1) That's far from true. I had a company in an incubator associated with one of the largest federal universities. Professors were supportive, overall. A few helped with contacts in the industry and ideas.

2) The overall tax rate isn't that bad (I live in England now, you'd be surprised). The tax system is complicated but for small companies, falling under Simples rules, it's fairly easy.

Re. labour laws, the fact that labour debts aren't protected by limited liability is fairly bad.

Re. regulated, yeah, it's also pretty complicated to get good legal counsel, despite the amount of law school graduates.