KLM Mobile Solutions was founded in 2011 by two business administration students of the University of Mannheim who then co-founded Sponsorun. Having developed the App of the University of Mannheim, the Startup was one of the first to launch mobile applications for universities in Germany.

February 2013 brought about a change of management. Two economics students of the University of Mannheim (Gregor Tränkle, Julian Brack) became CEOs of the company and took over the operational business. Furthermore, KLM became part of the MCEI Incubator program and moved into MCEI office space granted to further grow the business. This step allowed KLM to have better access to infrastructure resources and to improve its operational workflow. ‘The objective is to improve the students’ everyday life with small and simple yet helpful features and thus make student life a little bit more efficient.’ The implementation of an ISBN-scanner in May 2013, which allows UniMa-App users to check the dynamic availability of various books at the university library, is only one example of the measures taken to achieve this goal. An agreement for developing the official mobile application of the DHBW Mannheim and one with another big institution in Mannheim offers KLM Mobile Solutions good chances to expand its activities by then end of 2013. New projects always go along with new learning experiences and opportunities to enhance the product to really become a smart, user-friendly and cool microcosm information platform.

KLM Mobile Solutions is looking forward to a successful year 2013.The next app of KLM Mobile Solutions will be available in late October. We congratualte the KLM team to this success story and are happy to offer continuous support along the growth curve.

Tomorrow (September 19), ADTELLIGENCE will talk about innovation and growing the business in the context of our MAN 630 lecture series. The event is open to public and will most likely cover about the last 30 minutes of the lecture (B4) from 14:45-15.15. The venue is SN169 and everybody being interested in entrepreneurship is kindly invited to join. With a bit of luck, you can even meet co-founder Michael Altendorf in person. 

ADTELLIGECNE is a rising star in the Startup scene. It provides eCommerce optimization & customer intelligence solutions that increase advertising effectiveness through machine learning, leading to improved conversion rates and increased revenue. ADTELLIGENCE is a fast-growing, innovative company that has developed a socio-psychographic targeting engine for online marketing campaigns. We are a high-tech company from the metropolitan Rhine-Neckar region of Germany and were founded in 2008 by Michael Altendorf and Dr. Cyrille Waguet, together with Jürgen Greulich and Udo Schork.

Regarding recent developemnts, ADTELLIGENCE has been awarded as a Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum and thus been recognized for its potential to influence and shape future businesses and societies. ADTELLIGENCE is the only German company that passed the rigorous application process and stood up to the high demands. What is more, ADTELLIGENCE is part of the highly prestigous German Silicon Valley Accelerator Program. The company has most recently been awarded as Startup of the month by MCEI. If you consider working for ADTELLIGENCE, you can find interesting job offers and internship offers in the MCEI internship pool.

Visit www.adtelligence.de

In the opening session of our lecture series MAN630 Introduction to Entrepreneurship, contagt co-founder Johannes Britsch provided a real-life example of a University of Mannheim (student) entrepreneur. The theoretical content of the first session dealt with what actually constitutes an entrepreneur and what entrepreneurs do. Is it all about their psychological profile and character traits?

Johannes provided great insights into their business and what it is like to found a business from within a university setting. A great discussion evolved and there was a lot of room for individual questions. 

About contagt: 

contagt is a young startup at the University of Mannheim. Since last week, a student team is working at contagt in a Student Accelerator project. The Startup  is centered around developing a unique solution to indoor-navigation which is the first of its kind worldwide. The technology is based on QR- and NFC technologies and an app enables users to benefit from the indoor navigation tool. contagt’s promising business idea has been rewarded with the ‚Prinz von Hohenzollern Price 2013’ in June this year. Further, contagt is currently receiving funding from the economic department of the city of Mannheim and the MAFINEX Gründerverbund.

There is an emerging Student Accelerator project with contagt. The need assessment still has to be completed. The project horizon is 2-3 months and a prospective kick-off date would be around the last week of August/ first week of September.

