By Stephen DeAngelis
My observations from Warsaw as of May 18, 2024.
I’ve been in Warsaw, Poland, this past week and I see the winds of confidence changing. Over the course of the past 10 years that I’ve been visiting Warsaw for business, I have been fascinated and excited about the entrepreneurial spirit of the country. The rate and quality of entrepreneurial technology and the vitality of the start-up business community in Warsaw has been consistently growing and flourishing. It felt a bit like the beginnings of the technology sector in the US, yet at a smaller scale and without the abundant amount of venture capital that Silicon Valley enjoys. Over the past decade, I have met with young entrepreneurs who are starting new companies, working late at night, having meetings in cafes over coffee discussing new technologies and business models. All of these entrepreneurs and investors have been and are still confident about their future prospects. It is very exciting.
However, during my latest visit I sense that air of confidence starting to shift a bit due to geo-political uncertainty and Poland’s proximity to Ukraine. This perception is most acute among new immigrants from Ukraine; however, I also sense a change among tech sector folks whom I speak with across Poland. In talking to some of my colleagues from Ukraine who are living as a flourishing diaspora population in Warsaw, I sense a shift in their initial exuberance and confidence about building companies in the region. The current state of the war in Ukraine and fears of inconsistent global support for the Ukraine is evident. People are considering moving again from Poland to western European — to nations as far from the battlefields as possible and still stay in Europe.
This change in perception and confidence is very troubling, not just for the Ukrainian diaspora, but more critically for Poland and the entire region. Evidently, air raid drills and bomb shelter awareness messages have been instituted by the government. While prudent, for this generation, these actions are unprecedented and troubling. I hope that this feeling of nervous trepidation is short-lived, but I am a realist enough to know that storm clouds may be coming. I hope they do not come to the region. The resolve and creativity of the Ukrainian diaspora — and the Polish tech sector more broadly — is comforting, I hope it is enough to build structural resiliency.
