Founding a company in Germany: €9600, 152 days and I still can't send an invoice

A founder in Germany spent over €9,600 and waited 152 days to establish a company, yet still cannot send invoices due to a delayed VAT ID approval. The article criticizes Germany's fragmented incorporation process, which chains multiple dependencies (notary, courts, tax authorities) with separate fees while other countries like Estonia and the UK complete registration in days online. The author argues the bureaucratic system, designed to prevent fraud, ironically generates enough friction to discourage entrepreneurship while failing to catch actual scams like Wirecard.