The Startup  is centered around developing a unique solution to indoor-navigation which is the first of its kind worldwide. The technology is based on QR- and NFC technologies. contagt’s promising business idea has been rewarded with the ‚Prinz von Hohenzollern Price 2013’.

This is your chance to become part of an interdisciplinary young team and support this team in successfully entering the market. Are you a University of Mannheim student, a true team player and looking forward to challenging 2-3 months of working at eye-level with the founders? Well-developed German skills are a plus. We are looking forward to your applications. Please file your interest in the project to Jan Zybura.  

In our classes we teach our students on growth and highlight the role of scalability, sustainability and profitability. But how sustainable are our Mannheim Startups after all? Some questions to ask are for instance: How many jobs do they create? Are they profitable? How much impact do they generate after all and is their business model scalable? What is their regional and more global footprint?

In this master thesis project, you will conduct research on these and related questions and determine potential success factors. Is there a pattern distinguishing the successful Startups from the not so successful ones? 

Regarding your profile, you ideally bring the following characteristics with you:

• high research aptitude
• high intrinsic motivation and enthusiasm 
• independent working style
• well-developed MsOffice skills
• some experience with Stata, SPSS or R
• some experience in conducting field research
• completed at least one out of MAN 630, 631, 632 + our reasearch seminar 
• good German language skills
• excellent communication skills

Some literature to start with will be provided subsequent to a first meeting. For more information or to apply please feel free contact me via e-mail or MCEI.

MCEI will support  4D CATH, a dkfz/ Universitätsklinikum Mannheim medical engineering spin-off, with full-time master thesis student Patrick Bach in the venture and dedicated advise. We are looking forward to an inspriring project and collaboration. The project is part of our Mannheim Accelerator initiative and connects to a very fruitful working relationship.

More on 4D CATH:

Catheter procedures play a big role in medicine. Thousands of cardiac cath lab procedures are being performed in the US alone per year. Chances are that every other person will have at least one procedure in their lifetime. Current cardiac cath lab is being performed similar to old fashioned cinema movies - in 2D. The invention here allows physicians to perform future procedures in 3D. While 3D imaging is being used in almost all fields of medical imaging up to date, real-time 3D imaging was not possible in the past for cath lab procedures. CATH 4D employs a technology that is comparable to mp3 for music or mpeg for the movies - it reduces the necessary data. And since in X-ray based imaging data relates to radiation, CATH 4D was able to squeeze the radiation to such a low level that one could think about true 3D imaging for the cath lab. The 4D CATH method greatly improves the overview of the performing physician and decreases the chances of complications.

Aims of 4D CATH

• To build a real-time 4D imaging platform for minimal-invasive interventions

• To bring proof of concepts towards product readiness

• To creat demand by showing the potential of real-time 4D intervention guidance

Benefits of 4D CATH

Medical doctors:

• More accurate image guidance (spatial position of intervention instruments is always clear)

• Lower education threshold to learn new procedures - more procedures can be offered

• New approaches might become feasible - “turf” moves towards interventionalists …

Hospitals:

• A wider range of procedures can be offered

• Faster procedures

• New technology produces vivid images comprehensible by lay people - marketing fuzz

Patients:

• Safer and faster procedures

• Less invasive procedures

• More target oriented, less adverse effects

For more information, do not hesitate to contact Dr. Sönke Bartling via the MCEI Network. 

Background:

The dkfz, the ifm and MCEI have successfully cooperated on several projects before. Our joint mission is to foster entrepreneurship and technology transfer in the Rhein Neckar Region. In the realm of our Mannheim Student Accelerator, we have sent more than 5 students to support dkfz spin-offs with dedicated master thesis projects so far. There is a very good working relationship to build on. If you are interested in such a project or a technology transfer project for your master thesis, get in touch. Sent an e-mail to  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and we will figure out whether there is a potential project for you.

Currently, we have 3 Student Accelerator Projects in FSS 2013 (spring term). 

