I was part of mittelstand once. I think it is very hard to compete in the market where lot of things are subsidized by VC money. The new VC backed companies ha

I was part of mittelstand once. I think it is very hard to compete in the market where lot of things are subsidized by VC money. The new VC backed companies have more money for marketing, subsidized sales wherein older orgs are hard to move. Esp. for german orgs, they are very hierarchical, getting an innovation out is hard. Add union to the mix. Their margins are razor thing. It is a struggle. I can imagine back in the day, they moved the innovation needle. Lot of these companies are often bailed out by the government as they employ alot of people.