I don't know how it works exactly, and whether it's significantly different in Germany, but to register as a (foreign[1]) sole trader in Austria, I had to show proof of no convictions in my home country and declare that I had no history of bankruptcy. I vaguely remember this to be 5 or 6 years, not 30, however. If you're Austrian, they already have this information on you. As far as I can tell, either precludes you from being a managing director, sole trader or partner unless you have someone who will effectively run the business on your behalf (!).
Setting up a limited liability company (GmbH) is an expensive and complicated process here, any decision by the board of directors must be witnessed by a notary public, etc. I suspect this is why so many companies have a non-fulltime lawyer in their founding team here.
Starting a UK limited company and operating it from Austria or Germany seems to be the main way to avoid all this cruft these days. The filings required in the UK are much less bureaucratic and arcane, plus there's no lower limit for starting capital. (Austrian GmbH require €35k initial capital, at least half of which must be cash)
That investors here are super conservative and don't "get" technology is pretty much common knowledge. Being so conservative, I can see how a company where some of the founders had previously been involved in a failed startup wouldn't stand much of a chance raising capital.
Setting up a limited liability company (GmbH) is an expensive and complicated process here, any decision by the board of directors must be witnessed by a notary public, etc. I suspect this is why so many companies have a non-fulltime lawyer in their founding team here.
Starting a UK limited company and operating it from Austria or Germany seems to be the main way to avoid all this cruft these days. The filings required in the UK are much less bureaucratic and arcane, plus there's no lower limit for starting capital. (Austrian GmbH require €35k initial capital, at least half of which must be cash)
That investors here are super conservative and don't "get" technology is pretty much common knowledge. Being so conservative, I can see how a company where some of the founders had previously been involved in a failed startup wouldn't stand much of a chance raising capital.
[1] I'm a UK citizen.