1. Profound market and competitor analysis at a Medical Engineering Startup.
   • team size: 5
   • executed with INTEGRA student consultants
2. Business model verification and scenario planning at a Process and Environmental Engineering Startup
   • team size: 3
   • executed with INTEGRA student consultants
3. Internationalization @SponsoRun
   • team size: to be defined
   • application still open

More information for students who want to join

More information for startups that want to join

Is your business expanding rapidly and are you excelling on a growth path or are you facing some trouble of which you might not even know the cause? In either case, you might consider that one of our student teams with their dedicated business and (theoretical) entrepreneurship experience can be of great help.

Are you eligible for the Mannheim Accelerator and Inside the Venture?

Your business should not be older than 5 years and have less than 250 employees. What is more, proximity to the University of Mannheim with respect to location is desirable (Rhein-Neckar region). Ideally, you also have some roots at the University of Mannheim in terms of e.g. one of your founding members having studied ahere but this is not a necessary condition. All projects are conducted free of charge and usually last 2-3 months. Given a high amount of time and effort students will spend on your business and its advancement, you are kindly encouraged to define a success-oriented incentive scheme for the team. However, this is up to you and not obligatory.

How to participate and what are the next steps?

Startups that intend to participate should write us an e-mail or MCEI message. Please let us know what are the most pressing challenges that need to be solved. In a next step, you will meet the MCEI team and we will prioritize your needs into a project definition. The logical next step is compiling a student team out of our student accelerator talent pool and a subsequent project kick-off. 

What about the quality of the teams and projects?

We are co-operating with the University of Mannheim student consulting initiative INTEGRA e.V to ensure highest project quality. What is more, all participants gain substantial coaching and advice by the MCEI team along the way.

Students who would like to participate in Inside the Venture find more information here.

We still remember the first interviews with the founders as part of our support and consulting services at the ifm (now MCEI) well. Now, the mobile start-up Stocard has raised a higher six-figure sum of capital via the High-Tech Gründerfonds, Klaas Kersting (also known via Daily Deal and Supercell) , CD-Venture and another investor. We are very pleased about this excellent news and congratulate. 

Stocard is a young mobile application start-up based in Mannheim. It has set itself the goal to bring customer loyalty to your smartphone. This generally makes customer loyalty programs for consumers and retailers easier and more attractive. Who has notexperiences being asked after 4 loyalty program cards in 5 different stores during Christmas shopping? Often, you have left the preferred card at home as your wallet is exploding due to all the plastic cards. Again, you miss discounts, special promotions and/ or bonus points.

Stocard consolidates an abundance of plastic cards on your smartphone. Therefore, you have them readily available to collect points and discounts at all times. According to experts, this simplification has proved extremely popular and has great market potential. 

Visit Stocard at www.stocard.de

Course Outline

Creativity and Entrepreneurship in Practice introduces students to the practical elements of innovation and entrepreneurship. In this class, you will design your own product or service and ideally have an early stage startup by the end of the term. MAN 631 starts at the very grassroots of building a business.

During the course, you will reach out to potential customers and by the end of the semester, all student teams will have turned their idea into a pitch deck that will be presented in a real startup pitch setting with a jury including experts from the private equity, legal, consulting, and academic world. Thus, all the projects that will be developed in this class are taken seriously and will be developed into real ventures by the end of class – no showcases, simple write-ups whatsoever. You can expect tremendous opportunities for your personal and entrepreneurial development in this class – including growing your network into the German startup scene and beyond. Please note that developing your business idea is a team effort, lots of fun, and quite a thrill but also requires lots of dedication, commitment, and long nights of work with your team outside of the classroom. 

Are you ready for a challenge and do you want to change the world? Are you ready for the real startup journey? Then MAN 631 is your perfect choice. Join us!

By the way: The course starts quite early in the semester. Please be aware that as soon as  the team building is completed, you cannot leave this class without failing it – just like in a real startup setting when you let your team down (see information on registration below).

