For several weeks, the Powi Plus course focused on innovation and developed product ideas that do not yet exist on the market. The innovations spanned various industries, such as food technology, healthcare, the cosmetics industry, and the fitness sector. At the invitation of Marburg University President Prof. Dr. Thomas Nauss, Prof. Dr. Vivien Procher and several staff members from MAFEX (Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation) to Steinmühle to coach the PoWi Plus students in preparing and delivering a professional pitch (as we reported on July 1).
After summer break, the students in the PoWi Plus class, along with students from another PoWi course, took a field trip to the Marburg Lokschuppen, where they gained insight into Marburg’s startup scene.
Gunther Schneider (CEO of Schneider GmbH Co. KG and founder of Lokschuppen) gave a captivating presentation on what makes a founder successful.
“Foremost characteristic: restlessness”
He cited “restlessness” as the most important quality. One should be driven by the question, “How can this be done better?”
Another slide was titled “Know your shit.” According to Schneider, innovation begins with knowledge; only then can market relevance be assessed and true added value be created.
True innovation seeks to understand where the customer wants to be in five years. Schneider shared a quote from Henry Ford here, and it illustrated exactly what he meant:
“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” (Henry Ford)
You have to think what no one else has thought of yet.
“Come up with ideas—and, above all, follow through on them”
Another slide was titled “A good idea isn’t enough—you have to follow through on it.”
Here, too, he used a relevant quote to illustrate his point, which highlights the necessary perseverance:
“Don’t judge me by my successes; judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.” (Nelson Mandela)
“Change before you have to”
For Gunter Schneider, innovation is a matter of personal attitude; it is the relentless pursuit of improvement. “Change before you have to.”
Speaking about the concept behind the Lokschuppen, he explained that it used to be a hub for trains. Now, he said, it is meant to be a hub for people who are innovative and want to make the world a better place.
Gunter Schneider’s presentation was followed by a talk from the Lovedis team, who discussed their concept of connecting founders with existing customers.
“Find a problem that’s really annoying”
The afternoon was rounded out by the exciting ideas presented by Dirk Rudolf (founder of Direktüberweisung).
His entrepreneurial ideas began in the late 1990s, when he was a poor student and the Internet was truly still uncharted territory, with a homework platform for students that got off to a successful start. Then, in 2003, as online shopping became increasingly popular, he founded a company specializing in direct bank transfers, which he later sold to Klarna. To date, he has founded other companies as well, but he has consistently sold them off because new ideas for launching further innovations kept coming to him.
He gave us the following words of advice:
“Find a problem that’s really annoying and figure out how to fix it!”
Starting a business requires hard work and a little bit of luck, but without courage, nothing works out.
