Germany is known for its excellent science – yet researchers and scientists still rarely found companies. Why are so few startups emerging here compared to other countries? What are the shortcomings, and what needs to change to trigger a startup boom among researchers? The UnternehmerTUM forum provides answers.
Starting a company as a scientist? It's not easy. Research isn't always realistic, and financial security and entrepreneurial know-how are lacking. The working methods also differ:
"In science, you're trained to generate knowledge and share everything with each other. And now, suddenly, as a startup, I have to start keeping everything to myself and developing it as a team. That's a problem that's very, very difficult for me,"
says Dr. Nikola Müller, co-founder of the startup Knowing.
So, what needs to be done to trigger a startup boom among scientists? This was the question addressed at this year's Forum UnternehmerTUM at BMW Welt. 650 guests from business, science, and the startup scene heard a stimulating discussion and exciting ideas for significantly increasing the number of startups in Germany.
The film "From Scientist to Founder – Perspectives from the USA, Japan, and Sweden" introduces the audience to the topic. It uses impressive best practices to demonstrate how startups are successfully implemented both abroad and in Germany.
Integrating entrepreneurial thinking into science
For Wolfgang A. Herrmann, President of the Technical University of Munich, the foundation for new startups is already laid at universities. It requires an entrepreneurial spirit, entrepreneurial thinking, without being a company itself. This is also emphasized Dr. Georg Schroth, Managing Director of NavVis:
"Professors need to conduct much more realistic research. It's important to see entrepreneurship demonstrated so that they can then implement the experience themselves."
Dr. Helmut Schönenberger, Managing Director of UnternehmerTUM, supports this: "If we want to make a breakthrough in Germany, we need more than 15 percent of professors to participate."
The most important thing is that young founders are not hindered by their institute directors, says Professor Rosenfeld of the Fraunhofer Society. Of course, it's always the best members of the team who found a company and then leave the institute. That's painful. An incentive model helps here. This ensures that institutes don't cling to their best people, but instead let them go in exchange for a bonus, thus supporting new cash cows.
professor Jürgen Mlynek from the Helmholtz Association encourages doctoral students to familiarise themselves with the idea of founding a company in a playful and creative way.
“Think about it: What would you do if you had to make a living from your doctoral thesis?”
