I feel incredibly proud of what we started at Skype. Niklas Zennström Founder & CEO, Atomico At the time, sceptics thought that the European tech scene was over and that we’d never recover from the dot-com crash. Skype, and all of the brilliant companies that followed, proved those sceptics wrong. Together, we’ve built an innovative and, crucially, resilient ecosystem that’s on the cusp of becoming a superpower. Each success story contributes to the health of the European tech 昀氀ywheel Skype acted as a launchpad for diverse entrepreneurial ventures. The visual below illustrates a fascinating network of innovation and entrepreneurship stemming from a single origin point, Skype. What this represents is the powerful impact that just one successful and in昀氀uential company can have on its ecosystem and the broader industry. The individuals who have branched out from Skype, the ‘next-generation founders’, are building on their prior experiences and leveraging their expertise to shape the future of their respective industries. The various companies emerging from Skype demonstrate the diversity in expertise and talent represented. This visualisation shows that innovation doesn’t stop with one successful company. It has a ripple effect and continues to boost the European tech 昀氀ywheel well after it was 昀椀rst established. 61 | Executive summary