What you can expect from us is dedicated and continuous feedback to advance your projects, intros to MCEI partners who can help you grow, and a fun and rewarding atmosphere to create something new in class. Do not miss out on our Startup Lounges and Founder Talks throughout the semester to maximize your Startup experience.

Side note on choosing MAN 631 vs. alternative courses (i.e., when it is advisable not to choose MAN 631):

• If you expect a more traditional lecture setting paired with team work, join MAN 630 Introduction to Entrepreneurship in Fall instead. This is also recommended when you hate uncertainty, lack of structure and cannot endure doubts about the results of your work.

Learning Outcomes

This course focuses on five main aspects:

• encouraging students to investigate and experience creative processes to generate and assess entrepreneurial ideas (including team building)
• preparing students to turn innovative ideas into business models
• testing innovative ideas and business models in the real world
• enabling students to develop their own startup including a business plan (15 pages + appendix) + pitch presentation
• having an early stage business by the end of this course that will be evaluated by an expert jury

By the end of this module, students will have...

• explored and developed their own entrepreneurial creativity.
• their own startup team.
• an advanced startup idea that tackles a real customer need.
• gained skills in building, testing and improving business models.
• a pitch deck and brief business plan on their startup idea for following up on the project.
• presented and defended the concept of their project in front of an expert jury.
• gained financing opportunities to pursue their venture (depending on performance).
• gained lots of feedback on their personal and professional development in real life settings.
• developed skills and abilities that can be applied to improve their effectiveness in the rest of their studies and in their lives – including team building skills. 

Registration & Final Course Decision

Please register via the Student Portal prior to Kick-off (Session 1). Please make sure that you register both for the MAN 631 "Lecture" and "Exercise" (registration is open from August 1, 2023). The exercise class of MAN 631 is designed to arrange individual feedback meetings with the MAN 631 teams throughout the semester. Feedback meetings will be arranged with each team individually depending on the time availability of the teams. Further information will follow in Session 1.

Students with various backgrounds are essential to this class! Everybody is welcome to sign up and apply! In case there is a conflict with your faculty/area of study, please let us know (you have to make this request to your area of study if not listed in the module catalog) and we will try to sort things out and get you on board!

Note: Kick-off participation (Session 1) is absolutely mandatory for team building. No exceptions will be made. Not participating in the Kick-off leads to immediate de-registration from course. Letting your team down along the way (i.e., dropping out) will lead to failing this class, as the first grading component is assessed in Session 2. Course choices are thus final after Session 1 to make this challenge work. As of Session 2: If you decide to miss out on a session, it is the responsibility of your team. As long as your team is okay with it, we are okay with it. You do not need an individual permit.

We are looking forward to having you in class!

Place & Time 

Check the schedule for detailed information.

Assessment

Note: This class demands continuous individual and team effort. Results and learnings are highly rewarding but - just like in a real startup - full dedication and commitment to work long hours form an integral part of the experience. If you cannot or do not want to go all in on the experience, we offer electives that resemble more traditional courses with lectures, workshops and team presentations (MAN 630, 632). So lots of offerings to find what suits you best. Past evaluations show that we cannot stress enough that in MAN 631 uncertainty, lack of structure, and serious doubts on what will be the result of all your work is absolutely part of the experience, highly embraced, and eventually leads to great results.  

Grading components:

• Pitch Presentations (35%) (team)  [Practice Pitch 10%, Final Pitch 25%]
• Reporting and continuous assessment (35%) (team)  [5 Performance appraisals along the way of 5% each + 10% Final Documentation]
• Exam (20%) (individual)
• Peer Evaluation (10%) (individual) - this means you will grade each other on how things went in the team

Persons in Charge

Course Coordinator: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Supervising Professor: Prof. Dr. Michael Woywode

Course Load and Language

ECTS: 6

Language: English

Readings & Resources

Readings & Resources:

