Discussion: How to improve the Sofia Entrepreneurial Ecosystem

Victor Schiller is inviting the Sofia Entrepreneurial Ecosystem for a short discussion to hear from the actual entrepreneurs building businesses here in Sofia. Your ideas, insights, challenges, and experiences are essential to our better understanding of our Entrepreneurial Ecosystem’s strengths and weaknesses.

Victor is advising ABF  on where they could make the most impact in Bulgaria’s Entrepreneurial Ecosystem and for their next board meeting in March he wants to learn more about what’s working and what’s not in the Sofia Entrepreneurial Ecosystem. What is driving real impact? Creating jobs, building wealth, and/or encouraging usable innovation.

Sofia seems to have thousands of early stage companies, brilliant founders, many education programs, excellent coworking spaces with reasonable rent, dependable internet, a full selection of clubs, a highly skilled talent pool, and some of the lowest taxes in the EU.

What’s missing? What’s working?

Twenty-five years ago, when Victor was first introduced to Bulgaria, he saw it as the Silicon Valley of Europe. The high concentration of technology minded well educated worldly young people seemed like the right seeds needed to guarantee Bulgaria’s position as the top innovation and news business formation hub in the region.

Although things have improved over the last quarter century Bulgaria is still seen as a business startup outpost.

How can that change?