For several years now, the Entrepreneurship Summit in Berlin in October has been a must-attend event for me. Every year, both my ego and my actions are called into question – not only by the participants and moderators, but also by myself.
While I’m wondering how to get a grip on my own little worries, I meet people here who have bigger plans and want to move things. For whom getting “rich” isn’t enough – they want to inspire others.
Of course, I also meet new startups that want to change things. Whether it’s the Dycle.org movement, which wants to return diapers to the natural cycle, or stone paper from paperontherocks, which – made without cellulose and with little water – sets out to minimize soil erosion.
This year, besides the conference bottle from Ratiodrink, I was particularly impressed by the following people:
- Dr. Gerald Hüther, who addressed object & subject language
- Economist Prof. Faltin, who despairs that humanity is not, after all, a homo oeconomicus and assumes that overpriced goods automatically come with higher quality
- Hearing Prof. Dr. Georg Schreyögg made me seriously wonder whether, in terms of growth crises, I had ever made it past the startup phase
- Eberhart Wagemann, who classified us as mediocre, listless beings and asked us openly: “Do you actually know what your mediocrity has cost you so far?”
- Michael Diestel introduced me to rural cooperatives, which can even be founded to renovate a village pub
- Johanna Richter told us what advisory duties come with being queen (one of six) of a mountain village in Togo.
Our contribution to the Entrepreneurship Summit was a game we developed ourselves. Barbara Hoppe had asked us to contribute something on the topic of innovation. But the more we discussed it as a team, the more we arrived at the topic of agility.
Entrepreneurs often found a company around a product or service for a specific target group. We wanted to develop a game in which founders experience that products/services and target groups can – and must – change. Otherwise, they fail. So we called our session: Under Pressure – there is more than innovation (Verena Bischoff, David Weigend, and André Winzer).
For this purpose, we brought experienced game developer David Weigend on board. Together with Verena and a number of test players, we then brought along our beta version: 5 sets for 30 players.
Afterward, it was clear: the game has potential. The players wanted more instructions, more time, and less math. But they had real fun. Whether childcare via the internet or nursing homes for German retirees in India – everyone joined in with gusto and plenty of team spirit. We thank all players for their valuable feedback. We’re continuing to work on it and refining the concept.
If you’re now thinking “I want to play,” feel free to get in touch. We’re starting up again on November 9, 2015.
Dear team at the Stiftung Entrepreneurship (Simon, Barbara 1, Barbara 2, Florian, Joanna, and everyone else), dear Prof. Faltin: thank you for your energy and enthusiasm. It was a fantastic summit. For now, we wish you a good rest. But we’ll be back!