• Exam-relevant: Blank, S., & Dorf, B. (2012). The startup owner's manual: The step-by-step guide for building a great company. Pescadero, Calif.: K & S Ranch Publ.  (about 25 copies in the university library)
• Exam-relevant: Savoia, A. (2022). Pretotype It – How to make sure you are building The Right It before you build It right. 10th Anniversary Edition. Access at: https://www.pretotyping.org/uploads/1/4/0/9/14099067/pretotype_it_10_year_anniversary_edition_pdf_version_1.0.pdf 
• Maurya, A. (2016). Scaling lean: Mastering the key metrics for startup growth. London: Portfolio Penguin. (about 20 copies in the university library)
• Osterwalder, A., & Pigneur, Y. (2013). Business model generation: A handbook for visionaries, game changers, and challengers. New York: Wiley & Sons (digital copy available via the university library)
• Ries, E. (2011). The lean startup: How constant innovation creates radically successful businesses. London: Portfolio Penguin.

Additional Resources:

• Stanford University's Entrepreneurship Corner (lectures, guest speakers)
• Steve Blank' Resources (slides/ videos, startup tools)

Course Materials: All course material (where applicable) will be provided via the MCEI Group 'MAN 631 Creativity and Entrepreneurship in Practice (Fall 2023)'. We will not use ILIAS for course materials in this class. We will use ILIAS to conduct online exams. 

Please note: The majority of the work required to develop your own venture (=for this course) has to be performed as a team and between sessions. You have one to two weeks to re-iterate and evolve your startup and business model further. Each session you are required to give a short update about your progress and your milestones. We will provide you with input and feedback to advance your idea and assess your progress.  

Preliminary Schedule (Fall 2023). Please check back for updates.

Additional note about the duration of each session: Please note that sometimes not the full time of each session as indicated will be taken. This depends, among other things, on how many students actually attend the course. Further explanations will follow in the first session of the course. If you have scheduling conflicts or questions in advance, please contact the course coordinator.

Session 1 (in class): Start your entrepreneurial journey (Kick-off - mandatory for participating in MAN 631)

September 12 | Mafinex Technology Center (Julius-Hatry-Straße 1, 68163 Mannheim) | 10.15am - 2.45pm

Topics:

• Introduction
• Team building

Required readings (before class):

• Blank, S., & Dorf, B. (2012). The startup owner's manual: The step-by-step guide for building a great company. Pescadero, Calif.: K & S Ranch Publ. (Chapters 1 and 2)

Note: Attendance required to participate in MAN 631 - no exceptions being made.

Team work preparation for Session 2 

Task: 

• Within your teams, create a long list of startup ideas
  
  • What are eminent problems you can identify?
  • Who has these problems (B2C, B2B)? 
  • What are possible solutions?
  • Why can you provide these solutions to the identified problems best?
• Narrow your long list down to a short list of the 3 most promising problems and their possible solutions. 

Deliverables in Session 2:

• Long list of startup ideas (about 50 will do)
• How did you choose your ideas? Why?
• Short list of the 3 most promising problems and their solutions (i.e., startup ideas) 
• Please present these in a coherent presentation (ppt or PDF)

Assessment of your progress in Session 2: 5% of overall grade

Required readings:

• Blank, S., & Dorf, B. (2012). The startup owner's manual: The step-by-step guide for building a great company. Pescadero, Calif.: K & S Ranch Publ. (Chapters 3 to 7)

Session 2 (in class): Introduction to Design Thinking

September 19 | Mafinex Technology Center (Julius-Hatry-Straße 1, 68163 Mannheim) | 10.15am - 2.45pm

Topics:

• Assessment of your preparation of deliverables I (see above, 5% of overall grade), each team: 3-5 min presentation + Q&A/ feedback
• Introduction to Design Thinking and working with Design Thinking methods

Teamwork preparation for Session 3

Task:

