Endeavor

7 Milan has another important asset that allowed its fintech industry to flourish. Italy has one of the highest amounts of private wealth in the world, and high net worth individuals are becoming an important customer segment for the fintech sector. These customers are conservative in their financial habits, and rarely interact directly with fintech solutions. 12 Instead, their bankers and financial advisors do, and a number of fintech solutions are targeting these advisors as a customer base, complementing advisory services with machine learning solutions. 13 Founders perceive Milan as a valid alternative to other fintech hubs both within Italy and Europe. Compared with other Italian cities, doing business in Milan has some unique advantages as it is recognized as Italy's financial capital, providing extensive business opportunities for fintech companies. Further, Milan-based companies have an ecosystem advantage due to proximity with most of Italian large corporates and investors. Compared with other European cities, Milan has a vivid international and entrepreneurial ecosystem and a competitive advantage in terms of cost of doing business, talent and quality of life. Interviewed founders showed a commitment to Milan: more than 75 percent mentioned that they planned to continue living in the city either for longer than three years, or indefinitely. Fintech founders also perceive Milan as a meritocratic community, where qualities like hard work, ambition and creativity are valued significantly more in the industry than coming from the right family or having the right connections. Nearly a hundred percent of respondents believed that ambition and hard work impact one's chances of getting ahead, whereas less than 20 percent believed that non- meritocratic factors like race, nationality, or class mattered. It is important to mention here that respondents may have been biased towards their personal perspective: in a community where less than 10 percent of entrepreneurs are women, it is perhaps not surprising that less than 10 percent believe that gender is irrelevant on the road to success. PERCEPTIONS OF MERITOCRACY AMONG FINTECH FOUNDERS IN MILAN Percent of founders who believed the following factors were very important or essential to being a successful fintech entrepreneur in Milan. 60% 40% 20% 0% 100% 80% Gender Nationality Willingness to cheat Race Coming from a wealthy family Knowing the right people Ambition Hard work Source: Endeavor Insight. Sample size = 64 fintech founders in Milan interviewed for the study.

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