You are right in terms of the addressable market. Except in some niches, like pharma, it is too fractured. But IMHO, the biggest problem here is mentality. Star

You are right in terms of the addressable market. Except in some niches, like pharma, it is too fractured. But IMHO, the biggest problem here is mentality. Starting a business and taking risks is not something the society encourages. That is what we have from centuries of rent-seeking aristocrats. A good counterexample is Sweden, where class structure is flatter and imitating American trends is seen as cool. Unsurprisingly, Stockholm punches above its weight class in terms of startups, despite Sweden being a tiny market.