Field report: Combining studying and starting a business

H-BRS: Why did you decide to study Start-up Development at our higher education institution?

Moritz: I came across the MBA by chance on LinkedIn. As a founder with a strong technical focus, I realised in the early stages of my first start-up project that I was missing some essential start-up tools. However, the curriculum quickly made it clear that the MBA covered all the important points and even supported my own project throughout. At the same time, I often lacked the opportunity to exchange ideas with other founders who were in a similar phase of founding a company in order to talk about challenges. An external perspective often helps enormously to approach problems differently and to be able to solve them. The MBA rightly promised to support me in this regard.

Oliver: I decided to do the MBA because three things are important to me for my professional future:

1. I want to become an entrepreneur!
2. Digital business models are changing the future. I want to be a part of this!
3. I need the specialist expertise to achieve this goal.

The MBA covers these three topics. We are given the theoretical tools and can apply what we have learnt directly to our own idea. There is also a very close dialogue between students and lecturers. This allows us to discuss our own problems and there is a lively exchange of ideas. There were also presentations by former students who have founded their own companies. That was great! They were able to give us good tips and advice on what we should look out for when realising our ideas.

H-BRS: Studying and founding - isn't that an appeal between theory and practice?

Moritz: Absolutely not. It helped me enormously to have my previous behaviour and views underpinned by theory or to incorporate further approaches into my foundation through theory. At the same time, the MBA is very practice-orientated. As a rule, all lecturers are active or former founders themselves or at least very close to various start-up projects. This means that your own vision and business plan are regularly challenged by people with experience, which means that the project is continuously improved.

Oliver: I agree. It's more of an excellent combination. I can directly apply the theoretical knowledge I have learnt in practice and thus avoid mistakes when setting up the company.

H-BRS: What should you bring to the Start-up Development (MBA) degree programme?

Moritz: Basically, it is extremely important to be intrinsically motivated and to pursue your own vision. A start-up is very intensive and challenging and you have to be able to motivate yourself not only to push ahead with the start-up, but also to study, even if this goes hand in hand. Another important point is that you have to be able and willing to reflect on yourself and be able to make transfers. You are not presented with solution X to problem Y that you can apply one-to-one.

Oliver: In my opinion, you should definitely have a concrete interest in the topic of "founding" and ideally already have an initial idea. You should also have some work experience in order to be able to categorise certain topics. It is also advantageous if you are flexible in terms of time and can organise your own day.

H-BRS: The MBA is described as being very practice-orientated. How does this manifest itself in everyday study life?

Moritz: You won't find a traditional lecture in this MBA. All learning content, whether digital or on-site, is taught in a very practical way. The lectures with theoretical content are often a mixture of impulses from the professors and discussions between the students and the lecturers. The weekend classroom courses are usually structured in the form of workshops in which all participants are actively involved. These can be pitch workshops and presentation training, but also workshops in which you actively learn how to create a brand. If you just want to sit passively in a lecture, this is not the place for you.

H-BRS: And does the degree programme use special methods to impart knowledge?

Oliver: The degree programme has a hybrid structure. This means that we have online lectures on Mondays and Thursdays and face-to-face lectures every fortnight at one of the co-working spaces in Bonn. In addition, the lectures draw on various design thinking approaches, which you can also make great use of when realising your own start-up idea.

Moritz: Various project management methods and different brainstorming tools are also taught. Not always "one" method fits everything, so it is good to know different methods again and again.

H-BRS: What advantages does the MBA degree programme offer compared to starting your own business?

Moritz: Clearly three points: The direct line to people with experience, the network and the exchange with fellow students. These three factors enrich my start-up project enormously. I have the feeling that things have really taken off since starting the MBA. Before that, I found it difficult to get external feedback on my products that was honest, constructive, professional and not competitive. Especially during Corona, I also missed the opportunity to interact with people outside my professional and personal "bubble". Here, I've come together with a wide variety of characters who all have different skills and views.

Oliver: Exactly, building a network is also the biggest advantage of the degree programme for me. You get to know like-minded people who often face similar challenges. This means you can constantly exchange ideas during your studies and support each other in setting up a business. You can also present your idea to your fellow students and receive direct feedback with suggestions for improvement.

H-BRS: Who is this degree programme suitable for and who can particularly benefit from it?