• Identify the critical hypotheses that your 3 ideas rest upon
  • Which assumptions do you have about the problems of your potential customers/users?
  • About their current behavior?
  • About their motives?
• Validate the critical hypotheses for all three ideas with potential customers / users.
  • This will require you to go outside and talk to people.
  • Apply the interviewing tips & tricks learned in the Design Thinking session.
  • Document your learnings.
• Conduct at least five interviews per idea. Remember: even though you already have a solution in mind, at this point it’s about understanding the customer/user without presenting your idea. You might be surprised that you get 10 new ideas for how to better solve the (real!) problem.
• Experiencing doubts about your ideas is highly appreciated – they point you toward the most crucial assumptions behind your idea and allow you to pivot from what does not work to what can work.
• Do not be scared to iterate or restart the process if you come across better opportunities than on your short list.

Deliverables in Session 3: 

• Your hypotheses per idea
• The learnings from your interviews (>15)
• Please present these in a coherent presentation (ppt or PDF)

Please note: Experiencing doubts about your idea is highly appreciated - you are pivoting from what does not work to what can work.

Required readings: 

• Blank, S., & Dorf, B. (2012). The startup owner's manual: The step-by-step guide for building a great company. Pescadero, Calif.: K & S Ranch Publ. (Chapters 8 to 12)

Session 3 (in class): Customer Validation

October 4 | Mafinex Technology Center (Julius-Hatry-Straße 1, 68163 Mannheim) | 10.15am - 2.45pm

Topics:

• Assessment of your preparation of deliverables II (see above, 5% of overall grade), each team: 3-5 min presentation + Q&A/ feedback
• Customer Discovery 
• Customer Validation
• Problem-Solution Fit

Teamwork preparation for Session 4

Task: 

• Decide on your preferred idea. Provide reasoning for why you decide to go forward with this idea and not the others.
• Identify and validate your next most critical hypotheses for your selected idea.
  • You can also consider hypotheses that might arise from your business model (channel, customer relations, revenue).
  • Talk to potential customers/users/experts (at least 10 interviews).
  • If you want, you can use first prototypes.
  • Remember the interviewing tips & tricks learned in the Design Thinking session.
  • Document your learnings.
• Experiencing doubts about your ideas is highly appreciated – they point you toward the most crucial assumptions behind your idea and allow you to pivot from what does not work to what can work.

Deliverables Session 4: 

• Your selected idea
• Your (iterated) hypotheses
• The learnings from your interviews (>10)
• Please present these in a coherent presentation (ppt or PDF)

Required readings: 

• Savoia, A. (2022). Pretotype It – How to make sure you are building The Right It before you build It right. 10th Anniversary Edition. Access at: https://www.pretotyping.org/uploads/1/4/0/9/14099067/pretotype_it_10_year_anniversary_edition_pdf_version_1.0.pdf

Session 4 (in class): Rapid Prototyping

October 17 | Mafinex Technology Center (Julius-Hatry-Straße 1, 68163 Mannheim) | 10.15am - 2.45pm

Topics:

• Assessment of your preparation of deliverables III (see above, 5% of overall grade), each team: 7 min presentation + Q&A/ feedback
• Rapid prototyping – bring your creativity and be ready to build stuff

Teamwork preparation for Session 5

Task: 

• Build/improve your prototype(s) to test the most crucial elements of your solution.
  • Your prototype can be a physical prototype (e.g., laser cut, 3D print, cardboard model), a mock-up, a landing page or even a well-developed customer interaction story for a service.
  • Remember the rapid prototyping learnings - do not spend too much effort on the details.
• Validate your prototype(s) with your potential customers/users.
  • See how people interact with your prototype(s).
  • Learn how to improve your prototype (and idea!) and what your customers really need and appreciate about your solutions.
  • Document your learnings.

