[cupofjoakim]

I enjoy the idea of Mittelstands. The "forever growth" that is a common target otherwise feels misguided and overbearing at times, but I also understand that this clashes a lot with the american super-capitalist mindset. We should all be billionaires right? /s

On the topic of mittelstands vs startups - I think it's a non issue. You can have both. However, startups are starting to get a certain smell to them. Probably swearing in church here (hello ycombinator) but too many startups feel unreliable and the amount of founders just looking for an early exit is really not helping.