Comment by yorwba

The recommendations here don't seem very Mittelstand-specific. Salary grants, less bureaucracy, VAT exemption and English support would help a grow-or-die startup just as well.

I think the more interesting aspect is funding: if you tell a VC that you're aiming to become market leader in a small niche, they hear "no outsized returns" and go looking for riskier ventures.

But there is an existing funding ecosystem for small businesses that don't expect to get big, I guess mostly bank loans or bigger companies financing new suppliers. I wonder how open those are to software companies.