I picked up a copy of Business 2.0 and read a quote I’d like to share with you. It’s something Danny Rimer of Index Ventures said in the August issue.

“In the valley, what’s happened is you have entrepreneurs that just want to fill a hole in the market and have a rich exit, Europeans are first-generation immigrants when it comes to technology. They’re on a mission. They’re gonna make this thing work, no matter what.”

If you can’t get a copy you’re not out of luck, you can still read the article online.

Danny has been involved in Skype and Joost, both with connections to Sweden (Niklas Zennström). He’s now also involved in Stardoll and Rebtel, two interesting businesses with offices in Stockholm.

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Writer: Steve Jackson

At one point I said (and I quote) “The US is maybe 1-2 years ahead of europe, specifically in the Nordics”. I would like to re-open this discussion because I don’t feel it was clear what I meant. My Internet connection died at a critical point and I had to re-connect then Dennis had intervened and quite rightly said that there was no difference in competence between the US and Europe.

He is right of course when you’re talking about the people that know what web analytics is. The experts in Europe have been working with analytics for as long as the experts in the US give or take 6 months. However and this is what I meant…..

My argument revolves around 2 things I’ve recognized as challenges in Europe.

1. The general business public does not understand web analytics is. In many seminars I have been talking about very basic concepts that no-one got until I explained the entire thing very clearly - conversion rate for instance!
2. We see less investment in Web Analytics than in the USA.

Read the full text on Steve’s blog

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“WAA activity in Scotland started over 18 months ago, with a keen group of just three. There was very little awareness of analytics in the market and only one vendor, so we really did have an education challenge on our hands.”

Web analytics in Scotland

“It all began at the 2006 Emetrics Summit in Munich. Around 60 Web Analytics professionals, consultants and practitioners met for the first conference in Germany completely dedicated to Web Analytics.”

Web analytics in Germany

“Web Analytics Wednesday (WAW) in Sweden started with five guys getting together in an Irish pub with four days’ notice in May 2006. Less than one year later, nearly 200 people have expressed an interest in the six WAWs that have been held so far.”

Web analytics in Sweden

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