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How Innovation Works by Matt Ridley is a book that delivers 100% on its title. His writing is well-researched, engaging and full of applicable insights — if you happen to be anywhere near an innovation.
However, Ridley warns that Europe, in particular, has stalled: “Of Europe’s 100 most valuable companies, none – not one – was formed in the past forty years. In Germany’s Dax 30 index, just two companies were founded after 1970; in France’s CAC 40 index, one; in Sweden’s top fifty, none at all.”
This may seem unrelated to freelancing, but unfortunately, it isn’t. Europe is quickly losing its grip on global markets, while “China and America dominate like never before,” writes The Economist about The new geopolitics of global business:
A funny insight from our regular newsletter cleaning — this happens all the time:
We’ll be sending out our next issue on Monday, June 21 😉
European Freelancers and Where to Find Them is the title of Robert Vlach’s talk at WebExpo this September. For freelancers working with web technologies, this is one of the best conferences in Europe — held in Prague since 2010, as well as online.
June 17 marks this year’s National Freelancers Day organized in the UK by IPSE as an online conference. Free for members and £40 for everybody else, participants can choose from a packed programme of four online streams: Finance, Winning Work, Wellness, and Workshops.
Forget Google Translate → DeepL is now arguably the most advanced AI translator available to all. It leaves competitors in the dust and even challenges human translators in quality and eloquence. Their profession may shift towards AI-assisted translation in the future. You can try DeepL online in 26 languages for free, or download an app for your device.
On June 25, we are launching our first online event titled simply Freelance Friends. There will be three talks from experienced international freelancers, sharing their stories and business insights:
Do you want to be part of this, for free, and make friends with us? Send us an email titled I AM IN to hello@freelancing.eu — and you’re in! The event will run on Zoom from 2 to 7 p.m. (CET, June 25).
Revolut has virtually revolutionized European smart banking and fintech industry by offering a free app-based multi-currency bank account available to all. As a digital wallet, it enables freelancers to automatically track their expenses, as well as exchange common currencies at a fair market rate (up to ca. €1,000/month).
Tip: You can register via this link to get a small bonus for ordering a card and making your first 3 payments before June 22.
“The bullshit-jobs thesis is largely bullshit,” reports The Economist in an article about a newly published empirical critique of late David Graeber’s book, which claims that more than half of societal work is pointless. Although Graeber’s thesis has been cited more than 800 times by academics, not to mention media, the data often show the exact opposite of what he claimed:
“In contrast to the high share of bullshit jobs reported by Mr. Graeber, in 2015 only 4.8% of respondents in the EU felt their work was useless. And this proportion had fallen, not risen, in recent years, from 5.5% in 2010 and 7.8% in 2005.”
Note: A more recommended reading would be Graeber’s older book Debt, or Hans Rosling’s Factfulness.
If you have ever browsed our long list of European freelance platforms, you are surely aware of how hard it is to choose the right community among so many (314 to this day). Elina Jutelyte shares 10 points to consider before joining one in a helpful article entitled How to choose your freelance community?
Note: Our point #11 would be to look for a community that puts its members in front, highlighting their work — just as we do with Elina, who is our member 😉