A big risk, many sacrifices — and the potential to change the world: why it is time to start your own business

A few weeks ago the new season “Höhle der Löwen” has started — it is the fifth now. Whether you like it or not: the success of this TV show clearly shows that starting a company has become trendy, has arrived in the middle of society. The term “startup” seems just as much on everyone’s lips as “innovation”. For me, this is a super exciting development because it has the potential to boost the spirit of entrepreneurship in Germany even more.

Of course, the program shows only a small part of a founder’s reality, but the energy and enthusiasm with which startups pitch their ideas in this show is still contagious. The truth is: founding your own company is hard. And it requires a lot of courage and patience. The founding team has to make some sacrifices — and all that with an ubiquitous, quite realistic risk of failing. But it’s worth it. It also is fun, incredibly educational and challenging. It expands your horizon, network, knowledge. And finally, founding has the potential to change the world and contribute to progress through innovation.

Starting up — one of those crazy trends from the capital?

I work in Berlin, the undisputed German startup metropolis: According to the DSM 17 percent of startups are founded there — more than in any other region. But the figure also shows that it not one of these crazy trends from Berlin like wearing tennis socks in high heels, but that innovative ideas are being born everywhere in Germany.

That’s why startups have become an economic engine, and above all a germ cell for innovation. Entrepreneurs are leaving the beaten track. In recent years, this has made a significant contribution not only in Germany, but all over the world, to companies breaking new ground far away from this ecosystem. In the Porsche Digital Lab, I am fortunate enough to be able to work very closely with startups: developing new ideas with them, networking, exchanging approaches and methods.

APX, myndseed, Civey: Three different angles on founding

My colleague Henric Hungerhoff from APX, the Axel Springer and Porsche accelerator, has the luck to be even closer to the startup scene. He and his team meet many founders — and invest in the most exciting and promising teams to help them turn their idea into a business. One of these start-ups is myndseed, which Clemens Walter just founded this year to innovate further education. For him, being an entrepreneur has become his attitude towards life — he says about himself that he is not able to do anything else 😉 Before myndseed, he had already started two other companies: MyCouchbox and BuyOrBurn. He obviously likes to take the risk — not because he has never failed before, but because founding fascinates and inspires him.

Of course, there is always the danger of failures or even failing completely. There is no perfect plan that guarantees the success of an idea. But if you face this fear, you can grow with it. Janina Mütze was only 24 years old when she co-founded the opinion data startup Civey. Today the young company has more than 30 employees — and Janina is one the rising stars of the Berlin startup scene. She has become a role model and shows that founding your own business is not a question of age or experience, but of attitude: “I am a problem solver. I solve a problem every day. And as time goes by, the problems get bigger, but so does the knowledge I’ve gained over the past weeks and months,” she says.

In the spirit of Jimmy Cliff: You can do it if you really want.

Janina, Henric and Clemens have very different perspectives on the start-up world. They have different backgrounds and career paths. And at the same time, they have on thing in common: They know that starting your own company requires courage. But it’s worth it.

Of course, you don’t have to pitch your idea on TV — rather introduce yourself to APX instead or come to one of our First Tuesdays in the Porsche Digital Lab. No matter which way you choose: Believe in yourself, be inspired by other founders and dare to start up.

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