Munich Startup: What motivated you to start the company?
Teresa Born: I felt the need to realize my professional potential – and wanted to develop products that were well thought out and offered real added value.
Munich Startup: What would you have liked to have known before starting your first business?
Teresa Born: How complex the development of an injection-molded product really is. Initially, I would have Travelpods I never classified it as a tech project – today I see it differently: From material selection and tool development to manufacturing and quality control, it's a technically very complex process. We're now even collaborating with major chemical companies to develop our own materials. But it was certainly a good idea to approach the topic naively – otherwise, I probably would never have started.
Munich Startup: How has your company been financed so far?
Teresa Born: We are bootstrapped – with support from our Kickstarter campaign.
Munich Startup: When and where do you get the best ideas?
Teresa Born: In bed in the morning – when I’m awake before the alarm goes off.
Munich Startup: What are your 3 favorite work tools?
Teresa Born: Notion for organization and documentation, Figma as a design tool, and a combination of ChatGPT and DeepL for text drafts and translations.
Munich Startup: Your top tip on pitching?
Teresa Born: Phew, I pitch I know very little about it myself—and I wouldn't call it my greatest strength either. Perhaps that's my tip: There are many ways to start a business. Find a model that suits you and your strengths. And allow yourself to need one or two attempts—that's completely normal.
Munich Startup: Does this seem like a good time to start a business? Why?
Teresa Born: I'm currently perceiving a lot of uncertainty on the economic and global political level. But this can be precisely what forces people to plan extremely efficiently and make decisions with great care. This often leads to realistic, focused, and very lean startups. Of course, a lot also depends on the industry and the project—some ideas rely on capital. And in this regard, I hope that big visions will continue to be supported and taken seriously in Germany.
Munich Startup: Which technology or industry would you focus on for your next startup?
Teresa Born: I'd probably do something in injection molding again—simply because I've learned too much in the last few months not to put it to use. But I also have a list of other (admittedly unvalidated) ideas in the back of my mind—ironically, I've actually had more ideas since starting the company than before.
Munich Startup: In your opinion, what could be improved at the Munich startup location?
Teresa Born: The Munich ecosystem is strongly focused on deep tech and VC-driven startups—which is great. At the same time, I would like to see smaller, product-oriented ideas receive more space and support. More low-threshold events and exchange formats would be a great help.
Munich Startup: Which founder would you like to meet in person? And what would you ask them?
Teresa Born: Tiffany Masterson, the founder of Drunk Elephant, immediately comes to mind. If I remember correctly, she started her business in her early 40s as a stay-at-home mom with four children—that alone I find extremely inspiring. The fact that she later sold her company for $845 million makes her achievement all the more impressive. I'm very drawn to unconventional startup paths because they show that you don't need a perfect profile to make a business successful. I would ask her how she dealt with self-doubt and the opinions of those around her.
