More than half of Finnish founders have considered or are actively planning to relocate their company from Finland.
Equity, options, and capital gains taxation is the top reason founders consider leaving. 81% of Series A founders cite it as a difficulty.
55.5% of all respondents cite risk-averse culture as a barrier, making it the most cited difficulty overall.
65% value trust-based society and 55% cite quality of life as Finland's top advantages for startups.
56% of Seed and Series A founders cite limited late-stage funding, versus only 2% of bootstrapped founders.
Both questions below are multi-select: respondents could choose multiple options. Compare responses by company stage using the toggles. Defaults show Total, Seed, and Series A.
Finland has talent, integrity, and innovation. What it risks lacking is urgency to change things.
Entrepreneurship is the creative destruction that Finland's economy needs. Policies should support innovative approaches and emerging trends, not maintain old corporations that don't grow.
Finland's competition is not Sweden. It is Estonia's agility, the UK's capital markets, and the US's risk appetite. Policy should be benchmarked against where founders will go next, not against Nordic averages.
Startups have to venture out of Finland to find customers because the market is too small and big corporates default to building solutions in-house rather than buying from startups.
I do not personally know a single smart, driven, young and ambitious entrepreneur who plans to keep their main business entity in Finland long-term. Many have already moved their holding companies abroad. Others are actively planning to do so. This is not tax avoidance — it is mainly survival and competitiveness. Why give away a fifth of your earnings when you can invest that into growth?
Our education system needs to teach young kids how to build & have a growth mindset from the start. Especially girls who are generally more risk averse.
Make startups something to celebrate, not something the public sector finds suspicious. Make bankruptcy a learning rather than penalty.
Finland should ease international recruitment and make permanent residency more accessible for founders. Easier family relocation, daycare and integration plays a big part too.
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