{"id":47698,"date":"2023-11-08T13:21:27","date_gmt":"2023-11-08T12:21:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/test.steinmuehle.de\/blog\/2023\/11\/08\/a-word-of-encouragement-for-anyone-who-wants-to-start-a-business-what-matters-most-are-innovative-ideas-and-a-strong-team\/"},"modified":"2026-06-18T17:37:29","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T15:37:29","slug":"a-word-of-encouragement-for-anyone-who-wants-to-start-a-business-what-matters-most-are-innovative-ideas-and-a-strong-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/steinmuehle.de\/en\/blog\/2023\/11\/08\/a-word-of-encouragement-for-anyone-who-wants-to-start-a-business-what-matters-most-are-innovative-ideas-and-a-strong-team\/","title":{"rendered":"A Word of Encouragement for Anyone Who Wants to Start a Business: What Matters Most Are Innovative Ideas and a Strong Team"},"content":{"rendered":"

Axel T\u00e4ubert, bestselling author and Head of Startups at Google, visited the Steinm\u00fchle<\/strong><\/p>\n

Those who fail are often met with ridicule: \u201cHe went bankrupt,\u201d \u201chis company went under,\u201d \u201cso much for those great ideas.\u201d Even today, founders whose companies couldn\u2019t hold their own in the market are still stigmatized in Germany. Axel T\u00e4ubert, who graduated from the Liebigschule in Giessen in 1996 and is now Head of Startups at Google, made this the topic of his talk at the Steinm\u00fchle on Tuesday evening. The provocative title: \u201cFailure as a Business Model.\u201d <\/p>\n

It\u2019s easy to forget: Anyone who starts a business has dealt with things that many employees only know about from hearsay. Formalities, business plans, capital requirements, and\u2014if necessary\u2014the search for investors\u2014not to mention the willingness to work longer hours than \u201cnine-to-five.\u201d Almost essential: putting together the right team. \u201cAnyone who wants to start a business needs people who are not only passionate about the same idea but whose skills complement one another.\u201d One person is at home in the world of finance, while another loves sales and interacting with people. A third person has the expertise that the company relies on\u2014whether as a technician, engineer, scientist, or whatever field the startup specializes in. This explicitly includes skilled trades businesses. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“Everything should start with the user”<\/strong><\/p>\n

Many entrepreneurs rely on financial support during the startup phase. If they can convince investors in such a situation with a novel, innovative business idea and the structure of their team, venture capital often comes into play. Investors provide funding to high-growth, unlisted startups without requiring collateral and offer not only financial assistance but also advice and access to networks. This takes the form of a venture capital fund as part of an equity investment in the company. The investment results in co-ownership, though the investors do not seek a majority stake. <\/p>\n

Venture capital-eligible companies are those that, through their activities, offer clear customer value and an innovative advantage. Axel T\u00e4ubert: \u201cEverything should start with the user.\u201d He cited the example of a company that, using decorative elements and a special design concept, transformed MRI diagnostic equipment into an \u201cadventure cave\u201d that, rather than instilling fear in children, encourages them to enter and undergo the examination. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If you’re going to fail, do it quickly<\/strong><\/p>\n

Only one in ten startups becomes truly successful, reports Axel T\u00e4ubert. Relevant statistics show that between 80 and 90 percent of all startups fail within three years. \u201cIt\u2019s important to recognize early on when things aren\u2019t going well,\u201d advises T\u00e4ubert. Admitting failure shouldn\u2019t be unnecessarily delayed in the false hope that things will still turn around. Of course, this doesn\u2019t rule out adjusting the business plan before throwing in the towel. Fortunately, failure after starting a business is no longer seen as a stigma. On the contrary, investors often view it as a sign of experience. <\/p>\n

“Believe in your ideas; if necessary, have them patented,” advises the speaker, who had come to the Steinm\u00fchle through the efforts of Jens Ihle, the managing director of Regional Management Central Hesse. According to T\u00e4ubert, the organization, based in Gie\u00dfen, is also a possible place for potential founders to pitch their ideas or find out where they can do so. During the Q&A session following the presentation, T\u00e4ubert also explained that there are geographical differences in Germany regarding which regions or cities are best suited for founders: \u201cCertain universities simply offer better opportunities for support, and in certain places there is simply a strong startup ecosystem. The Lokschuppen in Marburg is one of them.\u201d <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Essential Skills for Founders<\/strong><\/p>\n

