If you’re a European tech founder and are starting a product to sell to your local market, don’t. Your first market should be the US. Act like it.

I made the exact opposite experience. Why going in the market with the toughest competition? Most European countries copy the US. So taking a winning business model from there and start that in Europe is an easy win. Besides some other factors like you know your local mentality and audience best. So if your local maker is big enough, starting there makes a lot of sense in many cases.