What 270-Year-Old Companies Can Teach Today's Startups

Jan de Vries · 2026-08-11

Europe loves a good founder story. We celebrate the courage it takes to build something from nothing, to challenge established industries, and to create entirely new markets. And rightly so. Europe needs more ambitious founders willing to build the companies of tomorrow. Like many people in the investment and startup ecosystem, I've long associated entrepreneurship with the act of founding a company. But while interviewing Maximilian J. Riedel, President & CEO of the wine glassmaker RIEDEL, and a member of the family's eleventh generation, I started to wonder if that definition is too narrow. ### What if entrepreneurship doesn't end with the founder? One observation keeps surfacing in my conversations with founders, investors, executives, and multi-generational family business leaders across Europe: the companies that endure for generations aren't the ones that choose between tradition and innovation. They're the ones that continually balance both. Each generation preserves the company's core identity while reinventing how it creates value in a changing world. Researchers call this "transgenerational entrepreneurship" — the ability to create entrepreneurial value across generations. While this concept is well established within family business research, it's received far less attention in the startup ecosystem. It deserves a place in today's startup conversation. ### Entrepreneurship beyond the founder Few companies illustrate this better than RIEDEL. Founded in 1756, the Austrian glassmaker has reinvented itself repeatedly over 270 years. After losing its Bohemian factories, property, and assets following the Second World War, the family rebuilt the company in Austria. Later generations, however, didn't simply preserve what had been created. Claus J. Riedel revolutionized wine glass design through functional, wine-friendly stemware. Georg J. Riedel later expanded the business internationally and developed grape-varietal-specific glassware for machine production. Today, Maximilian J. Riedel continues to evolve both the business and the brand for a new generation of consumers. Looking at RIEDEL's history, it's hard to argue that entrepreneurship belonged only to the founder. Every generation inherited the same company, but none inherited the same world. Changing markets, new technologies, and evolving consumer expectations demanded fresh thinking each time. What endured wasn't the original entrepreneurial act, but a repeated willingness to reinvent the company while remaining true to its purpose. ### The lesson for today's founders That may be one of the most useful lessons for today's founders. We often define entrepreneurship as the act of starting a company. But perhaps it's better understood as the ability to continually reinvent how a company creates value as the world changes. Founding a company may be only the first entrepreneurial act. Today's founders are building businesses in an era of extraordinary technological change. Few can confidently predict what their markets will look like even five years from now. History suggests that the companies most likely to endure aren't necessarily those that predict every shift correctly, but those that develop the capacity to adapt when change arrives. In that sense, startups and companies like RIEDEL face the same fundamental challenge. Neither can rely on yesterday's success. Both must remain entrepreneurial long after their original business model has proven itself. ### What startups can learn from Europe's enduring companies Europe spends considerable time discussing how to create more startups, more scale-ups, and more globally competitive companies. Those conversations are essential. But perhaps we're overlooking another competitive advantage. Across Europe are entrepreneurial families and long-established companies that have spent generations navigating disruption and adapting to technological change. They've survived wars, economic collapses, and industry shifts that would have killed most modern startups. Their playbook isn't about predicting the future — it's about building the organizational muscle to respond when the future arrives uninvited. Here are a few takeaways for founders building companies today: - **Separate your core identity from your current business model.** The companies that last know what they stand for, even when their products change completely. - **Treat reinvention as a recurring duty, not a one-time event.** The moment you think you're done is the moment you start declining. - **Build systems that outlast you.** The goal isn't to be indispensable — it's to make the company resilient enough to thrive without you. ### A new definition of success As I reflect on my conversation with Maximilian Riedel, I'm convinced that we need to broaden our definition of entrepreneurial success. It's not just about the founding story. It's about the ability to keep creating value, generation after generation, in a world that never stops changing. For American observers watching European startup policy debates, this perspective adds another layer. The EU Inc proposal and ongoing discussions about European startup incorporation often focus on legal structures and funding mechanisms. But the deeper challenge is cultural: how do we build companies that think in decades, not just in funding rounds? Maybe the answer lies in Europe's oldest companies. They've already figured out what most startups are still learning: that true entrepreneurship is a marathon, not a sprint. And the companies that win aren't necessarily the fastest out of the gate — they're the ones that keep running long after everyone else has stopped.