Kicking-off the new year and getting ready for 2016’s challenges: at EIT Digital Berlin three successful start-ups shared their knowledge and tips to Master School students during the second ‘Entrepreneurship Evening’. After welcoming words of the Berlin Node Director, Dr. Udo Bub, the start-ups and Idea Challenge winners Mynigma and 3YOURMIND as well as the EIT Digital coached start-up Sablono gave valuable insights into the Do’s and Don’ts of founding.
Dr. Roman Priebe, founder of Mynigma, pointed out that “awards are growth drivers on the route to market. Still, founding a start-up takes a lot of time and strength.” Another important advice came from Florian Meichsner from Sablono: “Never neglect sales! You might have developed a ground breaking technology and created a great product. But still the right people must know about it, it won’t just sell itself automatically. Especially B2B leads are very difficult in that sense, as you must find the specific people within a corporation.”
Stephan Kühr, CEO of the 3D-printing platform 3YOURMIND, shared experiences on how EIT Digital supported him to grow and build up his company. “Being a part of EIT Digital’s ecosystem helped us a lot. We were sent to important conferences and fairs in- and outside Europe and met the relevant potential clients and investors.” He also benefited from the close connection to the Master School students: Just recently he employed an alumni who is now a full member of the 3YOURMIND team.
Part of the education program of the Master School students is ‘Innovation & Entrepreneurship’. This evening, the students gained practical insights of the ups and downs of founding a start-up from first hand. The presentations resulted in a lively Q&A session and were continued during a get-together and kitchen-party with pizza, beer and soft drinks. The students asked anything from e-mail encryption and 3D-printing to founding obstacles. The event was used by both start-ups and students as a marketplace to connect for potential internships and job opportunities.
As part of the Idea Challenge prizes Mynigma and 3YOURMIND use the office facilities of EIT Digital at the Berlin Charlottenburg Innovation Centre (CHIC). They are at the same floor as the working rooms of the Master School students.
