On 30 November 2011, the Rafael del Pino Foundation hosted the meeting Start Up Spain, in cooperation with ESADE y Campus Party Spain.
New technologies are rapidly transforming our lives; users are multiplying as technological infrastructures and products proliferate. A 'Spain 3.0' needs, however, to put in place a series of reforms - and drive forward others - to unlock more potential.
The cycle of meetings Start Up Spain has the dual objective of feeding ideas into the political debate and having an impact on the future development of policies to promote entrepreneurial activity: entrepreneurs, technology companies and venture capital must be given priority.
The meeting was opened by the Deputy Director of the Rafael del Pino Foundation, Vicente José Montes Gan and the Director General of ESADE, Eugenia Bieto.
The first round table of the event was titled: "...".European and American entrepreneurs in Spain: Why do we choose Spain for our projects? What should Spain do to generate attraction beyond its borders?". Javier SantisoProfessor at ESADE and Director of the ESADE Center for Global Economy and Geopolitics (ESADEgeo) moderated the round table, which included the following speakers:
Francois Derbaix (Toprural(Founder and Managing Director - Belgium)
Niklas Gustafson (ConzumoFounder and CEO - Sweden)
Michael Kleindl (PlenummediaFounder and Chairman; and Smartclip, Founder - Germany)
Ana Maria Llopis (Ideas4all, Managing Director and Founder - Venezuela and Spain)
Bernhard Niesner (Busuu, Co-Founder and CEO - Austria)
Joshua Novick (AntevenioFounder and CEO - United States)
Ivan Retzignac (MedicAnimalFounder and CEO - France and the United States)
The second round table compiled the conclusions of the meeting and was moderated by Marcel PlanellasProfessor and Secretary General of ESADE and Coordinator of the Entrepreneurship Research Group (GRIE). This second round table was attended by the following speakers:
José Cerdán (AcensChief Executive Officer)
Jesus Encinar (idealista.comFounder and CEO)
Gustavo Garcia (BuyVipFounder and CEO)
Jesus Encinar has argued that "[...] entrepreneurial activity is the only way out of the crisis. Entrepreneurs are the only way to create net employment, as the rest of the business fabric, due to its maturity, tends to destroy jobs. The Administration should let us do it: setting up a business should not be so complicated; so many licences are not necessary; it should not be so expensive to start up a small business and be self-employed [...]. There is also a need for more far-reaching legal changes that are very important. Limited liability, for example. Today, if a company goes wrong, it is very difficult for the person who started it up to start up another business; we need to solve this if we want many entrepreneurs to have a second chance. Another important aspect is the impossibility of setting up employee option plans. How are we going to mobilise talent from companies to start-ups if we can't set up option plans?
For its part, Francois Derbaix defends the "Spain Brand" but points out: "I think Spain has acquired a certain bad reputation in terms of labour legislation and the situation of entrepreneurs that is easy to correct with clear signals. For example, the social security contribution for the Spanish self-employed is over 200 euros. In England, it is around 12 euros. This causes many people who could start an entrepreneurial activity to delay their decision. Another gesture with a lot of potential would be to simplify the various regulations and procedures. In this way, we would regain our reputation as a country where it is good to start up a business.
