Startup activity in Iran has a small economic volume, but it requires a lot of effort. In this situation, is it a cost-effective action and does it have an economic justification?
According to reporters, there are many creative ideas in Iran that face fundamental challenges and are sometimes deleted and forgotten during the implementation and testing phase. But among these, there are also cases where a startup activity has been able to continue by attracting investors and also met with public favor.
After some time, these cases became successful startups and with the past, they grew to such an extent that now they are no longer included in the startup category; Snapp, Tapsi and Digikala can be known as such examples.
Despite this, any startup activity may find obstacles on its way that create doubts about continuing. Obstacles such as internet challenges, legal ambiguities, taxes, monopolies and low returns that increase the desire to migrate in the workforce of this field.
What is the sign of startup workforce migration?
When the workforce active in the startup field decides to migrate for any reason and continues the same work style in their destination; It can be one of the clear signs of failure of startup activity in Iran.
If these people are asked why you did not continue your work in Iran; They point to reasons such as internet, financial and legal restrictions, which show that, for example, extensive internet restrictions make startup activity in Iran unprofitable.
When a startup tries for years to prove its activity to the society and by building trust, it attracts a network of customers; After a mid-term internet outage or filtering challenges, it may lose a large portion of these customers. At this point, which is a familiar experience for many startups; Doubts become more serious; Doubt that because it involves all the collections, fuels the feeling of dead end in the startup activity.
Immigration is a serious problem for startup activity in Iran
Startup activists have recently gained a difficult experience in the field of expertise, and a significant number of those who spent a lot of time, energy and capital on their growth; They were easily available to foreign companies. Putting together the obstacles of startup activity in Iran shows that this ecosystem does not have a strong future compared to the surrounding countries.
Although the size of the startup economy is small today, there are opportunities to attract investment and create hope in young people in this area, neglecting which will destroy potential funds and there will be no more platform for attracting capital.
There are many obstacles in the way of startup activity
Mohammad Reza Sobhan, the CEO of Tivan Entrepreneurship Club and the head of Iran’s Co-working Space Association, told reporters about whether or not startup activity is profitable in the country: “My idea is that there are many cases in between that present challenges together. Creates. The laws of the country are not being implemented properly and undoubtedly the legislature is not cooperating well with innovative activities so that businesses can grow.”
He added: “There are many obstacles in the way of startup activity and there is little investment opportunity. The economic situation is also very damaging to innovative works. However, it cannot be concluded with 100% certainty that every startup will fail. We can consider a 5% probability that some startups will grow in these bad conditions. The probability of failure in Iran is very high and no one cares what happens to startups.”
Migration; Signs and symptoms of startup failure
Sobhan further stated regarding the issue of immigration: “Emigration is both a serious sign and a consequence of the failure of startup activity in the country. I have been working in this ecosystem for seven years, and in the early days I saw a lot of hope in children who rejected very good offers from outside; Today, the same children are each in a corner of the world and they have been gone in the last two years.”
CEO of Tivan Entrepreneurship Club added: “Immigration is caused by events, and the two main reasons for it should be considered the critical state of the economy and the country’s management style, which goes in the form of legislation and implementation that is contrary to the entrepreneurial process.” “The situation is getting more complicated every day.”
Challenges caused by internet restrictions
The head of Iran’s co-working space association said about the effect of internet restrictions on the country’s startup space: “There is a misunderstanding that simply slowing down the internet speed or increasing filtering will shut down the startup ecosystem because some people think that startup activity is exclusive to the web space. While non-internet startups also operate in the country.”
He added: “The issue here is that the Internet restriction should be considered as a sign. When the internet network is easily banned or filtered despite its great importance, this is a sign for the entrepreneur that any other topic can be subject to the same restrictions.”
Sobhan said about the increase in immigration of startup activists: “I don’t have exact statistics on the number of immigrants, but there are two types of immigration. Some people left Iran physically and took the capital that was spent on them, and some others left Iran spiritually and no longer care for the country. Many have decided to give up hope and stop working like they used to. “Startup activity no longer has the same enthusiasm as it used to.”
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