Founders need more than just an idea

Today's working world is characterised by rapid, dynamic change. This progress in the world of work demands, among other things, the ability to think in a visionary way and to take entrepreneurial responsibility, something which poses great challenges for young founders in particular. The state-of-the-art education of prospective founders and innovators (entrepreneurship education) is one of the most important goals of the University of Bayreuth. The Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation at the University of Bayreuth therefore offers comprehensive teaching and many additional services related to founding a business.

Entrepreneurship education is inter-faculty and interdisciplinary, because entrepreneurship is of interest not only to prospective business economists, but also to students of other faculties. One of these special offerings is the Entrepreneurial Skills Program (ESP), in which special focus is placed on personality development and the soft skills of prospective founders.

ESP is a newly developed programme that aims to enable students and doctoral candidates to further develop their innovative skills and personality as founders. ESP can thus meaningfully and qualitatively expand existing courses, which often focus on the development of the start-up idea itself. Students should apply in advance with their start-up idea in order to qualify as one of the 30 participants. The programme will take place alongside regular studies in the summer semester. ESP was inaugurated in 2021. (Follow-up report on Batch #1). In 2022, the programme will begin with its Kick Off Days from 20-22 April. The entrepreneurial skills that are developed in the programme can be divided into four pillars.

Intra- and interpersonal skills

Intra- and interpersonal skills are essential, as especially founders are constantly dependent on relationships and networking with their own employees, business clients, and investors. It is important for participants to learn how to communicate in a team, how to market their product, and how to make use of business relationships. Perhaps the most important five minutes in a founder's life are the pitch to investors, potential funding institutions, or in competitions. Fabian Brunner (BayStartUp) will explain what a perfect pitch deck looks like and what special attention should be paid to. But the right tonality, choice of words, and gestures are also crucial in a pitch. Andre Ottlik (Coach, Startups Workshops) will focus on this with the participants.

Another new addition to the programme is the experienced rhetoric expert Pia Bussinger, who will help participants gain more assurance and confidence in their communication. Niklas Hebborn (partner at Freigeist), probably the best-known venture capitalist in Germany, will explain how to behave or not behave when presenting a project and making contact with seed investors. Meanwhile, Finn Regenhold (nirgend) will go into more detail about remote pitching in his workshop. The learning process will be complemented by a pitch competition, similar to "Höhle der Löwen". The best team will have the opportunity to pitch their start-up at TechDays on 28 June 2022 in Munich.

Clemens Schüle, sales expert at Google, will give tips and tricks for contacting customers and how young founders can efficiently design their own sales funnel. Francesco Pisani, head of the EY Startup Academy, will focus on product market fit and pricing in his workshop. This module will be rounded off by mindfulness techniques, which train focused thinking, but also the ability to remain calm and think clearly.

Create and solve

Starting a business is complex and time-consuming, so the planning, organisation, and actual implementation of one's business plans needs to be carefully thought through. “Create and solve skills” are those skills that help participants to shape their business creatively and innovatively and to implement these ideas effectively through proper time management. Ahnjana Ahnfeldt is an expert in time and self-management. She knows a lot about prioritising tasks and implementing entrepreneurial projects and helps young founders to structure their start-up process in terms of time. Since innovation projects are now often carried out in an agile manner, knowledge of agile methods such as Scrum is essential. Robin Hädicke (Game Innovation Lab) will teach participants the basics with the help of a Lego workshop.

Information, opportunity, and risk management skills

A high willingness to take risks is essential for every successful start-up, but it is not always the best idea to rush into an entrepreneurial adventure impulsively. Frank Kabisch (tax consultant, Steuerteam Landsberg-München GmbH) and Dr. Andreas Kokott (start-up consultancy, Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation) will answer both legal and practical questions about the modalities of a start-up process in intensive workshops. For example, which legal form is best suited to my project, and what do I have to consider when hiring employees?

Growth mindset skills

"Be bold!" is the advice of Germany's mastermind of digitalisation & entrepreneurial mindset Philipp Depiereux (Speaker ESP 2021). The best way to learn this is from role models who have already successfully taken this path. During the final event, participants will visit successful start-ups in Munich and gather inspiration and motivation for their own projects. Like last year, participants will be supported in their entrepreneurial projects by competent mentors from our Bavarian start-up network.

Application period ends soon

Is it for you, and would like to be kept up to date? Registration for the second year of the Entrepreneurial Skills Programme is already open. In order to give students and doctoral candidates the opportunity to benefit from the contents of ESP and its speakers, some of the lectures will be broadcast live and open to the public. If you are interested in the Entrepreneurial Skills Programme, you can apply now until 31 March. 2022. You can find more information about the application in the e-learning course "Entrepreneurial Skills Program (ESP) for High Potentials (SoSe 22)".

As a hub for innovation, the University of Bayreuth is constantly expanding its range of offerings. Follow @gruenderuni_bayreuth on Instagram and LinkedIn, and check out our homepage to make sure you don't miss the public events.