Berlin is full of start-up events. Many of them are ruled by competition and revolve around the same old topics! Who has the better business model? Who can serve investors faster? Who puts on the better show?
It’s a meet-and-greet where I, as a scout looking for new innovative solutions and minds, often feel uncomfortable. It’s about filthy lucre and the questions:
- Who got how much?
- Who is valued at what?
- Where is the best margin?
- How quickly can the exit happen with the greatest possible financial success?
But isn’t the idea behind every business model to benefit customers as well as humanity? To make the world a little more beautiful and better? To use resources wisely? To act with respect in the market and, above all, to support the development of the potential of one’s own employees and partners?
Unfortunately, these things seem to be overlooked at many events. That makes it all the more important that there is an institution like the Stiftung Entrepreneurship in Berlin that cultivates these values. Of course it matters that founders are allowed to earn money and can live well or even very well from it – but not at any price. Social and economic sustainability are important keywords in the foundation’s understanding of entrepreneurship and in what it offers founders. The Entrepreneurship Summit is therefore not aimed at those out to make a quick buck. Rather, the summit brings together founders who want to make a difference and who find it important to question their own values and behavior.
“Innovation Through Agility” – Schaltzeit Agility Game at the Entrepreneurship Summit 2015
Our goals as futurists are very close to this. We, too, want to keep an eye on the Earth’s resources and create as much meaning as possible with them – and that can only work if we inspire others to pursue the same goals.
This year, too, the summit has a lot to offer. Whether workshops on unlocking potential or diving into “cradle to cradle” principles. Anyone who has been there before may not get very far if they are running the “What’s new” scanner. They will often run into the same people, and companies like Ratiodrink, the Laktasekampagne or the Teekampagne will present familiar faces and concepts. What is exciting, however, is questioning yourself: What has changed for me in this one year? Where have I made progress, and what am I stuck on right now?
In a workshop “Höchstleistungen erbringen!” (Delivering peak performance!) with Eberhard Wagemann last year, I had to answer the question “What is the root of my mediocrity?” The answer was, and still is, not satisfactory to me. That means there is still a lot of untapped potential in me, and I’d like to tap into it. That’s why the Entrepreneurship Summit absolutely belongs on my conference calendar again in 2016.
Come by and get inspired. If the networking on Saturday evening isn’t enough, I’d be happy to invite you for a round of beers afterward. The main thing is that you engage with the topic of change, soak up new ideas and discuss them. I’m looking forward to it.
