The Nordic companies are not 'the best' at startups, not remotely close.
They have some nice attributes.
I worked for the EU government studying these issues a decade ago.
One of the primary reasons it's hard for startups over there, is that there are really weak eco-systems - you need 'big pocketed' acquierers (among other things) to sustain the model.
Paradoxically, the (admittedly older) 'anti business' attitude, which again doesn't really exist so much among younger people today - doesn't imply that they are 'bad at business'.
I would actually agree, that 'pound for pound' Swedes are decent at startups, but because of other factors - i.e. market size, eco-systems, language, geography ... it's hard for them to compete with Valley startups.
You are contradicting yourself and honestly I don't see the point of correcting these falsehoods but I will note that Sweden and other Scandinavian countries are doing pretty damn well internationally considering how small the populations are [1][2][3].
Also - your 'references' are standard 'glam posts' by media outlets, they are pop culture references, not serious measures of the success of businesses.
Those types of articles and the common 'country rankings' are surprisingly not particularly relevant - the later, almost always depend on the criteria chosen.
For example - if you have as your 'startup criteria':
A) The prevalence of educated population
B) Access to healthcare
C) Quality of Universities
etc.
Then you'll get certain results that may have nothing to do with startups.
My point that 'Swedes are good at startups but Sweden is not the best place for startups' is not remotely contradictory.
Given the choice between Sweden, and any of the American tech-hubs, there is little comparison: America is better.
And it has mostly to do with market size, access to capital, exit opportunities, exchanges, talent pools etc. etc.
+ The scale of American business means there is a level of specialization unheard of almost anywhere else. There are tons of jobs in the Valley that literally don't exist anywhere else.
+ Growing fast and need to hire 1000 developers over the next 5 years? Impossible in Stockholm. Possible in the Valley. Plausible elsewhere.
+ Looking to be acquired? Tons of buyers, many with deep pockets in the Valley. Sweden? Almost none. You'll have to get someone in Germany/UK/USA etc. interested in making a very foreign acquisition. Much harder.
+ Language and culture are barriers. Swedes have access to EU talent, but how many will move? Low rates of mobility in Europe. In America, people move 1000Km for a job, less so in Europe.
+ Want to go IPO? It's a lot easier for an American company.
Do you know why at YC, young entrepreneurs are seriously pressured to simply 'move to the Valley'? It's related to all the reasons above. These are essentially the reason that 'the Valley' is a powerhouse, compared to other places - even when 'other places' may have consistently higher degrees of education etc. etc...
> + Language and culture are barriers. Swedes have access to EU talent, but how many will move? Low rates of mobility in Europe. In America, people move 1000Km for a job, less so in Europe.
I completely disagree with this statement and I'll have to call your sources for it. Even more here in Stockholm, but mobility around Europe for tech jobs is huge, I work at Klarna with 45 different nationalities. Same thing happens at Spotify where I have friends working in.
Hell, even in a small startup and a small to medium-sized company where I know people working at they have people from 10 different countries in Europe, even from richer countries such as Germany, England and Switzerland.
I have friends working in Dublin, London, Berlin, Frankfurt, Zurich and all of them working with different nationalities all the time.
That's an odd statment. Not all startups need gigantic cash influx nor (oh god) 1000 engineers. 100 million a year businesses can operate with under 100 core developer staff (need more for other operations of course but those are generally easier to hire for).
[1] http://www.forbes.com/best-countries-for-business/list/
[2] http://www.doingbusiness.org/rankings