Italy is not a startup paradise

Sorry, but Italy is no startup paradise is a snapshot of the italian current situation about startups by Armando Biondi (@armandobiondi), COO of AdEspresso.

Here is an excerpt:

Italy launches three times as many startups compared to San Francisco and has a third of the institutional investors in Silicon Valley? Holy sh*t: Startup paradise! Well … not really. And while the numbers may be correct, quality and quantity are two very different things.

Italy is the least business-friendly place in Europe. Let’s face it: 68% taxes on businesses is probably not only the highest in Europe, but worldwide. Plus you can’t really fire anyone because they’ll sue you a minute later. And how can the new incentives compete with U.S. law (in Delaware you pay less than $1k per year until you’re profitable) or the situation in the U.K. (which de-risks up to 100% of the angel investments made in tech startups)?

Investors do not make fast decisions. The average investor takes weeks, not days, to give you a meeting. And takes weeks, not days, to follow up with you. And you have to chase them, and they don’t answer email (or the phone either, for what it’s worth). And when you are able to reach them, there is always something else keeping them from being able to make a decision. That’s a deadly sin, as you’re wasting time that could be dedicated to other investors.

True story, unfortunately.