The corporate and the startup world may be very different, however, they both require change, and especially the courage to implement this change, if they want to prepare for the future. To achieve this, they can act together, help each other, and build a completely new ecosystem, said Daniel Cronin of the entrepreneurial think-tank AustrianStartups in the introductory part of this year’s Podim conference, which attracted as much as 160 startups to Maribor, Slovenia. As the Slovenian Prime Minister, Miro Cerar, said in his welcome speech, Slovenian startups are already putting the country on the global startup map, adding that last year, the purpose of his attendance at Podim was also to gain insight to help the government draw up the action plan “Slovenia – the Land of Innovative Startups” along with all the supporting measures.

The document “Slovenia – the Land of Innovative Startups” sets out to remove the obstacles that require investors to be physically present in Slovenia for the establishment and the recapitalisation of companies, and to remove restrictions relating to divestiture and assembly management (during their initial years, startups normally do not generate a profit, whereas in cases when a founder or investor wishes to step back, the Slovenian legislation does not allow it if the company is operating with a loss), as well as the restrictions which prevent investors from investing in several companies in succession (the Companies Act prohibits companies from investing in more than four companies per year).

The action plan also notes the deficiencies in attracting foreign investors to Slovenia, which it sees as not being active enough, and insufficient tax reliefs for investors (legal and natural persons) in startups, such as those in the SEIS and EIS schemes implemented in Great Britain, with investments capped at a relatively small amount.

Miro Cerar concluded his address with a quote by Steve Jobs: “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.”