I can't say much about Germany and France, but in The Netherlands there is a rich and highly active entrepreneurship culture. At Delft University of Technology, where I study, high-tech start-ups are increasingly being founded and are supported by the University's incubator.
In fact, just today I attended a lecture by Dr. Bert Twaalfhoven. He is one of Europe's premier entrepreneurs and is well known for having founded over 50 high-tech companies.
I think that, especially in current times, entrepreneurship is becoming a global phenomenon. In places like Delft, among others in Europe, there is fertile breeding ground for high-tech start-ups.
I think Wally's dream is possible! Especially if we consider architecture as the "normative restriction of design freedom."(Dietz, 2007) And if successful, I think Wally should start his own company!
Leadership, especially for start-ups, is about creating, communicating and empowering in relation to a vision. You can learn by following, but most likely you will become an outstanding leader by doing instead of following, ie. by doing what leaders do.
All your statements statements "lead" towards the follow then lead direction. In my opinion its more interesting to know your followers, as there are good and bad. Especially for start-ups it is useful to have the _right_ type of followers, namely in activists and diehards. There's a pretty good HBR article about this from this past December titled "What Every Leader Needs to Know About Followers." A must read for aspiring leaders!
http://ocastaneda.weblog.tudelft.nl/2008/03/05/the_indivers_...