Why Mapping Matters for Amsterdam's Startup Culture

Amsterdam is a city known for business with an edge. The Financial Times has called it "A haven for troublemakers, philosophers and dreamers since the 16th century." It had the marijuana-tourism market cornered for decades. The sex-work market is legal and regulated. No business model is out of the realm of possibility in Amsterdam. So it shouldn't come as a surprise that the Dutch capital is now emerging as a powerhouse for startup activity.

With a population of roughly 800,000, Amsterdam was named by Inc.com as a startup hub to watch in 2014. It's unlikely to dethrone the largest tech capitals in the world—Silicon Valley, Beijing, and New York. But as Liza Jansen at Quartz highlighted on Tuesday, the cost of running a startup in Amsterdam is noticeably cheaper than in those cities: An Amsterdam startup is looking at average expenses of $3,121 per month, compared to $4,854 in NYC and $5,332 in San Francisco. It's easy for entrepreneurs to find English-fluent coders and programmers there, too, says Jansen.