicorns. Do I like it? No! But although we still have a long way to go, I can see more and more hot spots for young entrepreneurs and Start-Ups with loads of innovation. For example in Berlin, Stuttgart and Munich. Keep it going guys. Even Germans will be open and ready for change - sometime.