Elements4Founding

The workshop has provided an insightful perspective on design thinking. Participants found it very satisfying getting to create something, and were looking forward to implement their fruitful learnings and bring them back to their work communities as well as research. They were able to grasp important concepts such as trusting the process and active listening. The workshop was organized by the Young Entrepreneurs in Science Initiative of the Falling Walls Foundation.

The Workshop highlighted the crucial aspects of self-organized and agile team collaboration. The workshop was organized by the Young Entrepreneurs in Science Initiative of the Falling Walls Foundation.

The Startup Talk featured two high-tech startups, roboloon and MESHPARTS, the event showcased the potential of innovation and entrepreneurship. The founders shared their own unique journeys with their twists und turns, giving some valuable tips and advice.

Research, Innovation, Science and Entrepreneurship - that's what RISE is all about. Over a course of nine sessions, the following topics were discussed:

• Discovering Entrepreneurship & Innovation
• Team Building & Research Transfer
• Design Thinking & Customer Value
• Social Entrepreneurship x Falling Walls Foundation
• Business model, financing and intellectual property
• Pitch Training x Falling Walls Foundation
• Impactful Research
• An excursion to AI Express in Böblingen

26. October 2023 | Hybrid session

In this module, participants got a hands-on training in the Design Thinking Method. Design Thinking is an iterative process that helps focus on understanding a problem or challenge from the user's perspective, build empathy by questioning and understanding users' experiences, ideating solutions with the use of different creativity techniques, and building a (lean) prototype to test a critical function of the proposed solution.

30. and 31. October 2023 | on site

Have an impact - create a solution for a sustainability challenge! This module was very special and was an idea competition, where participants could practice hands-on how to develop an idea within an interdisciplinary team, in a short time frame, and present it in front of an expert jury to win attractive prizes.

9. November 2023 | Online session

Is successful entrepreneurship compatible with social entrepreneurship? What constitutes social entrepreneurship? Can my ideas have an impact on society? Many aspiring founders have already asked themselves these questions.

In this module, our colleagues from the Falling Walls Foundation's Young Entrepreneurs in Science initiative helped participants navigate the solutions for such questions.

16. November 2023 | Hybrid session

Where to start when building a company? This module gave participants a basic understanding of what to consider in terms of business strategy. It also helped them understand projects better and develop a strategic framework for taking action.

23. November 2023 | Hybrid session

This module was all about finding potential customers - and how to reach out to them. Participants gained an understanding of the market their ideas could be successful in (together with self-work), mapped their stakeholders, and found out about the importance of target group-oriented strategic communication and its alignment with the strategic business goals. They took away some handy tools and processes that helped them set up a communication strategy for an early-stage business.

30. November 2023 | Hybrid session

Along with their technology transfer journey, participants had to design and re-design their business model and pricing scheme. This workshop was especially designed to provide a first insight into how to strategically do so. Participants learned about the value creation through different business model patterns and got hands-on practice based on the St. Gallen Business Model Navigator. Afterwards, our colleagues from TRACES, the transfer center at the University of Stuttgart, gave them some helpful guidelines and practice on how to find a suitable and adjustable pricing model for future products.

7. December 2023 | Hybrid session

In this module, participants learned more about Intellectual Property (IP) and the legal status, e.g., how to see if their idea is really original? How to legally found a company from an innovative idea? For this special topic, we invited experts who helped participants get an overview of legal matters. This workshop provided: knowledge on the basics of IP law and IP protection as well as knowledge on legal forms for spin-outs.