Italian parents don't understand entrepreneurship (nor startups) - part 1

I always read about Asian parents who tell their kids to go to law school or medical school. And that got me thinking: do my parents secretly have Asian roots without me knowing? Because they behave the exact same!

I'm used to reading about stories of people who immigrated to the US, Canada, and other countries. I myself lived in Vancouver for a year and got the opportunity of discovering what it's like to be a foreigner.

I got there with the idea of becoming a successful entrepreneur and move there permanently, so that I could prove my parents that I could become part of the 1%. Spoiler: that didn't happen.

I actually had a very tough time surviving because life in Canada is 40 to 100% more expensive than Italy.

After a year, I had to come back home not just because my study permit was expiring but also because my graduation day was happening in a few months.

After graduating I was committed to creating a business for myself and maybe to give other people a job. I had a few ideas, actually one of them I tried many times in different ways without ever succeeding. Second spoiler: I failed again.

I tried and tried again many solutions to problems I believed to be real but they actually weren't. Or maybe they were real but not in Italy.

You see, Italy is a very weird country. Our culture and law system are usually against entrepreneurship. Taxes are high, information and education are not present when it comes to business.

Our culture is very risk averse and the concept of "failure" is not something that people swallow easily. Today I actually had a huge fight with my youger brother and my dad because they believe I am a failure because I failed many times.

If we go back to when I graduated, while I was attempting to get one of my ideas off the ground, my parents were not supportive of me. They actually became the main obstacle.

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++ This is the end of part 1 ++

If you are interested in the second part of the story make sure to follow me at @spazeit

Hope to chat with you in the comments

Many blessings,

Luca