Yay for London — and the UK

The fant­astic news about the last.fm deal surely proves that you don’t need to be in Silicon Valley to score big time. Well done to Martin Stiksel and his team, and screw the naysayers who claim London (and the UK) can’t support Web 2.0 projects. Those guys slept in tents on top of the office for their first three months. They had the courage to do it because they believed in the idea, and now they’re getting the rewards.

Last.fm have a bril­liant, clever, innov­ative service. That’s what’s netted them £140mn (yes, pounds sterling, not dollars). Ideas and Execution make real money; not geo­graphy, though I think the London internet com­munity boosts every business that is a part of it.

This isn’t just about London, though. We’re cur­rently having con­ver­sa­tions with an organ­isa­tion about putting on events for a major northern UK city that has over 70 internet startups under its belt. And I can bet that city won’t be in the top three you can name. This is everywhere.

Bubble 2.0? You bet. But Sarbox reg­u­la­tions and similar restric­tions in the EU mean there’s no equi­valent IPO fever and less real money changing hands. The people that get burned will be the gamblers, not your pension funds.

Unless, ermm…, like me you elected to put your pension fund in high tech, high risk stocks. Hey, I was young at the time!

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