>be a solo founder in Estonia running a SaaS startup from my laptop >get first customer in France >spend 3 days learning French VAT rules >get second customer in Germany >German VAT is different, apparently 16% on Tuesdays >VIES portal down again >invoice rejected because sequential number has wrong font >pay 500€ for VAT consultant to tell me I owe 12€ >GDPR email arrives from Austrian data authority >it's about a user who signed up with a fake email >accountant says I need a local rep in 7 countries now >total revenue: 78€ >total compliance cost: 2,400€ >EU says they're "supporting innovation" >close laptop, apply for remote job at US startup instead