Page 296 - Coworking Around the World

■ In the tech world Russia has a huge domestic

market of Russian speakers with plenty of

capital available for funding. Russia has a solid

education system in STEM fields and an

abundance of technical talent with a fast

growing digital economy and e-commerce

market happening. The flip side to this

optimistic view is the fact that despite having a

wealth of money available, very little of it is

"smart money" and foreign investors shun

Russia as being too "risky". The government

peers over the shoulders of startups, wanting to

get too involved, rather than standing back and

investing in support programs or improving the

infrastructure. There is a definite lack of

entrepreneurship in their traditional culture and

though it has a large domestic market, it is

difficult for large tech companies to expand

abroad.