SCE Annual Report 2014/15

Qualification
Entrepreneurs Live
Innovation Club
SCE Entrepreneurs Live
“Entrepreneurs Live” is a series of public events
in which the SCE invites entrepreneurs to present talks
followed by open discussions. Guests are given the opportunity
for a behind-the-scenes look at often charismatic
and astute entrepreneurial figures.
In 2014, Walter Gunz kicked off the proceedings under
the motto “I wasn’t exactly stupid!” Walter Gunz is
one of the founders of Media Markt. Since his surprising
exit from that multibillion-euro business empire in
early 2000, Walter Gunz has been advising start-ups
and other entities. Gunz’s talk before a capacity crowd
rapidly turned into a lively dialogue with the audience.
Walter Gunz inspired the young audience by recounting
his entrepreneurial experiences and giving valuable
tips on how to define and deal with success, mistakes
and failure. The talk was followed by many one-on-one
conversations between attendees and Walter Gunz that
continued until late in the evening.
The guest at the next event in the series was the “King
of Burladingen”: Wolfgang Grupp, owner of the company
Trigema and a familiar figure among entrepreneurs
owing to his extensive media exposure. In 1972,
at the age of 30, Wolfgang Grupp took over his father’s
company when it was in a precarious financial position.
Not only did he manage to successfully revitalize the
company within a few short years, but Trigema also developed
into Germany’s largest manufacturer of sportswear
and leisurewear. On a humorous note, Grupp
noted that this signified nothing when one remembered
that there were no longer any other manufacturers in
Germany.
Under the slogan “Health, Food & Lifestyle”, David
Baumgarnter, founder of the “dean&david” restaurant
chain, presented his tale of success. During a world
tour he made after university, he encountered food service
quite unlike any seen at home, such as the street
kitchens in Kuala Lumpur. The idea for his concept was
born. In 2007 the young entrepreneur opened his first
fast-food restaurant for healthy cuisine in Munich. It
now operates at 45 locations.
In the autumn of 2015, we have Joachin Schoss,
founder of Scout24 and MyHandycap, and his impressive
life story to look forward to.
For more information on current events
and past guests please visit
www.sce.de/en/unternehmer-live
Students at the Munich University of Applied Sciencesorganised
the Innovation Club on 29 October 2014 in
the SCE’s Steelcase Creative Hall. The club’s formation
was attended by more than 70 students from nearly
every faculty.
The Innovation Club is a student club in which creative
and entrepreneurial ideas are created and developed.
It promotes interdisciplinary exchange and enjoys
the support of all 14 faculties and the SCE. The club is
governed by the students themselves and meets once a
month in its own club room. Working in project teams,
the students devote themselves to topics such as creating
a platform for matching co-founders or organising
such events as a start-up weekend, a hackathon, or a
start-up jobs exchange.
At the “SCE Entrepreneurs Live” event, successful
start-up founders from the SCE return to describe their
path to business success to inspire future entrepreneurs.
Kicking off the new event series was “Freeletics”, a
new company that SCE supported from June 2012 to
July 2013. Freeletics was founded by Andrej Matijczak,
Mehmet Yilmaz and Joshua Cornelius. As a permanent
fixture among the most popular apps in Appstore and
Google Play, Freeletics is one of the few Munich businesses
to emerge as a successful digital trend-setter in
the true sense of the word. Freeletics facilitates the development
of one’s physical and mental potential. The
sports apps and web services developed by Freeletics
are used by more than seven million users worldwide
(as of July 2015).
The founders made a compelling impression with their
relaxed stage presence and obvious sincerity and
answered countless questions from an enthusiastic
audience.
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