There’s a whole continent here

People with the ambition to build something should be able to find a way in. You can care deeply about an idea and be willing to work on it, yet still not know who to speak to or where to start. That shouldn’t take years to figure out before you get a chance to try.

JMTE began with frustration at founder advice that ended with “just move to SF.” There is a whole continent of possibilities that deserves more attention, including from the people already living here.

Europe isn’t one scene. Its cities have different strengths, ways of working and routes into the local ecosystem. A large international scene gives you room to explore. Elsewhere, a smaller concentration of researchers or industrial customers might be exactly what your work needs.

If you’re interested in robotics, Munich or Zurich might be worth exploring. But knowing their names doesn’t tell you which teams to approach, where they meet or how to get involved. Finding people who share that interest, and a place where you can actually join them, can make the possibility feel real.

So much of this depends on knowledge gathered gradually. Who is worth following. How funding works. Which programmes you can apply for, and where people working on similar problems spend their time. An opportunity being open means little if you never hear about it or can’t work out whether it’s for you.

JMTE brings those starting points together so the next person has less to figure out alone. It helps you find relevant people and understand the practicalities, including costs and the catches. The work of learning your way around should leave you with more energy for the thing you wanted to build.

Wanting a life with culture, coffee outside in the sun and a little dolce vita doesn’t make you less ambitious. Where you flourish matters when you’re building something that will ask a great deal of you. Your choice of city should take that seriously, alongside access to customers, talent and capital.

You might be starting a project alongside a job or building a company for an international market. There should be room to take that ambition seriously while keeping the parts of your life you care about.

Your first customers might be nearby. Your ideas, collaborators and ambitions can reach further. You can move, visit or build on the life you already have.