Regarding R&D, there was a time before the bubble burst when that happened and some US companies had R&D centers here. Now there is not much left (various reaso

Regarding R&D, there was a time before the bubble burst when that happened and some US companies had R&D centers here. Now there is not much left (various reasons involved), there is a cisco's r&d center for optical networking gears in Monza where i work atm, but i can't think of any other similar places. I definitely agree that this is the perfect place for offshoring, especially for smaller software shops. The bureaucracy will seem a bit intimidating at the beginning but in the long run it will be worth it. About the market, offering an innovative product (especially if it targets end-users) here feels like a sure-failure strategy. If it's some free toy like facebook it could work, but don't expect to have a meaningful number of paying customers if you are selling something/offering a service.