Upside #57 - What's Hot & Not in European Tech w/ Mike Butcher from TechCrunch

This week we chat with Mike the ex editor of TechCrunch, getting his take on the past, present and future of all things Euro-startup. Mads shares his thoughts on the All In Summit. We chat about defence strategies, pension funds and Euro cash injections, Germany moving and shaking their startup scene, Draghi's anniversary, the EU Inc guys / 28th regime - and what this all means for us in venture, for founders, investors and startups.

00:35 – TechCrunch Europe → reset
Redundancies post-Yahoo sale; Mike takes a breather, experiments with social video.

01:29 – Mike’s showreel
’95 journo → FTGuardian → joins TechCrunch Europe in ’07; spins up The Europas and Techfugees.

03:51 – New media > old blogs
Creators (MrBeast, Bari Weiss, Cleo Abram) now disrupt the disruptors; social is the front door for news; AI reshapes formats.

06:02 – Europe’s vibe, not the Valley’s
Fragmentation persists, but Slush VivaTech Web Summit LTW etc. anchor a distinct EU flavour.

09:24 – Culture shift needed
Be candid *and* boosterish; being bigger and bolder.

12:17 – All-In Summit debrief
Robotics “hand problem” (26 actuators arm; supply chain missing), AGI ≈ 5–10y, China’s practical AI push, enterprise AI moats (boring infra), Europe’s latent talent vs weak commercialisation; “physical AI” window is NOW.

16:27 – EU Inc & Draghi (1-year on)
EU-wide startup entity push; Draghi’s 383 recs: only ~40 actioned; public consultation live at eu-inc.org.

18:29 – What to fix in Europe
Planning gridlock (HS2 file bloat; energy permits ~44 months) + misallocated pensions (€16T, >55% in bonds ~3%). Shift saver incentives and trustee “prudence” toward productive assets to unlock ~€970B yr.

20:56 – Implementation drag
Only a sliver of Draghi implemented; call for a “crack” execution unit; R&D under-invested vs US. EU grants take ~240 days from green light to cash.

24:02 – UK pensions: rhetoric vs mechanics
Fee caps & plumbing still block meaningful allocations despite political cheerleading.

28:28 – Germany’s draft startup tax reform
Founder and VC-friendly fixes from German Govt (e.g., ESOP dry income relief, longer deferral, broader eligibility).

35:39 – Deal of the week: ASML → Mistral (€2B)
Mistral >€100m ARR; ASML’s strategic seat to frontier models; comps far below US hypers; BNP with 800+ use cases. Raises EU late-stage capital question; balance sheets stepping in.

48:48 – Defence - UK Strategy, Russian Drones and NATO/European Reaction
Poland shoots down Russian drones; UK to 2.5% GDP defence by 2027 (+ regional £250m hubs). Good signal, too small; procurement speed is the moat; Eastern front buying *now*.