The speaker specifically described the role a school can play in turning graduates into potentially successful entrepreneurs as follows: \u201cAnyone who can read for meaning, is good at math, is a team player, and can work independently has every chance of becoming a successful entrepreneur.\u201d Principal Bj\u00f6rn Gemmer, who guided the highly engaged audience through the evening, also noted that the course \u201cJugend gr\u00fcndet\u201d (Youth Starts a Business)\u2014analogous to \u201cJugend forscht\u201d (Youth Researches)\u2014is already established at some German schools, even as a \u201cSpecial Learning Achievement\u201d and thus as an Abitur subject. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Grades 5 through 7 discussed Axel T\u00e4ubert’s book *The Classroom Coach*<\/strong><\/p>\n

A change of scene. Axel T\u00e4ubert, father of two sons aged 13 and 15, fills the forum on Wednesday morning with students from grades 5 through 7 at Steinm\u00fchlen. He reads from his book *Der Classroom-Coach*, which he co-authored with education entrepreneur Daniel Jung. A little less than four years ago, Daniel Jung\u2014the math YouTuber to whom so many students owe a debt of gratitude for help with math problems\u2014stood here as well. A memorable quote from that time: \u201cYou saved my butt on my final exams.\u201d <\/p>\n

This time, in Axel T\u00e4ubert\u2019s bestseller *Classroom Coach*, the story revolves around a learning app\u2014a tutoring app whose development stems from an idea by a student named Nele. She and her team\u2014which, besides her, consists of Karl, Mehmet, and Aliyah\u2014are acting as founders. It\u2019s an exciting journey that is first read aloud on stage by Axel T\u00e4ubert himself and later by four Steinm\u00fchlen students taking on the respective roles. <\/p>\n

Despite the longer listening time, the young audience was captivated\u2014just like Axel T\u00e4ubert himself: \u201cThe students didn\u2019t just read it\u2014they acted it out,\u201d he said enthusiastically, referring to the way Leo Keil (5b), Thomas Pfotenhauer (6b), Lotta Jerrentrup (7a), and Samri Wulf (7a) portrayed their respective roles.<\/p>\n

Afterward, there was plenty of time for questions, and the students had plenty of them. It became clear just how well-informed the students were about the latest relevant websites, and they peppered the expert guest with all the questions that were on their minds. Among them were questions that Axel T\u00e4ubert preferred to sidestep, such as \u201cHow much do you earn at Google?\u201d He credited his decision to inspire young people to become entrepreneurs to his acquaintance with financial entrepreneur Carsten Maschmeyer. Together with him, he also wrote the bestseller *Die Start-Up-Gang*. <\/p>\n

“If you’re going to do something, do something new,” the guest concluded his appearance at the Steinm\u00fchle. And who knows\u2014maybe he’ll run into one or two of those enthusiastic young people again someday. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Axel T\u00e4ubert<\/em><\/strong> is a retired rapper, SPIEGEL bestselling author, and Head of Startups at Google. He lived in Gie\u00dfen until he graduated from high school (Liebigschule, 1996) and, prior to his current role, served as Head of Gaming at YouTube, among other positions. He founded several companies at a young age and now supports various startups as a business angel. He is also the author of children\u2019s books and lives in Munich with his wife and two sons. <\/em> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Axel T\u00e4ubert, bestselling author and Head of Startups at Google, visited the Steinm\u00fchle Those who fail are often met with ridicule: \u201cHe went bankrupt,\u201d \u201chis company went under,\u201d \u201cso much for those great ideas.\u201d Even today, founders whose companies couldn\u2019t hold their own in the market are still stigmatized in Germany. Axel T\u00e4ubert, who graduated […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":47700,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[95,85,93],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47698","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-collaborations-partnerships","category-news","category-politics-business-responsibility"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/steinmuehle.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47698","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/steinmuehle.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/steinmuehle.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/steinmuehle.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/steinmuehle.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47698"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/steinmuehle.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47698\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49460,"href":"https:\/\/steinmuehle.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47698\/revisions\/49460"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/steinmuehle.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47700"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/steinmuehle.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47698"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/steinmuehle.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47698"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/steinmuehle.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47698"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}