The Un-Obvious Reasons Sweden Builds So Many Billion-Dollar Tech Companies

Not actually ramen. Just part of the success recipe under strategic stinginess.

The conversation about the Swedish startup engine is everywhere right now. Everyone loves pointing at the same macro data points-the infrastructure, the tax structures, and the safety nets.

But the media keeps looking at the wrong things. They are completely missing the un-obvious cultural drivers that actually make Swedish startups win.

Here are the three hidden factors.

The Culture: I used to think being thrifty was just a personality trait of mine, but it is deeply embedded in our culture. We are obsessed with doing more with less. If you go on a date in Sweden, the guy will tell you you had the extra side of beans so you will pay an extra 95 kr. We would never hire someone to paint a house or build a deck on our summer house; we can totally figure that out ourselves.

Take the founder of IKEA, Ingvar Kamprad. He did not just drive a 20-year-old Volvo, he also bought his clothing at flea markets and there is even a story that he would take home the salt and pepper packets from restaurants to save money.

The Result: Swedish founders are naturally built for profitability. While some founders in the US are focused on the burn and the hype, Swedish founders are stingy. They bootstrap until it hurts.

The Takeaway: By the time they hit the US market, they are incredibly resilient because they have been forcing themselves to be efficient from the day they were born.

The Culture: Sweden consistently ranks in the top 3 globally for innovation and English proficiency. Digital literacy is a national standard. My 98-year-old grandma was fluent in English and was probably better at using BankID (our national digital ID) and Swish (Venmo) to pay for her groceries than most people in any other country.

The Result: This is exactly how Spotify did it. They launched a beta version in Sweden to get feedback and iterate for the global market. Because of our high English proficiency, they did not have to localize and launch in Swedish first. Imagine trying this in another country like France.

The Takeaway: In Sweden, you can iterate and pivot in stealth mode on a global-ready product before scaling.

The Culture: Sweden is a high-trust, low-ego environment. We have an open society that would make most Americans fall off their chairs. For example, there are websites like Eniro where you can look up almost anyone’s home address and see exactly how much money they make. In Sweden, that is just public information. We also live by an unwritten rule called Jantelagen, which basically means don’t think you are better than anyone else.

The Result: Because of this high trust and low ego, it is surprisingly easy to get a fika (our coffee and cinnamon bun break) with almost anyone just by asking. Now, you probably cannot cold-message Daniel Ek and get a meeting tomorrow. But once you are even slightly in the tech circles, the distance between you and a major CEO is tiny.

The Takeaway: There is a speed of trust here. It means you don’t need a fancy Ivy League degree or a specific family name to get access. If you have a good idea and you are respectful, you can get to the right people fast and that speeds things up a lot.

Those are the three points I wanted to add to the ongoing Sweden the Unicorn Factory conversation.

If you have built or invested across borders, does this track with your experience? Let me know in the comments.

Originally published at https://yasminemorrison.substack.com.