"Ambition is a big part of it, and European attitudes can be incomprehensible to Americans."
What attitude are you referring too? do you have any objective fact that would prove that europeans are less ambitious than americans?
If you go to any selective European school or university, students are certainly as ambitious as their american counterparts and aren't afraid of working hard to achieve their goals.
However, they are probably more interested in an executive position in the finance industry than founding a company, which doesn't sound unreasonable.
What attitude are you referring too? do you have any objective fact that would prove that europeans are less ambitious than americans?
If you go to any selective European school or university, students are certainly as ambitious as their american counterparts and aren't afraid of working hard to achieve their goals.
However, they are probably more interested in an executive position in the finance industry than founding a company, which doesn't sound unreasonable.