Poland's UA is also substantially nerfed, since you lose 3 free social policies by starting in the Industrial Era. Ducal Stable has nice bonuses and the Winged Hussar is OK-ish, but is quickly obsolete (and who really wants anti-tank guns). Venice cannot hope to keep pace with the science rate of other civs, even starting with 3 Great Merchants of Venice (rather than 3 settlers), since you cannot assign science specialists in puppets. On balance, I don't like your civs for an Industrial start.
If you can tech to Artillery before he can get to nukes, you can roll him off the map. Dynamite is only 3 techs away (or 4 techs if you go to Scientific Theory first). Artillery, with Musketmen and some Crossbows, FTW.
What social policies do you take at the beginning of the game? You get enough culture to pick 8 policies, so you can, e.g., finish Tradition and take 2 policies in Rationalism. Consider Babylon (which still gets its free Great Scientist from Writing in an Industrial start). Yes, its UU and UB are obsolete at the start, but every city starts with a library, so you can bang out your National College asap and your universities, while working the academy with finished Tradition and two policies in Rationalism (or you can take 3 policies in Rationalism (Opener, Humanism and Secularism) and finish Tradition with your next policy).
EDIT: Just saw CraigMak's post. I like his suggestion of completing Liberty for the GE, then rushing Pisa (for the faster GS generation), and then using the Pisa GE to rush PT (need to have opened Rationalism) for (if you play Babs) a second academy.