"If you're founding a startup, be passionate about it and be honest with yourself."

In the third Speaker Series, participants once again gained diverse insights into the startup scene. The event kicked off with Veera Johnson, co-founder of Circulor, an enterprise software for supply chain traceability, via live feed from London. Johnson has had experience as an entrepreneur before founding Circulor and shared insights from her career so far with the audience, "If you're founding a startup, be passionate about it and be honest with yourself." In her view, leadership has nothing to do with command and control, but with empowering people. In 2009, she was named Business Woman of the Year at the Asian Women of Achievement Awards. 

The second keynote was delivered by Linda Emmerich, co-founder of EMECTRIC Tailored Batteries. The startup offers customized battery systems and aims to do its part in climate protection.  

Following the two keynotes, Veera Johnson and Linda Emmerich were available to answer questions from the audience. Both women advised new founders to find a mentor: "Be loyal to your mentor, and he will be your constant advisor as you move forward," Johnson explains. Emmerich adds, "Overcome your fears and be patient. Always seek feedback." At the end of the Q&A session, the founders encouraged female entrepreneurs, "Believe in your idea, convince others to work with you. Then it doesn't matter if you are female in this male-dominated field," Emmerich explained. 

In the last part of the virtual speaker series, three founders from the regional ecosystem presented themselves in a pitch session and reported on their journey. The founders were Bjarne Johannsen (Motion Sense AI), Paul Eichinger (Personomic), and Norbert Witz (21 Semiconductors). In line with each team, there were insights into support programs that assist founders at various stages. Eric Heintze, Project Manager at the Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation Research at the University of Stuttgart, presented the Let US Start! program. June Nardiello, Program Manager of Start-up BW ASAP and Adrian Thoma from Gründermotor provided information about their programs.

Save the date - the next round of the Speaker Series will take place in February 2021. Stay tuned: https://www.eventbrite.de/e/speaker-series