Startup Berlin — How to Get Started

Startups Berlin — my personal love story!

It’s how I got inspired. Reading about Wunderlist, Soundcloud, Readmill (acquired by Dropbox), the rise and fail of Gidsy …. and many more stories that inspired me to tap into the Berlin Startup Scene in 2011.

A lot has changed.

Everything got bigger.

Everything got more mature, more serious … Berlin Startups — it certainly feels we are on to something — BIG.

In a 2015 worldwide ranking of startup hubs, Berlin is now ranked 9th. It’s risen 6 places. The report also showed that Berlin exit values have grown by a factor of 20 — due primarily to the two big IPOs of Rocket Internet and Zalando. It’s the highest growth rate by far and another reason why Berlin has overtaken many other startup hubs.

But what does this mean for a first time startup founder or aspiring entrepreneur who is based somewhere in Europe?

Move To #Berlin

There is only one advise people will be telling you if you think about starting something.

You must be surrounded by like minded people, by mentors, by experts, by role models to model them and get better. Every single day.

That’s not nearly as quickly achieved as being somewhere in nowhere.

Startup Berlin: How to Get Started

Here a few resources you might find helpful at the start…

• [Article] The Berlin Tech Guide
• [Article] A Guide to the Berlin Tech Ecosystem
• [Book] Startup Guide Berlin
• [Blog German] t3n.de — Startups
• [Blogs auf Englisch] TechCrunch Europe | Venture Village | Silicon Allee
• [Association] Bundesverband Deutsche Startups
• [Conference] Startup Camp Berlin
• [Conference] Tech Open Air in Berlin
• [Conference] Digitalen Nomaden DNX
• [Conference] Berlin Web Week
• [Conference] Entrepreneurship Summit Berlin
• [Conference] Re:Publica in Berlin
• [Conference] Heureka in Berlin
• [Conference] Next
• [Conference] Digital Innovator’s Summit in Berlin
• [Database] Crunchbase.com Deutschland
• [Database] Angellist.co Deutschland
• [Events] Berlin Startup Events
• [Events] Lange Nacht der Startups
• [Events/Meetups] Berlin Startups
• [Eventbrite] Berlin Startups
• [Facebook group] Berlin Startups
• [Free Print Magazine] Berlin Valley
• [Newest apps] Product Hunt
• [Newsletter] Startup Digest Berlin
• [Newsletter] Tech Berlin
• [Map] Berlin Startup Map
• [Map] Berlin Startup mapped
• [Portal] Gründerszene.de
• [Portal] DeutscheStartups.de
• [Ranking] Berliner Startup Hub im internationalen Vergleich
• [Report] Deutscher Startup Monitor
• [Table overview] TECH Berlin City Guide

Get a Taste of Berlin’s Startup Scene: More recently…

• Tech.eu: Immediate and unfiltered impressions of Berlin’s startup scene
• The Guardian: Berlin’s startup scene is knuckling down to business
• The Guardian: Berlin and the tech startup scene — 10 things to know before making the move
• Entrepreneur.com: Berlin: The Startup City That’s Still Starting Up
• Wired.co.uk: Europe’s hottest startups 2015: Berlin
• StartupGeist: Berlin Startup Hub: The Rise to Europe’s Startup Capital

How it used to taste? Older posts…

• Berlin: what’s missing from our startup scene and 8 ways we can step it up
• When you really live in Berlin
• Why startups love Berlin?
• Why Berlin is Europe’s next startup capital
• The Long Shadow Of The Valley Reaches Berlin
• Sick of Silicon Valley?
• The Economist: Comparing Berlin vs. London
• Skip Silicon Valley: Why Smart Startups Start In Europe

To Work in Berlin Startups

• [Angellist] Berlin Startup Jobs
• [Portal] Berlin Startup Jobs
• [Portal] Startup-berlin.com/jobs/
• [Facebook] Berlin Startup Jobs
• Scientific/academic spin-offs: An overview of universities

To Work Like A Berlin Startup

• Betahaus Berlin
• Agora Berlin
• St. Oberholz
• Factory Berlin
• Get an overview of co-working spaces here

To Invest in Berlin Startups

• Seedmatch.de
• Fundsters.de
• Crowdfunding.de
• Crowdfunding-berlin.com
• Berlin Angel & Seed Investor List

Where Startups Get Accelerated

• Startupbootcamp Berlin (Fokus: Smart Transportation & Energy)
• German Tech Entrepreneurship Center
• Berlin Startup Academy
• Microsoft Accelerator
• Hardware.co
• Hub:Raum der Deutschen Telekom
• Plug & Play von Axel Springer
• You Is Now
• TechStars Berlin
• Make a Startup Berlin
• Google Launchpad Berlin
• Team Europe
• Rocket Internet
• Project A Ventures

A Few Hand-Picked Berlin Angel-Investors & VCs

• Atlantic Ventures
• Point Nine Capital
• Earlybird
• Hasso Plattner Ventures
• Telekom Ventures
• Berlin Angel & Seed Investor List

What else? Please leave more resources in the comment section and I will add them to the categories above.

Happy Berlin Startuping :)

Share your ❤ below — and respond with your thoughts.

I am looking forward to hearing from you.

Fearlessly love and build the life you truly deserve.

I am Danny and started StartupGeist to help students and recent graduates build a business — and have a good life. Why? To be free, financially independent and healthy. How? Build a growth mindset and deliberately practice skills that turn your ideas into something bigger.

StartupGeist.com | StartupGeist | Danny@StartupGeist.comOriginally published at startupgeist.com on March 12, 2016.