Moritz: The degree programme is particularly suitable for students who have a clear vision and the will to found a company. You don't necessarily have to have a concrete start-up idea, but the development of the idea can certainly be a core element of the first semester. However, an already existing idea or even the first steps taken help enormously. As an engineer by training, the MBA also opened up the areas of marketing, sales and, of course, business management, which I had previously only worked on myself. The degree programme is therefore perfect for motivated, prospective founders in their early stages.

H-BRS: Does it still make sense to take the degree programme even if you have already started your own start-up project?

Moritz: Absolutely, that's how I felt. I had already been active on the market for two years with my founding team. I realised that further training was necessary if I wanted to take the company to the next level. Some elements of the first semester were not new to me, but it was very interesting to reflect on them again and rethink some of the steps I had planned. It also became clear in parts which things are worth looking at in the early stages and not just after two years.

Oliver: That's how I see it too! During your studies, you get a completely different perspective on your own start-up project and can discuss challenges and solutions with lecturers and students. You also expand your network, which allows you to get to know mentors and investors.

H-BRS: If you don't yet have a concrete start-up idea but want to found a company, does the degree programme still make sense?

Oliver: Yes, a start-up idea can of course develop during your studies or there is the possibility that you will meet a fellow student who has a specific idea and you complement each other very well.

Moritz: Some of my fellow students started the MBA without an idea. However, it helps to already know a rough direction. In the first semester, there are plenty of opportunities to brainstorm and develop an idea. However, I actually recommend completing this part quickly, as otherwise it becomes increasingly difficult to integrate the other content. It's simply not that easy to create a pitch without having a concrete idea. This doesn't get any easier with a business plan, which is developed in the second semester. However, you may also have the opportunity to develop an idea together with fellow students. However, you should not speculate on this when applying.

H-BRS: In this degree programme, you gradually build up your own company. To what extent is it important to put work and time into the company alongside your studies

?

Oliver: From my point of view, that goes without saying. During the individual courses, we get the tools we need to set up our start-up. However, you work on your idea alongside your studies, which is logical. Our goal is to build a successful company after graduation. It's not unsatisfactory to only deal with your idea during lectures.

Moritz: That's how it looks! It's essential if you want to realise the full potential of your studies. The real work of founding a company only really begins after the lectures and workshops. Good personal time management and motivation are therefore important. However, there are definitely synergy effects. What you learn in the workshops can definitely be used for your own start-up. You can also complete the programme on your own, but I wouldn't recommend this as it becomes increasingly difficult. The programme is also structured in such a way that you have heard a lot of things once and can deepen the elements that are necessary for your own project independently. With my technical background, I have to deepen the Business Management elements in particular after the lectures, as I sometimes lack the basics here.

H-BRS: Are there any other offers from the higher education institution or the degree programme that support you in founding and developing your own company?

Moritz: A major part of the degree programme is the "start-up and innovation project" that accompanies all four semesters. It is the centrepiece of the programme, a "consulting flat rate" jokingly dubbed by the lecturers, and you can actually take it that way. The support is particularly visible here, as the lecturers who are available for advice have not only actively supported many start-up projects, but are also very well networked, on the one hand with the Start-up-Manufaktur and CENTIM (Centre for Entrepreneurship Innovation and SMEs) and of course also with local investors and contacts. If you have different challenges, you can be easily networked or introduced here. As always, however, it is also important here: You have to be able to reflect on the fact that you are facing a challenge and be able and willing to communicate it.

H-BRS: How important is it to exchange ideas with other students and founders at the higher education institution? What can you learn from this?

Oliver: I think that's very important. It gave me an additional perspective on my start-up idea and interesting starting points for how I can develop my idea further. You also get to present your idea to other people and discuss problems in a different way. This gives you help and makes it much easier to avoid mistakes.

Moritz: The network among our cohort was already very strong after just one semester. All of the MBA students have different characters, we are a very mixed bunch, but this also leads to very lively and controversial, but very professional discussions and at the end of the day can be incorporated into the development of your own ideas. Thanks to the different skills, you can also support each other. Whilst I naturally help out with more technical issues, I can equally count on support in the Business Management area. I'm also pretty sure that this network with my fellow students will continue after the MBA. Not every idea will probably be the last start-up project, and this results in a valuable network, especially in the long term.