Deliverables next session: 

• Your prototype(s).
• Learnings & documented customer validation cases (> 15)
• Please present these in a coherent presentation (ppt or PDF)
• Preparation for (individual) exam based on the course literature Blank, S., & Dorf, B. (2012). The startup owner's manual: The step-by-step guide for building a great company. Pescadero, Calif.: K & S Ranch Publ. and Savoia, A. (2022). Pretotype It – How to make sure you are building The Right It before you build It right. 10th Anniversary Edition.

Please note: If you experience doubts about your ideas, you can always go back and try another idea or pivot! 

Suggested readings (your choice of what helps you improve):

• Maurya, A. (2016). Scaling lean: Mastering the key metrics for startup growth. London: Portfolio Penguin.
• Osterwalder, A., & Pigneur, Y. (2013). Business model generation: A handbook for visionaries, game changers, and challengers. New York: Wiley & Sons.

Session 5 (in class): Business Model

October 31 | Mafinex Technology Center (Julius-Hatry-Straße 1, 68163 Mannheim) | 10.15am - 2.45pm

Topics:

• Exam (30min, 20% of your grade)
• Assessment of your preparation of deliverables IV (see above, 5% of overall grade), each team: 7 min presentation + Q&A/ feedback
• Business Models
• Business Model Canvas
• Market Research & Competitor Analysis
• Financial Planning

Teamwork preparation for Session 6

Task: 

• Conduct a market and competitor analysis
• Improve your product-market fit and consider business model implications (this probably implies conducting more interviews)
• Prepare a first financial plan
• Prepare a first version of your pitch presentation & pitch deck for your startup
• Serious business - take into account best practices and examples, talk to entrepreneurs (e.g., in the Startup Lounges)

Deliverables next session: 

• First version of your pitch presentation & pitch deck, including market and competitor analysis, and financials

Suggested readings (your choice of what helps you improve):

• Pitching Hacks Bible 
• Maurya, A. (2016). Scaling lean: Mastering the key metrics for startup growth. London: Portfolio Penguin.
• Osterwalder, A., & Pigneur, Y. (2013). Business model generation: A handbook for visionaries, game changers, and challengers. New York: Wiley & Sons.

Session 6 (in class): Pitch Preparation

November 14 | Mafinex Technology Center (Julius-Hatry-Straße 1, 68163 Mannheim) | 10.15am - 2.45pm

Topics:

• Assessment of your preparation of deliverables V (see above, 5% of overall grade), each team: 7 min presentation + Q&A/ feedback
• Pitching Workshop
• Feedback opportunity with coaches

Teamwork preparation for Session 7

Task:

• Finalize your pitch deck
• Improve your pitch - Practice!
• Improve your product-market fit and business model (also consider implications for your financial plan)

Deliverables next session: 

• (Almost) final pitch deck
• Improvements in pitch presentation 
• Demonstrate overall progress

Session 7 (in class): Pitch Finalization

November 28 | Mafinex Technology Center (Julius-Hatry-Straße 1, 68163 Mannheim) | 10.15am - 2.45pm

Topics:

• Assessment of your practice-round pitch (see above, 10% of overall grade), each team: 7 - 10 min presentation + Q&A
• Feedback opportunity with coaches

Teamwork preparation for Session 8:

Task:

• Improve your pitch deck
• Improve your pitch - Practice!
• Improve your product/solution fit and business model 
• Demonstrate progress

UPDATE! Session 8: The Final Pitch

December 1 | Mafinex Technology Center (Julius-Hatry-Straße 1, 68163 Mannheim) | 10.15am ~ 12.15pm

You are going to pitch your idea in front of an expert jury (25% of your grade). 

• Final pitch, each team: 7 - 10 min presentation + Q&A

UPDATE! Startup Lounge

December 5 | Agatha Cafe (Julius-Hatry-Straße 1, 68163 Mannheim) | from 7:30pm

We will find the best startup from the course and see some teams pitch again in the public event.   

Final Deliverable

January 7, 2024

Hand in your project documentation in form of a brief (15 pages + appendix) reporting (10% of your grade). Submission deadline is January 7, 2024 by 11.59pm (no exceptions will be made) to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..