Only 36.3% of 2,400 Swiss surveyed by Fribourg’s School of Management felt they were capable of creating a new company. This is the lowest level of confidence since 2012, say authors of the report which fed into the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2018/19External link. Only Italians were less confident among the 15 high-income countries surveyed, with Canadians and Americans at the top (little over 55%).
The fear of failure has also increased by 10 percentage points compared to 2017. Overall, only 7.4% of Swiss participated in entrepreneurial activities in 2018 compared to an average of 10.4% across all 15 countries surveyed. Among 18-24-year-olds only 2.2% were involved in entrepreneurial activity, the lowest among countries surveyed and well below the average of 9.5%.
The silver lining in the Swiss startup scene was the quality of the startups. The proportion of companies which were founded as a result of good opportunities was above average (67.6%), while those created out of necessity accounted for only 13.9%.
“This explains why founders tend to have high growth expectations: one-third would like to hire six or more people in the next five years,” says the report.
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First-half investment in Swiss start-ups doubles to more than CHF1 billion
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Venture capital investment in Swiss start-ups doubled during the first half of 2019 to exceed CHF1 billion ($1.01 billion).
Bodycams: essential for good law enforcement, or a privacy risk?
Did you ever come across bodycams in your place of residence and if so, how do you think the use of bodycams alter the relationship between the public and (transport) police?
Swiss cities are home to 1,300 different tree species
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More than 1,300 species of tree live in Swiss cities, most of them non-native. Forests, on the other hand, are home to just 76 species.
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The Swiss live in "bubbles". They have few opportunities to meet people of different ages, wealth or educational backgrounds, according to a study.
Regular train service through the Gotthard base tunnel resumes
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More than a year after the derailment of a freight train in the Gotthard base tunnel, passenger and freight traffic resumed as normal on Monday morning.
Tolerance of sexual orientations and gender identities varies widely in Switzerland
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In principle, tolerance is an important value for a large part of the Swiss population. But opinions differ on the nature of this tolerance.
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Former Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei has filed a criminal complaint against the Geneva prosecutor for slander.
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Swiss start-ups to benefit from multi-million fund
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Start-ups and innovative small and medium-sized businesses are to be encouraged to stay in Switzerland thanks to a new fund.
Fintech and fake cannabis drive record number of Swiss start-ups
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The year 2017 saw a record number of businesses created in Switzerland, many of them centred in the booming ‘crypto valley’ region.
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