What Europe's Oldest Companies Can Teach Its Newest Startups

Jan de Vries · 2026-08-11

Europe loves founder stories. We celebrate the courage it takes to build something from nothing, challenge established industries, and create entirely new markets. Rightly so. Europe needs more ambitious founders willing to build the companies of tomorrow. Like many people in the investment and startup ecosystem, I have 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 began to wonder whether that definition is too narrow. What if entrepreneurship doesn't end with the founder? ### The Hidden Strength of Generational Companies One observation has surfaced repeatedly in my conversations with founders, investors, executives, and multi-generational family business leaders across Europe: the companies that endure for generations are not those that choose between tradition and innovation. They are 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 describe this phenomenon as "transgenerational entrepreneurship": the ability to create entrepreneurial value across generations. While well established within family business research, the concept has received far less attention within 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, did not simply preserve what had been created. Claus J. Riedel revolutionised 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 becomes difficult 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 was not the original entrepreneurial act, but a repeated willingness to reinvent the company while remaining true to its purpose. That may be one of the most useful lessons for today's founders. ### Rethinking What It Means to Be an Entrepreneur We often define entrepreneurship as the act of starting a company. But perhaps it is 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 are not 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 are overlooking another competitive advantage. Across Europe are entrepreneurial families and long-established companies that have spent generations navigating disruption, adapting to technological change, and reinventing their value propositions. These are living laboratories for resilience and innovation. Here are a few takeaways that any founder can apply today: - **Build a culture of reinvention, not just a product.** The goal isn't to launch once and coast. It's to create a team that expects and embraces change. - **Separate your core identity from your current business model.** Your purpose can stay steady even as your offerings shift dramatically. - **Think in decades, not just quarters.** Family businesses like RIEDEL measure success across generations, which changes how they make decisions. - **Treat every setback as a restart.** RIEDEL lost everything after World War II and rebuilt. Your next pivot might be your strongest move yet. The most resilient companies aren't the ones that avoid disruption. They're the ones that treat disruption as a normal part of the journey. For founders building the next generation of European startups, that mindset might be the ultimate competitive edge.