Asked if building in Europe is "hard mode," Elia says "for me 100% agree with that." The two main reasons: network — in San Francisco "you have to make zero effort to meet anyone you want" — and belief, the sense that "you can do anything," which in Europe gives way to imposter syndrome.
More from this episode
Posed as a hot take, Elia agrees fully: "for me 100% agree with that." His first reason is network: "in San Francisco you have to make zero effort to meet anyone you want... you literally meet anyone without any effort and the barrier to meet them is non existing, while in Europe it's of course it's higher." His second is belief: in San Francisco "everyone is like you can do anything... everyone is hyping you up," and raising money there is treated as normal, whereas in Europe "maybe you feel you achieved already, and so you always have the imposter syndrome." He frames that hunger as a feature: "you always want to achieve more because you feel that you are not there yet... and I think this is the mentality that you want to have." His advice: "you always want to be surrounded by people that understand you and push you to do more."