Paul Graham Says Silicon Valley Beats Stockholm for 1,800-Startup Founders as VCs Move Faster
Updated
Updated · Business Insider · May 15
Paul Graham Says Silicon Valley Beats Stockholm for 1,800-Startup Founders as VCs Move Faster
4 articles · Updated · Business Insider · May 15
Stockholm founders should still spend time in Silicon Valley, Paul Graham said, arguing the region remains the best place for ambitious entrepreneurs to find top peers, investors and engineers.
Graham said Silicon Valley's edge is speed and density: venture capitalists decide far faster than in Europe, and chance encounters with people building similar things are hard for other ecosystems to match.
Stockholm is hardly marginal — Dealroom counted more than 1,800 startups in the city in 2025 with a combined enterprise value of $236 billion, including AI companies such as Lovable, Legora and Sana Labs.
He said that strength could grow further if founders return home with capital, networks and startup culture, potentially helping Stockholm become Europe's version of Silicon Valley.
Is Europe, with its lower valuations and deeptech strengths, now a smarter bet than Silicon Valley?
Is Paul Graham's advice a timeless truth or a defense of a fading, centralized innovation model?
As AI's energy thirst grows, will power grids, not VCs, decide the next Silicon Valley?