In what is becoming a yearly tradition, I was recently invited back as a mentor to the student-run event “3-Day Startup” (think of it as a clone of Startup Weekend) at WHU in Vallendar.
And the winners were… Quanta Labs (think EU version of Mercor).
Category Archives: startup
Mentoring startups at the STARTPLATZ KI Accelerator
Have you heard that our Rheinland region got our very own accelerator for AI-based startups in Cologne? Check it out.
Continuing the tradition of mentoring startups at STARTPLATZ over the years, recently I had the pleasure to mentor the next batch of participants in the new KI Accelerator in Cologne.
I was quite impressed by the diversity of the types of founders and markets addressed. This could be a very exciting batch.
If there was a recurring theme in my feedback, it would be “More money, more problems – Taking investors’ money to hire more people to do the work is usually not the efficiency boost you think wish it is (at this early, pre-PMF, stage). You, the founders, have to do the work.”
Full disclosure: I’m not affiliated with STARTPLATZ other than that we’ve been working together on strengthening the Rhineland startup ecosystem on various different projects, like the Rheinland Pitch, since it opened its doors back in 2013. A lot of people who only know me from one ore more of these projects assume I’m either a STARTPLATZ employee or co-founder – which I am not. Lulz. (I’m the founder-boss-man of my own little thing called +ANDERSEN & ASSOCIATES, also founded in 2013.)
Migrant Momentum
Recently I was honored to be invited to “Migrant Momentum“, an event focusing on immigrants and entrepreneurship during the Startup Week DUS to speak a bit on a panel about fundraising for early-stage startups and moderate one of the break-out sessions on fundraising hurdles and success metrics for fundraising for founders.
I had really no idea of what to expect, but it turned out to be one of those rare “lightning in a bottle” event where the atmosphere and the attitude of everybody participating was contagiously positive in the extreme.
Many thanks to the event organisers Avela Gronemeyer and Archita Fritz for creating such a pleasant and productive atmosphere!
And I wasn’t at all prepared for the feedback I received… Made me blush.
“[…] thank you so much for the passion, energy, expertise, and heart you brought to yesterday’s “Migrant Momentum”. We received unbelievable feedback from the “Investor Circles” – your authenticity, openness to honest talks, passion for your work, and your humanity was clearly felt.”
– A. Gronemeyer, Event Organiser
Alumniportal Challenge Workshops & Mentoring
Recently I was honored and excited to be invited to teach and mentor the startups participating in the Alumniportal Challenge online. I first held an interactive online workshop on why most startups fail and what to do about it (customer development, lean startup, and all that), and then mentored the international teams over Zoom later in the month.
Alumniportal Deutschland is a non-profit online social network of “Germany Alumni” that is designed internationally for people who have studied, researched, worked or completed further training or a language course in Germany or at a German institution abroad.
The primary non-profit and non-governmental organizations responsible for creating, maintaining and promoting Alumniportal Deutschland are the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD – the world’s largest funding organisation for the international exchange of students and researchers), and the Goethe-Institut. Since 2019, the Federal Foreign Office (Auswärtiges Amt) is responsible for funding the portal.