“MöglichMacher” award for TUM Entrepreneurial Masterclass
Launching a start-up through a master’s thesis
“Creating value out of nothing – that idea fascinated me immensely.” While studying informatics, Nils Börner realized he wanted to found a start-up. But with what product? “For a long time, I didn’t have an idea. As my studies progressed, I learned that you can also systematically search for a market niche. But if the Entrepreneurial Masterclass hadn’t been there as a starting point, things would probably have turned out very differently.”
Guiding entrepreneurial-minded students and putting research findings from master’s theses into practice is the idea behind the TUM Entrepreneurial Masterclass, which is unique in Germany. “We want to leverage the untapped potential that lies dormant in master’s theses and that also stemmed from the fact that academic studies and the entrepreneurship ecosystem sometimes didn’t align,” says program manager Tim Bernhard.
Over the first six years of the program, more than 500 participants have contributed to the creation of a start-up – either their own or, directly or indirectly, other companies. That’s because there are three different tracks in the Masterclass. Nils Börner chose the Startup Creation Track. “The application deadline really sped up the search for a business idea,” says Börner with a smile. He focused on a problem in freight forwarding: unnecessary routes that forklifts take when handling goods. In his master’s thesis, Börner investigated how this problem could be solved using mathematical optimization.
“The TUM Entrepreneurial Masterclass isn’t about writing a business plan and submitting it as a thesis,” emphasizes Prof. Anne Tryba, one of the academic directors. “The academic standards are as high as for all TUM theses. Students tackle a problem whose relevance extends beyond their own start-up project.”
Guests from start-ups and venture capital firms
However, there is a difference from typical master’s theses. Nils Börner also investigated whether it would be worthwhile for a start-up to offer the solution he had developed – and concluded that it would not be a promising business idea. “If I hadn’t participated in the Masterclass, I probably wouldn’t have realized this until I was already in the process of founding a company and would have wasted valuable time. This way, I was able to systematically validate my initial idea while also completing my master’s degree.” Börner wasn’t deterred by the results of his study. “I hadn’t been involved in the entrepreneurship community before. The exchange with the other participants and the successful founders I met motivated me tremendously.”
For half a year, a Masterclass group consisting of about 30 participants meets every two weeks to discuss their work and support one another. In seminars, students are trained in academic research; guests from start-ups and venture capital firms provide insights and tips; and the Munich Urban Colab offers a workspace and additional networking opportunities. And when it comes time to launch a company, the comprehensive support system at TUM is there to help.
Nils Börner and two friends joined the UnternehmerTUM Incubator, where they tackled another problem that is widespread in the freight forwarding industry: shippers provide incorrect dimensions for their cargo. This leads to underutilized trucks and inaccurate billing. The solution: an artificial intelligence that automatically measures packages in warehouses using images from the security cameras already in use. With this technology, the team founded the start-up transload earlier this year. “Because I had worked closely with a freight forwarding company while writing my master’s thesis and understood the industry, our discussions with our first customers were much easier,” says Börner.
Participants in the Entrepreneurial Masterclass, who come from all TUM schools, have launched more than 150 venture projects to date. Around 80 start-ups have already been founded. Among them are founders who hadn’t even planned to do so at first. That’s because the program’s second track, the Tech Venture Challenge, brings existing founder teams together with master’s students. “Many researchers or students in engineering and the natural sciences want to bring their developments to market, but some of them lack business expertise,” says program manager Bernhard. “In such cases, they can post calls for relevant master’s theses for management students – who sometimes end up joining the start-up.” Lukas Kutschker applied for such a thesis with the team RenewPoly, which develops bio-based resins for particularly demanding applications, such as in aerospace. Today, as a co-founder, he serves as the company’s Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer.
Master's theses examine start-up support
Just as the ecosystem surrounding TUM supports students, participants in the Masterclass can, in turn, provide important impetus to the ecosystem. In the program’s third track, students examine how start-ups, founders support and entrepreneurship education can succeed. Ricarda Lawrence chose this Entrepreneurship Support Track. “A large proportion of start-ups that give up fail due to conflict within the team,” says Lawrence. “To increase a team’s chances of success, we therefore need to better understand interpersonal dynamics.” With her thesis in the Management & Innovation program, she contributed to a long-term study by the Chair of Strategy and Organization on these dynamics. In the lab, she observed teams discussing a controversial issue and analyzed how conflict behaviors affected team satisfaction over the long term.
“Exchanging ideas with the founders in the Masterclass was a real game-changer because it allowed me to test my ideas and theories,” says Lawrence. “And the response to my topic was much greater than I had expected, which confirmed its relevance. Not only did that motivate me a lot, but above all, the atmosphere of the program with so many dedicated people who think in a solution-oriented way, want to make a difference and bring a wide variety of perspectives and experiences to the table.” Lawrence was so inspired by this community that, alongside her first job at a management consulting firm, she completed training to become a coach – so she can help the next generation of founders get off to a successful start.
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The TUM Entrepreneurial Masterclass was awarded first place in the universities category at the “MöglichMacher” awards ceremony. Through the award, the Bavarian State Ministry of Science and the Arts and the vbw Bavarian Industry Association, together with HOCHSPRUNG, BayZiel and ProfiLehrePlus, recognize outstanding achievements in promoting entrepreneurship and start-ups at Bavarian universities.
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The academic directors of the TUM Entrepreneurial Masterclass are Prof. Dr. Dr. Holger Patzelt, Prof. Dr. Helmut Schönenberger and Prof. Dr. Anne Tryba. The program is managed by Tim Bernhard, Justus Dickel, Merve Emir and David Nawrath.
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