Strategy

All that said, a friend from Switzerland came to visit recently. He has a new company and is looking for partners in the United States. We talked at length about things in Europe, the German elections, the regulatory business environment in France. "Doing business in Europe," he said, "is becoming almost impossible. The labor contracts are so difficult. The regulations are top-heavy. What we can do in the United States in 18 months would take us five years to do in Germany or France. So as bad as you might think it is here, be grateful. The dynamic is here."

And that's true. The flame flickers.

John Ellis (jellis@fastcompany.com), a writer and consultant, works in media, politics, and technology. Read his weekday musings on the Web (www.johnellis.blogspot.com).